Gaming Addict

The iTunes App store saw the release of Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies today.  The app includes the entire Nacht der Untoten map from CoD: World at War, featuring all the great Nazi zombie blasting action from the full release.  I don’t know yet how the gameplay translates from the PC and console versions, as the app is a little out of my price range at $9.99.  

I think ten bucks is a little steep for one mobile iPhone zombie game.  Despite promises that more maps will be released in the future.  I’m still unconvinced that the iPhone has any possible set up for decent FPS controls, despite the few good games that have been released.  But I’m never opposed to more zombie games being made available.

On a side note

Rumor has it that Pandemic will be closing it’s development doors pretty soon.  That’s been hinted at before, but this time the rumors are pretty strong.  If that’s the case, I’m sorry to see them depart.  Sure they’ve had some terrible games, like the Mercenaries series.  But with them goes the great console Star Wars: Battlefront formula.  Probably decreasing the chances we’ll ever see another console Battlefront, and that’s something to be disappointed about. 

Doom is now available in all it’s original fantastic glory, on the iPhone.  Doom Classic has been released, and for $7 you can play through all the thrills of FPS’s original innovator with a whole new level of portability.  Doom Classic offers all 36 levels of hell, spanning the four chapters Knee Deep In The Dead, Shores of Hell, Inferno, and Thy Flesh Consumed.

Doom Classic will also be supported by online Wi-Fi multiplayer.  The game will have two modes, 4 player Deathmatch, and up to 4 players cooperative through Doom’s four campaigns.  The game will also have multiple control types, so you can adjust your iPhone to suit your fragging style.  

I’m always up for more shooters on the iPhone, because shooters are awesome.  As long as the conversions keep going as well as Doom and Wolfenstein, I’m willing to try anything.  The iPhone has the power to faithfully recreate plenty of shooters, we just need more big developers to step up to the plate.  

All the talk points towards the iPhone being the new mobile gaming device to compete with PSP and Nintendo DS.  But for that to happen, they need more big developers to be willing to try the iPhone’s capabilities on for size.  Instead of good ports, how about some great original games developed with the iPhone’s controls in mind.  

I really don’t like the iPhone “classics” releases that have been going on lately, mostly because of design and price.  The latest of which, Space Invaders, is real disappointment, considering the price point of $4.99 for a game you’ve played to death.  But oh, this is the revamped Space Invaders, like you’ve never seen it before, where it’s the same game but with crazy colors and music and touch control.  Not to mention new enemy types that are exact clones of the zillion Space Invaders game clones that have been played to death. 

But with that price tag you do get the ability to pick your favorite music and play to that, opposed to the game included in Space Invaders. 

But I don’t know, I feel completely uninterested, when you have a $4.99 price tag for something that’s just been done to death, I just don’t think that’s right.  Especially when the game doesn’t really introduce anything new.  And I’m really getting tired of there being so many classic games available for iPhone with obnoxious price tags.  Like $9.99 for Wolfenstein, or $4.99 for Sonic The Hedgehog.  I would love to have mobile Sonic, but I’m not going to pay 5 for a game that took zero development effort, and that I’ve played through more times than I can count.  

All of these are $1 efforts max, and I’d appreciate if Apple stopped overcharging.  But then Apple is known for charging too much for practically everything, so I guess some things will never change.  

Well Resident Evil 4 has launched for iPhone, and it’s horrifically bad.  A title that could have really helped the iPhone’s bid to make itself into a gaming platform all it’s own, really fell completely flat, which is sad because Resident Evil 4 is the best RE game ever.  I’m disappointed to see it gutted in this way.  We all knew the graphics would suffer, obviously, and that’s not my main problem.  Well actually graphics are a problem when you lose track of enemies because they are so poorly rendered you lose them in the poorly rendered backgrounds.  

But the main problem here is that some of RE 4’s best bits have been scrapped to help the game confine to the iPhone’s restrictions, and what you receive is an incomplete compilation of Resident Evil 4 sequences, complete with horrific controls that will have you dead more times than you would like.  Seriously, iPhone controls are typically bad for games like this, but I think Resident Evil 4 took them to a whole new level.  What you really have here is an ugly, shoddy, uncontrollable mobile experience that will set you back $7.99 for the privilege of buying a digital product bearing the Resident Evil name.

I’m really beginning to love the GTA clones that are starting to be kicked out for iPhone.  The newest of which, and probably the best to date, Car Jack Streets.  This is wicked entertaining for two reasons, one it’s a GTA old school clone so it’s bound to be fantastic in it’s own right, and two they went for cartoonish graphics opposed to the awful 3D rendering of games like Payback.  So Car Jack Streets has an interesting and unique style, given the visuals and dingy city elements.

But overall it’s basically just playing old school Grand Theft Auto on your phone on the go, and that’s pretty damn cool.  Although credit to Car Jack Streets for finding a unique story for the concept.  You star as Randall, a man with a bit of a gambling problem and a one million dollar debt owed to the mob.  Instead of just braining the money out of you though, the mob is willing to accept $50,000 a week payments until you work the bill off.  Pretty awesome actually.

Car Jack Streets also offers a practically infinite amount of jobs for you to do, so that you can ensure you make that $50,000 a week every week.  Then there’s the random bouts of carnage you can create to ensure you remain entertained.  

All in all Car Jack Streets is a worthy distraction to put on your iPhone, and for the temporary price of $2.99, who can argue with buying this much better GTA clone for two bucks cheaper than Payback?

I have a new addiction, yesterday it may have been Oregon Trail for iPhone, but now it is Stickwars for iPhone.  Stickwars is freaking awesome, mostly because you’re given the practical power of a god to defend your fortress against would be stick figure invaders.  You see, droves of stick figure warriors attempt to overtake your structure, and starting out your only defense against them is your humble finger.  Placing it on screen on the nearest stick figure man will allow you to pick him up, and toss him away killing him and protecting your fortress.  This is ridiculously fun, and gets pretty frantic and ridiculous as you progress throughout the game. 

As you advance you gain access to any manner of cool things like prisons that allow you to capture prisoners and improve your cash multiplier for each level.  Not to mention additions to your fortress whether it be health upgrades, or new weaponry to unleash on your feeble stick man foes.

Pretty freaking cool.  

Ever since I downloaded it, I’ve been completely addicted to Oregon Trail for iPhone.  Mostly because of the fact that it completely reminds me of my very early school days when we used to play the original Oregon Trail game on those awful Apple green dot matrix computers.  The teachers always said it was a learning experience to see what life was really like, but to me it was just good fun.  Making decisions as to which paths to take, or what methods you should employ in your journey to survive the grueling test of 19th century pioneer life in America.  

Managing your cash and family’s health was all well and good, but hunting, hunting was the freaking coolest thing ever.  Practically like an asteroids mini-game within an ‘educational’ experience, there was nothing cooler than being able to go shoot as much crap as possible, under the guise of learning.

And that’s probably why my fond memories still find a ridiculous amount of enjoyment from the new Oregon Trail in it’s cell phone game incarnation.  Updated graphics and gameplay, but still capturing the elements that made such a simple game a ridiculous amount of fun.  Even if things are a bit cartoony for my normal gaming tastes.  

Yeah, yeah, I’m definitely completely addicted.  

So my new obsession as of late has been as many ‘brick breaker’ games as I can possibly get installed on my iPhone.  I have absolutely no idea why I’ve been in the mood to play solo pong so much lately, but I’ve definitely accidentally discovered the best ‘brick breaker’ game in the history of the world.  Brick Breaker Revolution 3D.

BBR 3D is the coolest thing ever, adding a three dimensional feel to the classic brick breaker game format, and also featuring awesome visuals where the bricks literally explode on screen as you destroy them.  Not to mention the two awesome gameplay modes that BBR 3D offers.  

First there’s my favorite, Classic Mode, in which you have to play through 99 levels, all of increasing difficulty, until your final confrontation with a brick boss that you have to destroy.  I’ve never been good at brick breaker games, despite my love for them, so I’ve never made it all the way to the end, but the game does have a convenient save feature to ensure you never lose your place as you’re playing on the go at least.

Then of course if you’re bored with the classic style of brick breaker play, there’s Revolution Mode, in which you have to advance through each section of bricks by finding and breaking a special ‘key’ brick.  After you destroy the key brick you get to knock the ball through the top of the screen into the next stage area, and then repeat the process until you face off against one of the games zillion bosses.  The best part about Revolution Mode is just that it’s something you haven’t seen before from a game of this type, and a welcome change to the traditional format. 

Actually it’s such a welcome change that I haven’t been able to put my iPhone down lately, which is a problem, mostly because Apple won’t release some sort of battery replacement, and instead forces you to pay $80 for them to replace your iPhone battery once it’s fried.  And they fry so quickly!