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Review: Future Racer (iPhone)

Words by

Jennifer Allen

Posted on January 18, 2010

There seems to be a growing number of games on the App Store paying homage to the classic futuristic racer Wipeout and this time round it’s the turn of Assyria Studio’s Future Racer. Focusing on the racing side of things rather than the weaponry demonstrated in Wipeout, Future Racer provides an enjoyable racing experience at a bargain price, even if it is lacking in a few areas.

With six tracks and six vehicles on offer, the content isn’t never ending but it is quite respectable considering the price tag. Starting out with one vehicle, a new one is unlocked after each race has been won ensuring there’s some extra motivation to persevere. The tracks are reasonably well rendered but admittedly are nothing overly special. It was nice to see no sign of noticeable lag also which certainly made controlling the game more enjoyable.

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Review: Hustle Kings (PS3)

Words by

Billy Withers

Posted on January 18, 2010

The one thing you can guarantee about snooker players is that they’re pretty damned good at pool as well. I mean, look at Steve Davis for example. Sure, he may be getting on a bit compared to some of the “kids in waistcoats” but he has been known to take part in some of the major tournaments of the 8-ball and 9-ball variety. It’s just a good job for the rest of us that we can get some practice in with the help of Sony’s latest downloadable cue game, Hustle Kings.

I may as well get this part out of the way quickly; this looks stunning for a PSN title. Everything is really crisp and stylish in hi-res and really sets your eyes off on a trip of delirium as they see the bright and varied locales, with some of these fancy bars even having water features, most probably stolen from Alan Titchmarch’s back garden, but just don’t tell anyone. Even the balls and tables have a reassuring gloss and sharpness that is pleasing to see, and this gets even more luxurious when you begin to unlock other stuff, like neon lit pool balls. Ok, perhaps Premiership footballers and Peter Stringfellow may have them for real, but it’s a cool thing for us normal people. It is a really impressive title, visually. It may not have the crowd or players of something like the WSC series, but when all you’re there to do is pot hard, small spherical objects into 6 equally shaped pockets, you’re not really all that bothered. I know I’m not.

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Review: Polar Panic (Xbox 360)

Words by

Billy Withers

Posted on January 15, 2010

Right now, unless you have a house in the middle of the Sahara Desert, we’re experiencing one of the coldest winter chills for 30 years, with snow and ice in your face more than a Z list celebrity on a popularity drive. What better way of beating away those blues and warming your cockles than with a puzzle game involving polar bears, ice and other wintry things. Yeah, I thought that as well.

Eiconic Games have given us a Bomberman style single screen affair, with our sharp clawed hero’s goal being the annihilation of enemies from each stage and reaching the exit before the timer runs out. It is a simple enough idea, and the prospect of toppling Mr Big and his really nasty oil company could well be the stuff of dreams if you want to combat climate change in a non-factual way.

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Review: Tales Of Monkey Island: Rise Of The Pirate God (PC)

Words by

Derek McEwan

Posted on January 15, 2010

Review: Tales Of Monkey Island: Rise Of The Pirate God (PC)

At last I can tell you what I couldn’t in the last review, yay. Guybrush has been killed at the hands of the still human LeChuck….see we all knew he was evil this whole time. LeChuck had only just absorbed the accumulated evil of all the pirates and is back to his usual zombie/ghost/demon/something or other type self and wastes no time in converting Elaine into his Demon bride. Guybrush must now navigate his way through the crossroads of the dead in order to win back his love and ultimately his life with the help of a few deceased characters he has met in previous episodes and of course from the Voodoo lady who has been his main source of questy goodness throughout all of the Monkey Island series.

This is what we have been playing towards, the accumulation of all the games combined. All the puzzles are fiendishly tricky but easy to solve when you know how. The pace is fast and intense with so much happening you may have to pause the game from time to time just to take stock of everything and get back on track. While playing this one through the first time I ignored the majority of the speeches and totally missed the plot, so I played again and I’m glad I did because the story all comes together and almost everything is wrapped up rather nicely, items you carry with you throughout the game but appear to have no purpose are all used here. See, that ring Elaine gave you didn’t mean divorce at all.

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Review: Twin Blades (Xbox 360)

Words by

Steven Wright

Posted on January 14, 2010

Press Start Studios have definitely made a splash with Twin Blades, their debut game available on Xbox LIVE and iTunes. You play as a zombie killing nun. That sentence alone sold the game to me. Just read it one more time – a nun, that kills zombies. Brilliant.

The most striking element of Twin Blades is the graphics. For an indie game Press Start Studios have made it look very polished, even more so than some full price arcade games. I’m not a huge fan of manga but it works really well with the games style. The zombies are similar to the style of PopCap’s Plants Vs. Zombies with bright colours and cartoon violence, that is until you swing at them with your scythe and they explode in variety of pleasing ways. As you work your way through the levels you can expect to see zombies armoured up with a variation of kitchen appliances, Hawaiian clothing, and even the odd skeleton thrown in to make up the numbers.

The game does lack a story as you work your way through 31 days of a zombie apocalypse – I only lasted 11 days without dying. You move across the screen from left to right in standard side scrolling fashion killing everything in your way. Each level consists of the market, graveyard, church, and the edge of the town – all lovingly designed to match the games manga style. The game-play offers up enough variety to keep you interested though.

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