It’s our last new release day of July and the month is certainly going out with a bang with a number of great looking new games to entertain iOS gamers and new content for existing titles.
First, from SEGA is Crazy Taxi™: City Rush their free-to-play take on the Dreamcast classic, frenetic pick up and deliver game. Adopting a simpler one-touch control scheme, City Rush does a very nice job of recreating the familiar feel of Crazy Taxi as you pick up customers and rush them to their destinations before time runs out, but adds a bit of a twist. I’ve been playing this off and on since it soft launched in Canada quite some time back, and it is really fun. You definitely want to hail this one down now that it’s available Worldwide.
Deep Loot is an endless underwater exploration game done up in pixel art style. Players must “swim, dig and fight” their way through the depths of the ocean, discovering buried treasure and lost ruins (over 200 unique pieces of loot in all) which will earn them coins, which can then be used to buy better diving equipment and bigger boats (I know there is a Jaws joke in here somewhere). These will help you complete missions and aid you in your solitary quest to “become the greatest Deep Loot diver of all time”.
Originally launched under the name AntiSquad last December by developer Bulkypix, it seems the developer InsGames, have taken over publishing duties for this turn-based strategy game on iOS, added additional free-to-play mechanics and changed the name to AntiSquad Tactics. So if you never picked this one up when it was a paid app, now’s your chance to try out this fun tactical strategy game with Team Fortress 2-like cartoony characters.
Onto the paid apps…
First conceived as a failed Kickstarter Campaign just over 2 years ago, the Pokemon clone “fully animated monster catching game” , Micromon finally sees the light of day on iOS thanks to MOGA Mobile Games and publisher ZigZaGame. The game features over 130 animated monsters to catch & evolve so you’d better get started if you are gonna catch ’em all trap every one of ’em.
Ravenous Games takes a bit of a departure from their usual 8 and 16-bit fare to bring us an endless climber called Murl the Squirrel, where you fire a hapless squirrel from cannon to cannon trying to get as high as possible while avoiding various traps like spikey balls, lasers and more. It looks like fun, but ironically the gameplay appears remarkably similar to a game called Boom It Up! which featured an 8-bit graphical style and was released by GAMEVIL way back in 2009. I haven’t played this yet to see just how similar the games are.
Monster Robot Studios returns to the App Store with Super Heavy Sword, the sequel to last year’s popular platformer Heavy Sword. With 64 new levels, this time around players can take control of either Pike or Princess Lucinda and set out on their quest to rescue the King’s 5 kids. I didn’t play the first one, but the wide variety of weapons and special moves shown in the trailer for Super Heavy Sword have me pretty excited for this inexpensive 99¢ sequel obviously inspired by the likes of Mario, Alex Kid and Wonderboy.
In Celleste, players are in charge of the universe, trying to help a group of cows that inhabit a small planet by keeping them safe from giant cow eating space bugs, meteors and other dangers. The game features some rather nice looking 3D graphics. The top-down platformer Why Does It Spin? has players trying to navigate continuously rotating spinship (stick) through 40 winding levels made up of moving obstacles, narrow sections and other hazards.
We can’t forget about the kids…
Warner Bros. and TT Games have teamed up to create a new game based on their LEGO® Friends line of LEGO toys for girls. Your kids can join Andrea, Emma, Stephahie and the rest of the Heartlake gang, helping them take photos, pick out clothes, accessorize their pets and more. They get explore Heartlake City and decide which of the town’s iconic locales they want to visit. I know my girls will be super excited about this one as half of my older daughter’s room has been converted into Heartlake City.
Next up is a brilliantly different narrative adventure game from the talented folks at inkle Studios called 80 Days. Based on the classic novel Around The World in 80 Days, but expanded with a little steampunk twist. Phileas Fogg has wagered he can circumnavigate the world in just eighty days and you play his loyal valet Passepartout.
The adventure unfolds in front of you as you make a seemingly endless number of decisions from where to head to next to what items to purchase at the local markets. Every decision you make has consequences and could affect your relationship with Master Fogg, or could mean the difference of succeeding or not. Items you purchase may be valuable for trade further down the road or just use up valuable funds and excess baggage could slow you down. With 150 cities to explore and an engaging, forking narrative, there is so much content in this game to consume and it has loads of replay value as you can try different routes and decisions every time. There is even a live feed that “shows you the position of all the other players of the game, their routes, triumphs and disasters” so you can see how your chosen path stacks up to others. If you have a teenager who likes to read, I think they will really did this one too. This is most definitely a must have title of the week!
Focus Home Interactive brings Games Workshop’s classic tabletop Warhammer fantasy football game to the iPad with Blood Bowl. Assemble your team of Humans or Orcs (or unlock Dwarfs, Skaven, Wood Elves and Chaos via IAP) and do battle on the gridiron in this tactical turn based strategy sports game. Each race has its own unique strengths and weaknesses which you will have to harness and mitigate successfully to emerge the victor. There is a single player campaign to help you hone your skills and develop your team and players as well as both pass and play multiplayer and online multiplayer which works cross-platform. I haven’t had the opportunity to play the tabletop version of the game, but I’ve been eagerly awaiting this iOS release to finally be able to get out on the field and check this one out.
Angels In The Sky was a bit of an unexpected surprise. It is a gorgeous looking action-packed futuristic air combat game which utilizes the new Unreal Engine 4. “Learn to harness the brutal power of futuristic artillery to annihilate packs of vicious airborne opponents while hurtling through the skies. Manage shields and firepower as you cut through their ranks, destroying baddies and bosses with explosive, deadly force.”
UPDATES…UPDATES…
Finally, also worth noting are the fact that the Plague Quarter has been released Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and Zen Studios has released their new Guardians of The Galaxy table for their Zen Pinball and Marvel Pinball apps. Plants vs. Zombies 2 has received an update adding Dark Ages Part 2 which adds 10 new levels, 2 new plants and more zombies to go medieval on.
Enjoy the new releases!
 Deep Loot |
 Micromon |
 Murl the Squirrel |
 Super Heavy Sword |
 Celleste |
 Why Does It Spin? |
 LEGO® Friends |
 Blood Bowl |
 Angels In The Sky |
