Numberlys

We don't usually review interactive stories or children's games, but Numberlys caught our eye due to it's stylish artistic quality ...and, for the record, it does include mini-games.

In a colorless world filled with numbers, five of the citizens wanted a change and set about inventing the alphabet. The story is told through beautiful black and white animated graphics which are clearly inspired by the classic sci-fi film Metropolis, but with a modern touch.

It's a children's story, but adults can enjoy the wonderful presentation, music and sound effects. Text cut-scenes are displayed, like old-fashioned subtitles (just like Metropolis) and the story is also conveyed verbally by a narrator, who has the perfect voice and accent for this particular tale.

During the animated film, items appear in red if they're interactive. For example, touching a red light-bulb above a character will make them say their line. Or pressing a red button might trigger the next piece of animation. Sometimes you turn or swipe an object, to help construct the next letter of the alphabet. There's only one pathway through the story, so your actions don't really change the outcome. However, although the interactive component is limited, it does help you to feel involved.

There are eighteen "mini-games" to play, like tapping the five main characters to create the "ayyyyy" sound of the letter "A", but there's no passing, failing or scores (which was an intentional design decision). It's more about interacting with the characters and story world. The mini-games are easy and can generally be completed within a minute, but again, they're not intended to be challenging or drawn out. It's more about the experience.

Other mini-games include brick-breaker and whack-a-mole variants and aim-and-shoot games, which all sounds quite cheesy, but they're actually presented with a stylish quality that's consistent with the rest of the app.  Although, some of the mini-games are repeated, with the jumping game appearing a few times.

I watched Numberlys in a quiet room, on a comfy couch and enjoyed the 28 scenes within an hour. Afterwards I watched some of their behind-the-scenes footage, from which it's clear the development team are proud of their work.  I've enjoyed and savored Numberlys, but like any film, I probably won't watch it again for a while, but it could be a recurring treat for a young child.

Immediately upon starting up the game, you're thrust into a fight with one of the Joker's thugs which acts as a tutorial in the ways of combat. The controls are fairly straightforward: Tapping the screen allows you to dodge an incoming blow, swiping the screen left or right throws those respective punches, swiping up does an uppercut, and swiping down just when an enemy is about to strike does a deflection move resulting in a dizzied opponent.

The responsiveness of the controls is pretty good, and it's easy to piece together some nice combos using the swiping gestures. However, it really just feels like a second rate attempt at Infinity Blade-style combat. A couple of additional elements do spice things up though. There is a counterattack mechanic where tapping circles that pop up on your opponent's body will result in Batman doing various types of counters, most of which look pretty sweet. The problem with this is that you feel very removed from these moves, as you sit back and merely watch these canned animations after simply tapping some circles. Enemies can also go into a "rage" where your offensive efforts do nothing, and instead you must concentrate on dodging their incoming attacks until they cool down and you can get back to pummeling them in the face.

My main issue with the fighting mechanics is that they really lack depth. Most fights can be easily won by simply timing a deflection, dizzying your opponent, and swiping back and forth furiously to unleash a combo on them. Of course, if you make the effort to mix things up by doing different combos, using your arsenal of special gadgets, and utilizing counterattacks, then you will be rewarded with a better rating and more experience points when the battle is over. But, if you're stuck on a particularly hard fight, the motivation isn't really there to prevent you from taking the cheap and formulaic route to a victory.

While the actual combat mechanics feel simplistic, Arkham City Lockdown does offer quite a bit in the way of content. After your first tutorial fight, you enter into the Batcave where you can access a map of Gotham City which allows you to choose from a selection of battles. Only a portion of the city is unlocked from the start, with a few entry level fights for you to choose from. Each fight contains multiple opponents that you'll face off against one right after the other, utilizing the same health meter for all of them to add some challenge. When oh when will villainous thugs learn to all attack at the same time?

After completing each of these battles you'll unlock the boss battle for that area, the first being Two Face. He'll send some goons after you at first, and in between bouts a new gameplay element is introduced. When Two Face tries to pop a cap in your behind with his tommy gun, you toss out your trusted Batarang. Here you get a third-person view from right behind the Batarang and you actually control it by tilting, directing it into Two Face and knocking his aim off kilter. As gimmicky as this sounds, I actually thought it was a pretty cool little diversion from the regular fisticuff action. After tearing through the thugs and tossing a few Batarangs, you'll square off against the man himself, Two Face.

The first boss battle with Two Face is tough, and he handily kicked my ass multiple times in a row. This brings me to another aspect to Arkham City Lockdown, the character progression of Batman. Beating up bad guys earns you experience which will level up Batman and his attributes. You can also earn what is called Waynetech points which can be poured into upgrading your various gadgets, armor, combat skills, and more. If you want to speed up the process, you can get additional Waynetech points via in-app purchase, though so far it seems like you'll naturally earn enough to trick out your Batman adequately during the course of regular play.

Aside from the regular campaign missions and storyline, there's also some cool extra stuff like unlockable character bios, Batman wallpapers, a viewer for checking out a selection of included Arkham City digital comics, and several additional skins to outfit your Batman in. These can be immediately unlocked via IAP (and they're all pretty sweet), but unfortunately there's no way to earn these alternate costumes through normal play, which would have been a cool incentive for playing through the game or accomplishing specific goals.

In the case of Batman Arkham City Lockdown, my feelings towards the game are mixed. I'm not terribly excited over the simplistic fighting mechanics, but I absolutely love the character progressions system and bonus unlockable items. Plus, the combat system did end up growing on me, and as long as you're not expecting something at the level of Infinity Blade II [$6.99] then you might actually have a good amount of fun making your way through all the fighting missions. Also, the game's visuals look absolutely fantastic, not surprising given the use of the Unreal Engine. It definitely feels like a very authentic mobile spinoff to the console titles.

Whether or not you should pick up Batman Arkham City Lockdown will likely boil down to what your expectations are from the game. If you want a comparable experience to the console titles that you can carry around in your pocket, then you will probably end up disappointed in this effort. If you want a gorgeous looking Batman title filled with all sorts of nice fan service and simple combat that won't bust your brain with strategic depth, then Arkham City Lockdown delivers this really well.

It will be cool if the developers support the game post-release, as there are only a few bosses to battle in the game and it all goes by fairly quickly. It's pretty fun replaying through the game though, especially if you don't mind forking over some extra cash for the alternate costumes which add a bit of a different experience to additional playthroughs. Overall Batman Arkham City Lockdown is a really well made title that I've ended up enjoying more than I initially thought I would, and if you're a big Batman fan and can accept some of the combat limitations, then it's definitely worth a look.

For those that haven’t played it before, The Bard’s Tale follows the story of the unnamed protagonist as he gets swept away in a story rife with RPG clichés and humor.  Even though the game hardly ever takes itself seriously, the writing and humor remain well done and are the stars of the game. The voice acting also deserves a special mention, with Cary Elwes (of Princess Bride fame) as the voice of the bard. There are some that may roll their eyes at the sarcastic humor, but I believe that it's actually a big part of the appeal as too many games take themselves way too seriously these days.

Gameplay-wise, Bard’s Tale is a top-down action RPG with a somewhat basic real time battle system. At the start, players can wield various close and long range weapons and execute simplistic combos to take down your foes. Every couple of levels, players are also given an opportunity to choose traits, which range from earning additional gold, to special ranged shots, to unlocking weapon specializations like two-handed swords and dual-wielding.

Players also earn money by picking up random treasure drops from slain baddies and random chests, which are used to purchase weapons and armor. The Bard’s Tale may not be as robust as newer games in terms of character customization, but it gets the job done as far as providing an adequate gameplay experience. Furthermore, the game is absolutely massive in terms of the main adventure as well as optional quests.

In addition, a big part of the gameplay in The Bard’s Tale is its comprehensive summoning system. The bard can summon a wide variety of companions from support-based characters to offensive warriors. You start out with a limited amount of companions, but you learn more as you complete the main story. It’s always recommended to have someone summoned to help you in battle, and a lot of the strategy in the latter part of the game will be choosing the most helpful companion for the situation.

From a controls standpoint, The Bard’s Tale offers an option of a virtual joystick and a touch-based controls scheme. The joystick works well enough, although I would have liked it placed a little further from the corner of the screen for comfort purposes. Meanwhile, I just didn’t like the touch-based controls as you seem to lose a lot of versatility with this method, especially during battles. I’d consider these concerns to be relatively minor but potentially frustrating, considering the difficulty of the game.

One area that may pose a problem for some players is the surprisingly hard difficulty (at least, compared to other iOS action-RPGs). The majority of my playtime was done on the normal difficulty and I found myself having to do quite a bit of experience and money grinding just to give myself a fighting chance while playing. In addition, the lack of a ‘save anywhere’ system makes for some frustrating scenarios if you happen to die before you make it to a checkpoint (a definite possibility when you’re dealing with random encounters on the world map).

Also, it’s important to note that despite the relatively simple battle system, you cannot expect to bowl over mobs of enemies by mashing the attack button (ok you can, but only after some serious grinding); there are too many enemies with special abilities such as knockbacks and healing spells. Instead, you’ll have to actually prioritize enemies and employ actual techniques like using your companion to divide and conquer. It seems obvious, but there aren’t a lot of action-RPGs on the App Store that actually require some organization and planning. Of course, folks can also take advantage of several IAPs ranging from extra gold to stat increases, which basically put the game on easy mode.

Whether or not you end up enjoying The Bard’s Tale depends greatly on your priority for what makes a good game. If you care more about story and overall presentation, then Bard’s humorous story, great voice acting, and decent graphics should leave you highly satisfied. The visuals are particularly well done on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, as the added effects look great on these devices. However, players looking for a robust battle and character customization system may be disappointed as these areas are definitely where the game shows its age. Either way, despite its age, The Bard’s Tale merits at least some consideration and is recommended for any fan of action-RPGs.

Think of Epoch as a bizarre "what if" scenario come true. It's sci-fi Infinity Blade with guns, and it's pretty thorough with its adaption of that game's upgrade model and on-rails structure. The key departure is within Epoch's action model -- instead of hacking and slashing, you'll be whipping, sliding, jumping around, ducking or crashing your robot into pieces of cover as enemies sling bullets and lasers at you. If you're moving tactically, enemies will lose their bead on your metallic frame, and you will then be subsequently free to target them and fire without worry.

The enemy AI is aware of what you can pull off, and the way they coax you out of a flow or a dead period is one of the more exciting aspects of Epoch. Some enemies fire timed grenades that you'll need to avoid, while others can fire sweeping lasers that you'll need to jump over, and so on. Mitigating these hazards, while also handling the other enemies firing at you at different speeds and rates, keeps the volume of battle on 11 and makes you to consider options and moves ahead of the one you're currently executing. I like this approach to battle; it's kinetic, but forces some thoughtfulness.

Moving in cover is a simple, visceral joy, by the way. The animations are smooth, the swipe controls are intuitive, and you get a palpable sense of power, speed, and actual control as you bound from pillar to pillar, barrier to barrier. Epoch does a great job at mixing up the action, too, by bringing in new enemy types, compelling waves, and generally keeping you on your toes throughout the game. Though, with that said, it lasts just shy of an hour.

Shooting is a side-bar, much like cover is for most cover-based shooters. It's automated, but based on who you target. There are, on the other hand, some user-controlled special abilities that essentially act as upgradeable crowd-thinners on cooldown clocks. Think magic but in the real world explode-y sense, and you've got the ticket.

Epoch ... encourages its users to play through sequences multiple times in order to earn more income to buy new guns and new abilities from its in-game store, which is brimming with high-cost content. There's a stumble here. Re-runs though a level you're previously beaten doesn't appear to yield new fights or content outside of difficulty. The kickback is that, even though the combat is awesome, you'll find yourself doing the maneuvers in the same spots.

Another point: even though the on-rails approach that Epoch takes to guide you through its narrative element is effective, the lack of control can become grating when you're just re-loading the same content over and over again. Infinity Blade disguises this same problem effectively by giving you the ability to pick where your character goes. It also dishes out some optional side paths and item pick-ups. Epoch doesn't, so you're left with zero to do outside of fighting whenever you're stuck in a grind cycle.

If you're into upgrades and that rinse and repeat model of progression I doubt you'll have any qualms with Epoch because, otherwise, it's a good game that really executes on what sets it apart from a billion other titles: it's cover-system. You'll jump, glide, and whip all over the place while executing on some cool on-your-heels strategy padded out by a host of competent mechanics and systems. I recommend it, but also excuse the game time and a lot of the pacing issues.

Oh! And check out the game's story. It's a delight and delivered just right.

I think the easiest way to describe what the game is all about is to call it a largely text-based menu-driven mash up of a Civilization game and a Choose Your Own Adventure book. If you're the kind of person who requires flashy graphics, fast action, rock-bottom pricing, and online multiplayer, stop reading now. This is not the game for you. If, however, you can barely even fathom a more glorious conglomeration than Civilization and Choose Your Own Adventure, prepare to absolutely lose yourself in King of Dragon Pass. …Read More

In addition, development has started on the iPad version of the game, which is glorious news for iPad-owning fans to the game. In fact, my only real issue with KoDP is that I really wanted to play it on the iPad and text-based games with mega-pixelated fonts running in 2x mode just doesn't jive with me. From the sounds of it, the developers are just starting on work for the iPad adaptation, and haven't yet committed to whether it's going to be a universal update or an entirely separate version… But I've got my fingers crossed.

Zachtronics Industries' puzzler hit the PC indie scene earlier this year, wowing critics and players alike. I tell you this to keep you reading, because the other shoe is about to drop: this is a game about chemical synthesis. And it's not some sort of dolled up, sexy chemical synthesis. This game puts players to work creating chemical products from their raw elements in the simplest terms possible. You'll be bonding one chemical symbol to another, creating workflows out of color coded paths to move them along. And you'll (probably) love it.

I say "probably," because SpaceChem isn't for everyone. You'll need a heavy dose of curiosity and creativity, plenty of patience and just a dash of masochism. But if you're still reading this review after seeing the screenshots and learning what it's about, I'm pretty sure you'll love this game.

As mentioned, SpaceChem is all about chemical synthesis. You're responsible for turning elements and compounds into the required chemical products, and then mass producing them. At the game's most basic, a level requires you to bring in two elements, bond them together and output the correct compound. To facilitate this process, you have a pair of red and blue waldos, remote manipulators that will follow the paths you lay down and the commands you place in that path. You create the program, and they'll follow through, red on red, blue on blue.

From that simple input/output beginning you'll learn to break and create bonds, combine and discard the fruits of multiple reactors and set up conditional commands. The outputs get more and more complicated, but the game largely lets you muddle your way through unassisted. Aside from introducing you to each new command with a tutorial screen, you'll be left on your own to work through each level. This left me hitting my head on any number of walls while I worked my way through, but there are few feelings as good as finally solving a tricky level and watching your quota fill up.

Each time you get that thrill, though, there's another level waiting to defeat you. There over 40 levels to work through in the main campaign, and most leave you longing for the comfort of your last completed level. Once you're through those, there are well over 100 more puzzles available in ResearchNet with more to come. These are community created and carefully curated, and yes, you can contribute your own assignments as well.

One of the coolest things about SpaceChem is that each level has a near-endless number of potential solutions. Each solution you come up with is ranked against the community, so you'll know if you could have done better, with fewer cycles spent or symbols used. Then you can go back and increase your efficiency. If you're so inclined, you can also see what players from the desktop version have done by visiting SolutionNet. It's cheating, a bit, but it's also extremely educational to learn how efficiently other people are pulling these things off.

Playing SpaceChem feels like learning a new skill. It's a slow education, but you can build on what you learn until you no longer feel like you need to start each challenge from scratch. The light-bulb moments are frequent and motivating. This game should feel like work, but it's insanely fun.

Unfortunately, the iPad version is missing a little bit of the desktop version: namely, the story and boss battles. The boss battles didn't work with the iPad's setup, and the story had to be chucked without them. So if you can't bear to go without, you might want to consider making your purchase on desktop. But everything else about this port is top notch. After an early patch the interface works beautifully on the touch screen. The music is fantastic, and, for what it's worth, the game looks as good as it could on any desktop monitor.

SpaceChem is an easy purchase to recommend. It's not as if I can tell you to buy it if you're into puzzle games about creating workflows for chemical synthesis -- you're looking at a rare breed. If any part of you thinks you might be interested in such a thing, then congratulations, you're the target market. Play SpaceChem. If you don't, you're depriving yourself of one of the smartest, coolest puzzle games around. Why would you want to go and do a thing like that?

At its core, High Flyer Death Defyer is a sky/cave diver with a heavy dose of exploration and collection quests thrown into the mix. You play as Arreon, a member of the Death Defyers: a group of skydiving explorers charged with discovering new islands (and treasure) in a post-apocalyptic world in which the only human cities reside in the sky.  At the onset, High Flyer’s story is a bit convoluted and confusing, but as you continue playing through the story, you’ll get a better glimpse of what the heck is going on through the game’s comic book style cutscenes.

The first thing you’ll notice while playing High Flyer Death Defyer is its well-done cell-shaded visuals. The game’s graphic engine does an excellent job conveying the sense of adventure and discovery that is prevalent throughout most of your play. Even more impressive is its relatively stable and high framerate, a requirement for games that need to convey that sense of free-falling speed. Granted, High Flyer requires either an iPhone 4 or an iPad in order to enjoy the game and all its visual glory.  Strangely, even though the iPhone version is classified as a universal app, a lot of elements will appear blurry unless you buy the separate ‘HD’ version that only works on the iPad.

Unfortunately, once you get past High Flyer Death Defyer’s eye-candy, you’re left with a game with a messy tutorial and dreary controls. The tutorial is way too long, doesn’t do a good job of explaining all the gameplay elements, and some tutorial levels are even harder to pass than the post-tutorial levels. In fact, the only saving grace is that you can skip most of the tutorial and head straight to the story, but folks that don’t figure this out (the game does not really show you how to quit the tutorial beforehand), are in for a frustrating initial experience.

You may be able to skip the tutorial, but you can’t avoid High Flyer’s control issues. The game comes bundled with two different control schemes: a tilt-based option that simply does not offer the amount of precision, accuracy and speed needed to do well in High Flyer, and a (default) virtual joystick that lacks the responsiveness and customization necessary in order to use it well. The joystick is a better control option than the tilt controls, but it still leaves much to be desired.

These issues are a shame too, because High Flyer Death Defyer’s story mode is actually well-done. I particularly liked the fact that the game features seamless continuity between stages without any loading screens. Each level has you jumping from island to island, and once you land you get your score, the game saves, and then you get immediate control of your character right where you left off. It’s certainly something that’s not really seen in these types of games. There’s also a lot of content to play through, and plenty of treasures and collectibles to seek out. It’s just too bad that the controls will likely prevent you from ever obtaining the harder items.

High Flyer Death Defyer had the makings of an excellent game, particularly with its nice graphic style, story and core gameplay. Unfortunately, these features don’t mean much when the controls are this frustrating. If Game Mechanic Studios were to address these issues in a future update (and I believe that they can certainly be fixed via an update), then High Flyer might be a game worth checking out. However, in its current state (and current price), I really can’t recommend High Flyer Death Defyer.

If you’re one of the two or three people who are really into Infinity Blade’s lore, know that this update also packs in a “sneak peek” at the game’s book, "Infinity Blade: Awakening." The whole thing is available right now, actually, on the App Store for $2.99.

That's not a RookBane, btw.

A small little side-note here, but it appears as if Infinity Blade 2 will launch with its share of new equipment and items in addition to the pre-existing stuff in Infinity Blade. I’m not sure if this applies to new items added in updates, but if it does, this update rolls in a lot of content that you’ll see again this December.

[Via TUAW]

At any rate, the very first screens of The Dark Meadow [$5.99] had me foaming at the mouth, and rightfully so -- it was a first person perspective exploration game with pieced-together baddies, a super atmospheric setting, and best of all, powered by the rather esteemed Unreal Engine, which is still winning awards to this day. It had all the makings of a truly standout game on the iOS platform, and I wont deny that my hopes were very high for it.

Speaking of atmosphere, when it comes to making the setting appropriately spooky and weird, The Dark Meadow has it down to a fine art. The game itself looks terrific, and the music is dark without being overpowering or ridiculous. You will navigate your way around with simple touch controls and by moving from spot to spot, which foregoes the need for a directional pad. And I truly appreciated how little clutter there was on the screen -- Phosphor Games wanted this to be a clean, immersive experience for the player, and the attention to detail is evident.It's easy to get lost in this world.

As you explore darkened hallways, you'll come across baddies that you'll need to clear out in order to progress. My first few go-rounds with them, I was pretty pleased with the way combat worked. They always appear at a distance, so when you first see them you'll be armed with a crossbow (and later down the line, other weapons will be available.) You'll use your finger to aim and you'll let go when you want to fire, which feels smooth and makes the experience pleasant overall, at least initially.

Once your enemy is really close, you'll switch to melee. The fights are designed so that you can slash with a finger swipe and dodge by tapping an arrow to the right or left. The game is good about telling you when to act, so if you pay attention, you can really get the rhythm of fights down. For instance, after a dodge, if the game prompts you to "attack now!", it's time to get your slashes in, but if not, there's another attack coming, so wait for it. It works a little like a toned down version of Infinity Blade [$5.99], although missing most of the finesse and feeling fairly basic comparatively.

Keep up your fights, and you'll keep gaining experience, and the game makes sure you know it. After each fight the game grinds to a halt, at which point the game tallies your experience while you wait, which not only feels really unnecessary, but also hurts the pacing of the game. When you hit a level, you'll be able to assign experience points how you please. Enough of these and you'll gain new weapons as well, so know that your efforts will be rewarded.

You aren't completely alone on this journey, either. There's an old man you'll meet in the beginning who will communicate with you via radio and give you advice on how to survive in this dark world. His advice can be quite handy (and in addition, it's pretty decently voice-acted, too). In fact, if you die a few times, he will tell you different things, and some of it is pretty hilarious - -bravo for the writer or sticking in bits of tongue-in-cheek humor! You can also find scraps of paper and notes that will shed some light on the world you're in and divulge its backstory. It adds some nice detail, some of which will factor in as you get further into the game.

If The Dark Meadow has any weakness, it's that the fights eventually begin to feel a bit rote, and I found myself wishing creatures would stop popping up so I could just explore my surroundings and progress through the story without hinderances. On the other hand, I'm sure I'd feel the same way if the situation were real, but hey, there's some pains in the ass in every dark and twisted universe, and this is one of them. As long as you don't mind the grindy feel to the combat, then you really shouldn't be bothered by this much.

Overall, The Dark Meadow is a standout in almost every way. From look to setting to the touch-centric gameplay, it shines, and you can tell this title was crafted with much love from its developers. Any horror fan will be thrilled by it, especially if your traditional iPhone fare is stuff like that wretched Silent Hill game [99¢] (even this fangirl couldn't swallow that.) It's quite a bit more expensive than the usual iOS title, and it's worth every bit of the money you'll spend. It doesn't quite hit the note of perfection largely becomes of the combat mechanic, but it edges damn close -- and even at that distance, it's well worth your time and money.

This game is sexy, pulling out most of the bells and whistles we've come to expect from the Unreal Engine. Textures, lighting and shadows are all top notch. But we've seen that before, and slick visuals don't make the game. Luckily, Gyro13 follows through with outstanding gameplay, an original soundtrack and even a hint of a story.

You play a pilot of a gyrocopter, tasked with rescuing people in a mine that's filling with deadly gas. In each of the game's 24 levels you're told how many miners there are to save and how long you have to save them before the gas overtakes you. You can survive it, but your cargo hold is unprotected and your passengers will die.

Speed is of the essence, but so is safety. Your ship is fragile, so a few slight bumps against the wall will blow you apart. Thanks to a complicated set of controls, avoiding the walls and obstacles can be a serious challenge. Your ship moves on a central axis, controlled by an on-screen slider. Slide to the right to tip your nose down and left to raise it up. That covers the steering, and a separate button controls thrust. You can also tap the screen to pulse certain obstacles in front of your ship. It's complicated, but that difficulty is fundamental to the game's success. It takes quite a while to get the hang of it, but practice enough and it'll click. When it does, Gyro13 comes together beautifully.

Rescuing the trapped miners takes skill. The mines they're trapped in are filled with all kinds of old equipment, explosives, wind tunnels and poisonous gas clouds. And those are just the early obstacles. The time limit is generous in most levels, but only if you can get through cleanly. Crash your ship and you'll be sent back to the last checkpoint, but with 5 more seconds on your total time. As time gets tighter and tighter, landing on those platforms to pick up the miners becomes an exercise in cost/benefit analysis. Is it worth it to save the miner who's so badly injured he can only crawl slowly to the ship? It might cost the lives of the other eight miners in your hold, and you might not save him either. Could you make the hard call?

It's an elegant experience, one made even better by the accompanying soundtrack. Tense techno beats increase the anxiety of the last moments of breathable air slipping away. A few other bits and pieces help Gyro13 stand out, including unlockable skins for your ship. Each level's introduction is voiced, too -- and while the voice acting isn't top of the line, I've certainly heard (much) worse.

Gyro13 isn't the most ambitious title we've seen built on UDK, but it is one of the best so far. I only have one major complaint: you can't see how much time you have left in a level, so if you've forgotten your time limit some of the hard choices become moot. Otherwise there's little left out -- even the currently-absent Game Center support is planned for the first update.

Still, this is a challenging title, and it's one that requires players to commit to an unusual control scheme. I grew to love those controls, but if you're worried they're not your style you can always get a few more opinions in our discussion thread. For the daring, though, there are miners to be rescued, and it looks like you're the only one who can do the job.

I'm still high off the faster, crazier NFS: Hot Pursuit and the dialed back Real Racing 2, I think. Shift 2 exists in a limbo-like spot somewhere in between those titles, with a slightly heavier weight toward the realistic racing, which is something the franchise has only recently started dabbling in. We loved the first Need for Speed: Shift because it nailed what we wanted from a console approximation and it was a convincing, competitive iOS sim-racer. This sequel hits those same notes, but the standard, and thus what I expect, has raised since.

The idiots on your morning commute are probably evidence enough that passing the driver's test doesn't make you a great driver, just the same as Shift 2's isn't a great game because its basics are up to snuff. The sum of A Bunch of Cars and A Bunch of Tracks doesn't amount to much, particularly because there's little to differentiate the vehicles from one another beyond their look and stats. At least upgrading the speed, tires, brakes and all that jazz gives your ride a feel akin to actual driving. The tilt-turning sensitivity is as stellar as it's ever been in these iOS versions of NFS, particularly when turning off the driving assists.

Vehicles move faster as you move up the tiers, graduating from the D-class to C to B and so on, which is a structure so straightforward I found myself struggling to stay interested. I didn't feel like I was grew and improved as I moved up the ladder--more like I was checking chores off a to-do list that rewarded me with more mediocrity. Unleashed worked great for scratching the upgrade itch the series always gives me, at least.

Speaking of which, EA, it'd be far more enjoyable to let me improve cars at my own pace. Stop nagging me to spend real money on in-game cash every couple of races, yeah? Those incessant pop-up ads are really annoying. On the other hand, I didn't mind the interruptions encouraging me to use Origin, EA's new digital distribution service. I dig its implementation here--I tap the Origin icon and I can send challenges to current friends, add new ones, and play around with my profile. It's early, but the potential here for a universal in-game social network for EA titles is fantastic, and I can't wait to see how future games expand on the basics of daring someone to do better than you.

Most of all, I was caught off guard by the demanding difficulty of Unleashed, actually, and I consider myself a solid driver (at least when it comes to video games, let's not talk about my real-world insurance). Earning stars for first-place finishes and stylish, flawless maneuvering earns stars, and even at the C-level I struggled to earn enough to advance to the next set of time trials or 1v1 duels. I ended up replaying older races endlessly before burning out on Need for Speed playing it safe.

Shift 2 understands the racing genre like the best of 'em, but coasting on its competence and expecting us to adore what others (including EA) have done better isn't enough. So, yeah, once again: Don't bother. This is a bland, boring racing game compared not only to previous iOS Need For Speed titles, but also other racers already on the App Store. Wait for the inevitable iOS port of Need for Speed: The Run, which is so fundamentally different from the rest of the series that I gotta believe it'll be the refreshing change of pace we all wanted.

The game features three modes: Quick Challenge, Championship and Multiplayer. Quick Challenge allows you to practice before a race, to familiarize yourself with the bike and track. You choose the difficulty level and number of laps. Championship Modes include easy (4 races), medium (6 races) and hard (12 races), which must each be beaten in turn as they're locked initially. Each Championship begins with qualifying practice laps which determine who scores pole position, followed by the race itself. Multiplayer mode lets up to four petrol-heads race via a local wi-fi connection and works with a combination of iPhone and iPad devices.

Let's look at the bikes and tracks. You start with a 1100 Monster EVO , but can unlock other Ducati bikes by winning races, including a Hypermotard, Diavel, Multistrada, Streetfighter and Superbike model, which all feature in Ducati's actual product range for 2011. The roaring engine of each model was recorded live, giving each bike a unique and "true" engine sound. You can hear the gearbox changes. This all sounds better if you wear headphones, plus you'll also hear which side the opponents are approaching from. While you can unlock these bikes, there's no way to boost their attributes such as vehicle speed, acceleration, handling or damage, which makes sense given that you're actually racing real-world bikes. There are six tracks provided, including mountains, village, urban and desert settings. Each track can be raced backwards too, effectively making 12 tracks in total.

The retina graphics are excellent. During a race, you can see far into the distance, which creates a realistic landscape, but attention is also paid to little details. There's billboards, spectators, vehicles parked off-track, fences, stadiums, an ambulance and buildings and that's just the first track. When you mess up a corner (and you will) your wheel stains green from the grass. There are three settings for graphics: Low (no effects), Medium (anti-aliasing ie: smoothing) and High (adds motion blur). One minor issue with the graphics is that the wheel and bike shadow are indistinct, forming a black area beneath the bike. Camera angles can be set to first-person, behind-the-rider or rear-view perspective.

The controls include a combination of touch and tilt. Unobtrusive buttons are provided for brake and throttle and holding these down causes stronger braking or acceleration. Tilting the device leans the rider left or right. If you don't like tilt controls, smile, because touch controls are planned for integration in version 1.2, but it's not clear yet if this will be via buttons, screen touches or sliders. Two extra tilting moves are available: Accelerating and tilting forwards pulls a wheelie (you big show off!), while braking and tilting backward performs a "stoppie". The wheelies are an obvious highlight as they're easy to control, but you can still steer and it feels superb to pass between multiple opponents on one wheel. Yeah baby! Eat that.

How do the bikes handle? That's up to you. The amount of brake assistance provided is configurable (on, off or warning), so you can choose an arcade or simulation game style, to suit your taste. The hardest challenge is definitely the corners. Taking them at full throttle simply does not work, so it pays to brake early and accelerate when exiting the bend. Warning indicators appear on screen prior to each corner, which are color-coded to show the difficulty of the turn. You can ram other riders, of course, but that typically causes you to crash. And if you don't like the quality in-game music, simply play your own iPod tracks.

While this game has plenty of positives, there's a couple of issues. The menu keys are small and occassionally unresponsive, requiring multiple taps to register. The player profile name couldn't fit my full Game Centre name, so it was truncated by default. The circuits are quite long, which is fine when you're racing, but if you're half a lap behind - *ahem* - it can be a long and lonely circuit. A short and simple circuit would have been a better initial training ground. And some players have commented that the "feeling of speed" could be improved; although a motion blur update has recently been added. And lastly, bumping and grinding against other bikes currently feels and sounds clunky and repetitive.

Ducati Challenge proves that two-wheeled gameplay can be as good as the four-wheeled variety and the developers are still making improvements. This game is an easy recommendation for moto-racing fans, who will strive to unlock the latest official Ducati models and circuits while climbing the leader-boards. Personally, i'm playing to unlock the rest of the backgrounds, which look so good in the (above) trailer and along the way i'll probably pull some massive wheelies.

What gives, asks the indie developer with a good game that hasn’t accrued this kind of landmark dough? While Infinity Blade is a good game and a technical marvel to boot, it’s also had a heck of a lot of external support from two well-known entities: Epic and Chair. I think that helps to explain why it’s sold so much in so little time. It was also a flagship game for the UDK, which certainly drew some a lot of extra eyes to the project.

Epic released this number for a reason: it wants me, you, and every developer out there to know that there’s a market for core, Unreal Engine 3-powered titles out there. Mark Rein, Epic VP and co-founder, says in statement that Epic is “looking forward to our licensees achieving spectacular results of their own,” as if this perfect storm isn’t so perfect.

I suppose we’ll see.

The competitive online component has been dubbed “Infinity Blade: Arena,” but aside from its monster-versus-dude twist, point, usage of Game Center, and its titling, we still know almost next to nothing about it.

No worries if you can find the time to spare this afternoon, though. Game creator Chair Entertainment will be doing a special Facebook Q&A session this afternoon at 4:30 EST to answer these lingering pre-launch questions.

Back to those other content additions I mentioned: in addition to “Arena,” this content update will see the release of “two dozen” new rings, swords, shields, and helmets, as well as Facebook integration, and new achievements. Also, Chair will be dropping in a new Boss Rush mode called “Survivor Mode,” that’ll have you fighting against Titan after Titan in an attempt to get a high score. Oh, and holiday helms! Everyone loves those.

That’s one hell of a free content drop for any kind of game, right? I can't wait to hack you dudes up this Thursday.

Despite the pedigree, you don't actually have to be familiar with Dofus to enjoy Dofus: Battles. Nor do you have to like MMORPGs, because this isn't one. It probably helps a bit to understand the character classes and items, but the uninitiated can pick it up quickly and without too much trouble.

Right out of the gate, after touching the horrendously designed icon, you'll be rewarded with a lavish visual style. The game takes the same three-quarters perspective, grid-based combat as its MMO lineage and despite a curious lack of retina support, character animations, menus and the interface are all well crafted, simple to use and nice to look at.

The game itself operates similar to Plants vs. Zombies, but the added RPG layer and the manner of unit variety means there is a different kind of strategy at play here. Instead of having a system where each unit counters the enemy evenly, you have a collection of twelve different heroes, half of which are support, the other offensive and you can choose any of them any time you want. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, level up over time, can be fully armored and outfitted, have gender options and varying areas of effect.

It's a bit complex, especially when you toss in an entire economy system where you can buy and upgrade armor, weapons and other trinkets. None of the units are remotely similar either -- so choosing a unit type to use and when is integral to setting up your strategy.

At the beginning of each turn, you'll place your units on a grid. Enemies walk down the grid toward your side of the screen, where a dragon is hanging out -- if they get there, it's game over. To stop the massive bestiary selection from infiltrating your personal space, your twelve heroes each have different abilities -- from the grunt with a one-block range to chop with his sword, to the magician who can call down giant-teethed sheep, you'll have a huge diversity of tactical options and combos to choose from.

After you place your team on the grid, you'll push play and the first wave of enemies will come down for some automated real-time combat. There are two different modes, wave defense and timed defense. As your heroes kill off enemy units, you'll be rewarded with soul fragments -- collect five and you can add another hero to the field.

There are 28 different levels in the game and before each match you can decide which of three difficulties you'd like tackle it on. Each difficulty will yield different amounts of experience points, monsters, soul points and rewards. It might seem like a cop-out, but the fact you can drop it down to an easier level in order to progress is incredibly helpful considering the game does seem to retain one facet from RPGs that people are likely going to love to hate: grinding.

It's not as bad as a traditional, fully-fledged adventure-RPG, but there are certain levels that are near impossible to get through without going back and cleaning up some of the earlier ones for a second or third time. That's not to say fans of knuckle biting strategy can't get through certain stages on lower levels, but for those looking to strategize less and use brute force instead, you can grind your characters up instead of overclocking your brain to get the strategy right. The difficulty levels change the gameplay enough to warrant these repeated attempts and you won't be able to use the same strategy on easy as you would on normal or high.

For fans of weird, tacked on mini-games, you won't be disappointed either. Almost without explanation the game also features an odd accelerometer mini-game where you dodge enemies and a rhythm/music game ala Simon Says. Thankfully you can skip those.

The only major complaint I have comes from the equipment screen. Throughout the game, you'll pick up weapons and items and you can buy them if you choose -- but this is the only part of the game where the interface feels unhelpful. It's hard to properly compare items and their statistical difference is usually so slight it's hard to justify spending you money on a weapon that only adds one point to your attack score. To be blunt, it would be nice to have an auto-equip function for lazy people who don't feel like comparing stats for a hundred different items.

The high production values and ridiculously in-depth history, bestiary and other reading material alone is enough to make Dofus: Battles an easy recommendation, so it's nice the game itself is actually enjoyable. The difficulty spike can be frustrating at times, but as long as you enjoy experimenting with different strategies or grinding for XP, it won't be much of a bother. It's doesn't have the entry-level appeal of something like Plants vs. Zombies, but if you're looking for a bit more depth in strategy or slightly more open gameplay, you'll certainly get it here, even if it comes at the cost of a high bar of entry.