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Device 6: Another Must-Play From Simogo

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Tom in Adventure, Games, iPad Games, iPhone Games, iPod Games, News, Puzzle

Describing Device 6, the Apple Design Award winning game by Simogo, is not an easy task. Which is funny, because the game itself relies heavily on the written word. If I had to describe Device 6 with as little words as possible, I’d call it a “modernized text adventure”. It’s a thrilling experience with a gripping narration that really asks for your attention to detail in order to progress. The game is available on the App Store for quite some time now, but since we haven’t yet talked about it here on TapArena, it was about time we introduce you to this “game”.

Compared to what one expects from classic video games, Device 6 is a real oddball. You don’t have direct control over a character and you won’t be doing much that resembles traditional gameplay. Instead, you’ll get tiny pictures which complement the various paragraphs of text you’ll be reading. I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but I can tell you that you will find out how a character progresses thorugh various rooms in order to piece together a bigger picture. With Device 6, Simogo continue their track record of releasing highly polished games with an incredible art style and a unique premise. It’s something new, it’s something great, it’s something you shouldn’t miss out on!

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This War Of Mine: Prepare Your iPad, This Will Be Intense

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Tom in Action, Adventure, Games, iPad Games, News, Simulation, Survival

This War Of Mine is a game you won’t forget. The developer, 11bitstudios, actually doesn’t really like to call This War Of Mine a game, because games usually are meant to be fun – and that’s not quite the case here. You get to experience war from a different angle than what you’re used to: You aren’t a soldier, you are a mere civilian, trying to survive in a city that is besieged and about to collapse. Clean water, food, medical supplies – things that we take for granted are suddenly so scarce that you will have to make some very tough decisions while trying to obtain these resources. Not to mention that you have to constantly watch your back. You never know whether any person that you meet along the way is going to be friendly or not – these people are struggling to survive as well, after all.

If all of this sounds very bleak to you, than you have a good a idea of what to expect from This War Of Mine. After all, it was the developer’s intention to make you really reflect upon the terrible situations people will have to face during times of war. The game was released last year for pc and is currently being ported to iOS. A release date is not yet announced, so keep an eye on upcoming news!

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Mortal Kombat X: iOS Launch Trailer

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Tom in Action, Arcade, Casual, Games, iPad Games, iPhone Games, iPod Games, News

If you like fighting games, you must have already heard of Mortal Kombat. It’s arguably one of the best beat-’em-up series out there and without a doubt one of the most controversial as well, due to its very graphic nature. The first Mortal Kombat was released in 1992 and the series has since seen many releases on almost any platform under the sun. It’s great news that the newest entry, Mortal Kombat X, is not only released on the current console generation, but also available for your iPhone and iPad. Let me point out though, that this game isn’t a port – it’s more like a reimagination for touchscreen devices, based on the assets of the console version. In my eyes, that’s a good thing though, because touchscreens just can’t offer the kind of feedback and precision necessary for controlling a fast paced and complex beat-’em-up.

Mortal Kombat X is avaliable on the App Store for free, it looks gorgeous and therefore I highly recommend you go and check it out. However, if you like your beat-’em-ups a little more oldschool with classic controls, why don’t you have a look at the excellent Street Fighter IV or Street Fighter X Tekken? Decisions, decisions!

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BioShock: Masterpiece On Sale On The App Store

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Tom in Action, Adventure, FPS, Games, iPad Games, iPhone Games, iPod Games, News, RPG

In my mind, there is no doubt: BioShock is one of – if not the – best game of the last console generation. And it’s currently on sale on the App Store for $2.99. BioShock is the spiritual successor of System Shock 1&2, released in 1994 and 1999. System Shock was truly ahead of its time and offered a great setting and atmosphere, but was a bit held back by the technical limitations back then (at least System Shock 1 – the controls were pretty crazy). Although I really like the System Shock premise, I believe that BioShock presented the most atmospheric setting ever: Rapture. An underwater city, built by and for the brightest minds of the world, who want to break free of the shackles that are artificially imposed upon them by their government or for religious reasons. “No Gods or Kings. Only Man.”. It’s a first person shooter at heart, although it does have some sort of RPG layer on top of the shooting mechanics: Plasimds. Plasmids are genetic mutations that you will be able to find and/or buy throughout the game that will give you a wide variety of abilities: Shooting fireballs, lightning bolts or summoning insect swarms. It’s great fun experimenting what tactics work with different weapon/plasmid combos.

Unfortunately, the iOS port of BioShock has suffered quite a bit of a graphics downgrade. This does hurt the atmosphere a little bit and you will notice that this game wasn’t developed with touch controls in mind. However: It’s still an incredible game at its core and if the setting intrigues you just a little bit, I can’t recommend BioShock enough. And for $2.99 it’s an absolute steal.

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Dungeon Hunter 5: Diablo Meets Torchlight Meets Freemium

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Tom in Action, Adventure, Casual, Games, iPad Games, iPhone Games, iPod Games, News, RPG

Gameloft was one of the very first developers who really tried to push the envelope when it came to creating App Store games that aspired to be like full blown console games. And while one might not like the freemium trend (I think the word “trend” might not even apply anymore: Freemium is here to stay) that Gameloft tends to follow nowadays, or the fact that most Gameloft games are quite obviously inspired by some of gaming’s biggest IPs, I do believe that Gameloft played a vital role in making iOS gaming as big as it is today.

Looking at Dungeon Hunter 5, I guess you can find all the positive and negative qualities I have just described – depending on what you’re preferences are when it comes to playing games on your iPhone or iPad. Dungeon Hunter 5 is a top-down action RPG, very much in the spirit of Diablo, the genres most prominent entry developed by Acitvision Blizzard. If you watch the trailer above closely, you will most likely find quite a few similarities, especially the environments remind me a lot about Diablo 3 – but actually, when it comes to the visuals, it seems like there’s also some Torchlight 2 DNA in there.
But enough with the comparisons – the Dungeon Hunter series has so far been quite enjoyable, so if the trailer intrigued you and you like the premise of action RPGs, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t head over to the App Store and download Dungeon Hunter 5 in order to give it a try – it’s free, after all.

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