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You play as a rising Quarterback in a quest to make a dream career. The game features 32 teams and you make lifestyle and career decisions to rise to the top. If you’re a fan of real-life sports simulations then All Star Quarterback is certainly worth checking out.

Be sure you keep the energy levels of your player high, if you run low on energy you have to purchase energy drinks to keep going. Energy drinks can be bought with in-game currency which is earned as you play and get salary. Of course, you can use in-app purchase to advance by paying real money in exchange for in-game currency.

Mini-games help you train your player and increase fitness levels. However, technical and physical capabilities aren’t enough. You are also tasked with keeping high social ratings by engaging with fans, coach and media.

All Star Quarterback is a universal game available for both iPhone and iPad. Let us know what you think about the game in the comments below.

All Star Quarterback

by Full Fat

Rating
Premiere
2014-09-04
Genre
Games
FREE QR code
Platform
iOS (Universal)
Version
2.3 ⋅ 65 MB
Additional
Info ⋅ Gallery

All Star Quarterback

Live the life of an All Star Quarterback! Lead your team to glory in the ultimate QB simulation. It's about the game, the money, the fame. Can you handle the pressure of the most valuable position on the field?

BE THE QUARTERBACK

Live the dream, call the shots in your QB life with real-time game reporting, making decisions that define your career.

"This twist on traditional sports games is surprisingly refreshing." - 148apps.com

Handle relationships with your coach, agent, fans and more. Train your abilities. Get drafted to new teams. Follow the twists and turns of a real football career. Win it all.

RUN THE SHOW

• Awesome real-time 3D plays in games
• Make game-changing and career-defining decisions
• Work your way up the depth chart
• Hit the gym in three workout mini-games
• Learn new plays on the practice field
• Impress your coach and the media
• Hire an agent and win over the fans
• Gain sponsors with missions and bonuses
• Buy real estate, cars, clothes and private jets
• Enjoy stunning high resolution HD graphics

JOIN THE FULL FAT COMMUNITY!
Visit: fullfat.com
Like: facebook.com/fullfatgames
Follow: twitter.com/fullfatgames
Subscribe: youtube.com/fullfatgames

Support: fullfat.com/support

Ever thought chewing gum and adventure could make a deadly combination? If not, try AdvenChewers for iPhone and iPad from Warner Bros. to get a feel of a fast paced game where chewing bubble gum might just save your life.

You take on an adventurous trip to save your father from an evil general who obviously has evil plans. The back story plays very little role in the actual gameplay. Once you get started with the game your objective is to simply fly through the different environments while dodging obstacles.

The controls are very simple and the initial levels are slow-paced to help you get used to them. Your character chews on a bubble gum that gives it flying abilities. The ‘advenchewer’ keeps running continuously, you tap to make it jump or tap again and hold to inflate the bubble gum and fly. Your flying capability is limited to how big a bubble you inflate, hold for too long and the bubble will pop sending you down to the ground.

The continuous action of deciding to jump, flying or gliding as you dodge various obstacles makes the game quite challenging. In each level you need to find a maximum of three birds that also act as three extra lives. You lose a bird in the case of a failed attempt as you respawn back into the game. Summon a Phoenix by finding its feather and you can fly on its back as you become invincible.

As you continue your journey to find the evil general you will cross environments in different terrains. You start with a city view with high rise buildings and then progress to volcano, ice mountains and more. Flying goo and monkey robots act as obstacles in your path.

The complexity of levels will force you to equip yourself with special bubble gums. Use an electric gum to destroy anything that comes in your path, freeze gum to render everything powerless or soap gum to clean up the goo. There are many more special gums available in the game that manage to give you that extra edge in completing the levels.

Scoring is based on number of coins collected, obstacles smashed, birds remaining and powerups used. There are many achievements to unlock in the game that can keep you coming back for more.

The game comes with a single career mode. I was able to complete 5 game worlds in less than two days. Even though one could play the levels again to collect all three birds to boost score however, more game modes could have been added.

An endless mode where you keep flying as obstacles came in faster would have been a perfect fit. Online mode where you race against your friends ghost would have also been a great value addition. With just a single career mode the game has limited replay value.

In addition to special bubble gums you can also buy gadgets to give you an edge in the game. These gadgets are costlier than the gums. This is where in-app purchases come in. You can buy extra coins in order to buy these gadgets or buy any number of special gums to aid you in clearing the levels.

AdvenChewers takes on a classic genre and bundles it with unique twists to create an addictive game. However, with limited modes it manages to burst its own bubble rather quickly.

Ubisoft is all set to launch Rabbids Big Bang for the iPhone and iPad on October 17th. It is a physics-based game where you get to control little mammals called Rabbids.

Rabbids belong to the race of bunnies that have evolved over a hundred years. The Earth is not enough for them so they are taking a journey to space to explore and make it their playground.

You get to pilot the Rabbids using jetpack boots and gravitational pull of the planets. The goal is to avoid accidents by flying around various obstacles.

The game will include 150 different missions including “crash-landing landing on planets, bouncing off of space cows and reaching specific speeds.” Ubisoft in a press release revealed that Rabbids Big Bang will include lots of customisation options such as upgrading jetpacks, dressing up Rabbids and much more.

Rabbids Big Bang for iPhone and iPad will be priced at $0.99. Ubisoft shared a few screenshots of the game with us. The 3D game environment reveals that you will collect bunny coins and you will have limited fuel to complete your journey around the planets.

Physics-based games have proved to be a popular genre on the App Store. Angry Birds has been one of the most successful series in this genre. In Angry Birds Space we saw the birds fighting the pigs in space.

We will have to wait for the launch of Rabbids on iPhone to see how exciting will the gameplay be and if it manages to get us addicted.

Firemonkeys have announced that Real Racing 3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch will be available for download on February 28th. The adrenaline rushing racing simulation has been widely popular on the App Store. The original Real Racing was developed by Firemint and then developers released the second version. The developers were then acquired by EA.

The third installment of the racing simulation will be free-to-play. Real Racing 3 features “46 licensed vehicles covering 3 classes, a 22 car grid, real world tracks, 8 varied event types and 900+ events.” The freemium model will make the newest racing title from EA free to download and then unlock content either by advancing in the game or by buying in-game content.

The title features “Time Shifted” multiplayer mode, where you can compete with another players race even if they’re not online at the same time. What’s interesting about this feature is that your race could impact the other users’ time as you race to win.

The developers promise to “add more free and exciting content with every update.” Real Racing 3 is certainly one of the highly anticipated racing games on iOS for 2013 and it will be interesting to see how the freemium model works out for EA.

Clash of Clans for iPhone and iPad was updated today with new content. The real time strategy game from Supercell has been a huge hit on the App Store. Supercell and Backflip Studios were recently mentioned by Apple in their press release announcing 40 billion App Store downloads, two emerging game development studios that brought in over $100 million combined for their leading freemium titles.

The game is free-to-play where users have an option to pay for in-app purchases. Freemium titles on the App Store have proved to be a huge success. Clash of Clans has been consistently featured as number one Top Grossing app on Apple’s App Store.

The latest update version 3.25 brings new leaderboards, level 6 troops (barbarians, giants, archers and balloons), new air defenses and much more. The developers at Supercell have been very active at updating the game with new content. User reviews are mostly favorable and the game continues to top the charts.

If you love real time strategy games or war type games then Clash of Clans is certainly the game for you. It may not be for hardcore gamers but it is certainly fun for some casual play. If you’re a beginner or haven’t played any real time strategy games then Clash of Clans is an excellent start. Just one thing, be prepared to get addicted and soon you’ll know how much fun farming, donating and getting more trophies can be.

Love Clash of Clans? Have you unlocked all level 6 troops? Post a photo of level 6 troops in the comments section below and share your thoughts on the new update.

EA Mobile has just released the first trailer for “Need For Speed Most Wanted” for iPhone and iPad. The game is a continuation of EA’s popular Need for Speed racing franchise. With Need for Speed Most Wanted EA aims to revive the ageing racing game.

The latest iteration has been developed by Firemonkeys, the same people who were behind Real Racing, Real Racing 2 and the upcoming Real Racing 3. With NFS Most Wanted you will experience an action packed arcade-style racing game. The game will be made available for iPhone and iPad later this month.

NFS Most Wanted will add new features like “over-the-top collision mechanics” which will result in detailed view of damages that can be caused by smashing into opponents car, walls or even cops.

The game will also bring real-time reflections that give a view of the game world, this feature was first showcased at Apple’s event when Real Racing 3 was previewed. The game is also expected to pack social and online features.

We are expecting more details and screenshots to be made available soon. Even though details are scarce the features planned for this release could certainly bring some freshness to the arcade-style racing genre.

Need for Speed Most Wanted Trailer

IllusionLabs aren’t strangers to App Store success, with TouchGrind and Labyrinth just two of their titles that have been big hits they now attempt again with their new title Blast A Way. Blast A Way for iPhone and iPad is a colorful physics puzzler where your task is to rescue the 3 Boxies that have been left strewn across all 5 worlds and 80 levels.

So how do achieve this task? Its quite simple really, the answer is bombs! 6 different types of bombs to be exact that will blow things up, transport you, change colors and even rebuild previously exploded blocks. All of these actions will enable you to move around the levels and collect the previously mentioned Boxies who are stranded and are waiting for you to pick them up.

The physics of the game are pitch perfect. You navigate the levels with a variety of touch controls which allow you to zoom, rotate and focus on any area of the beautifully designed levels. You can then move your character by drawing a path for them to walk along and final you can throw a bomb by touching where you want it to land and choosing the angle to throw it.

Bomb placement is where the real skill is required, direction, angle and power will all influence the final location of the bomb and where the bomb lands will influence the effect that the bomb has on the Boxies, the environment and even you, especially if you are standing too close to the bomb when it explodes.

It’s nice that you aren’t restricted in the number of bombs that you have at your disposal especially as on some levels getting the bomb to where you need it to land can be pretty tricky.

The 5 worlds are themed on different materials including wood, metal, plastic and fabric and while the structure of the worlds are similar being all made out of a variety of geometric shapes the different materials make them look great. This is certainly the case on the retina displays of the iPhone 4S and the new iPad where they pop off the screen.

It’s frustrating that as a universal app there is no progression synchronization between devices and while there is Game Center integration the 7 achievements are a little disappointing and it would have been nice to see a little more creativity here.

Blast A Way is a wonderful new physics puzzler, at $4.99 it’s a little on the pricey side but you can always try 20 levels for free via Blast A Way Free to see if you like it before you buy it.

What we like

What to know

Blast A Way Gallery

Even in this electronic age board games have never gone out of fashion, the only difference being that where as many of these games were once played on literal boards they are now often being played on virtual boards on iPhones, iPads and other such devices.

And that is certainly the case of the award winning Whoowasit? HD which is now available on the iPad for $4.99 from the App Store.

Whoowasit? HD is like a cross between the classic board games of Clue and Guess Who and is a team based where instead of players competing against each the players are encouraged to work together to solve the puzzles and find the thief who has stolen the ring.

Set in medieval times the game is set in the rooms of a castle and by rolling the dice players take it in turns to move their character from room to room looking for clues to who could have stolen the ring.

The board is beautifully drawn with lots of detail and small animations. Each room contains a different animal and they will have clues to help you finger the thief. However, they won’t give up they’re information for nothing and need to be encouraged to spill the beans by giving them food which can also be found in the rooms.

As it’s a team game everyone gets to see the clues that are presented and can use them themselves. You may think that as everyone is working together that catching the thief would be easy. However, you are up against the clock and failure to find the thief in the allotted time will result in the game being over.

You will also have to avoid the ghost that moves from room to room as being in the same room will see you banished back to the nursery to start your hunt again.

The thief, clues and food that the animals require are changed each time that you play the game too ensuring that no too games are ever the same which makes repeat plays of the game more attractive.

The game also provides additional features for those players that own the board game version of Whoowasit? HD as it includes an interactive chest that becomes part of the board game.

Whoowasit? HD provides is an enjoyable experience and provides a more relaxed gaming experience compared to some of the other titles that are available on the iPad. While some people may be put off by the $4.99 price tag they should remember that this is a game that the whole family can play together and is considerably cheaper than purchasing a board game in a store.

At first glance it appears that despite his name Captain Antarctica is not your usual game hero. However, it’s soon apparent that with a plethora of upgrades and gadgets Captain Antarctica is no ordinary penguin and is ready to take on the task of rescuing his family and friends.

You responsibility in this task is to steer Captain Antarctica though underwater caverns to defeat the multiple bosses across 6 initial chapters, (chapter 7 is listed as “Coming Soon”). While 6 chapters may not seem like a lot of value for the $1.99 price tag each chapter is full of challenges.

The ultimate objective of each chapter is to negotiate your way through the dangerous underwater caverns and all the dangers they hold. From a variety of dangerous sea creatures to more volatile dangers such as mines and torpedoes there are dangers around every corner to hinder your progress.

Controlling Captain Antarctica through these dangers is done either via the accelerometer or via the touch screen, personally the most successful control system is the accelerometer but it’s nice to have the choice.

Each of the chapters include multiple Experiments (challenges), this means that you’ll need to repeat the chapters multiple times to complete them, the early chapters contain single digit challenges, however by the time you reach the final chapters will be double digit experiments for you to complete.

You are aided in these challenges by the option to purchase power-ups and upgrades to your existing skills. You have magnets, shields and jets and of course extra lives at your disposal and they can be purchased by coins.

You earn coins by completing the experiments in each level, but you can also purchase coins via in-app purchase. The balance between gaining coins in game and having to buy them to progress is fairly balanced so if you don’t want to buy them you don’t have to.

GameCenter integration is hit and miss, sure there are 32 achievements to unlock but rather than having leaderboards for each chapter there are just two for total coins and total distance traveled.

The game is great looking game to with bright, colorful two dimensional graphics which despite their 2 dimensionality provide great depth to the game and the jaunty music is well pitch to the game.

Captain Antarctica HD is a fun arcade game which has that vital ingredient of convincing you to need just one more try before you put it down and will appeal to players young and old alike.

While car racing games dominate the App Store racing market there are those that prefer 2 wheeled transport and for those people there’s a new ride in town in the form of Rock(s) Rider, a new universal game that’s available in the App Store right now.

Rock(s) Rider is a trials based motorcycle game where your opponents are both a variety of obstacles and the clock and is based in a DaftPunk style warehouse full of ramps, jumps, loops and fireworks, yes fireworks!

If you’ve played Bike Baron before then you’ll have the basic idea of what you are in for here, however while Bike Baron is cartoon style arcade game, Rock(s) Racer is more of a simulator, with a few bells and whistles added for good measure.

The graphics look great, from the line-drawn design on the I game navigation to the industrial graphics of the levels themselves you aren’t going to be disappointed and the pleasure is matched in the audio department too where a pumping soundtrack and great sounding audio effects create an environment which you’ll want to keep coming back to.

Despite the claustrophobic confines of the warehouse each level is packed with action and controlling your two wheeled chariot over and through these obstacles is fun, challenging and at times frustrating.

These frustrations come from some of the level designs which can often leave your motorcycle trapped in a position that it can’t get out of. Sure you can go back to your last check point but the fact that you can even get stuck is, as I mentioned before, frustrating.

That frustration aside the game is a lot of fun, the controls are accurate and have multiple configurations so that you can choose between virtual buttons and touch controls but a combination of them both too, add to that the ability to control the sensitivity of them means that you have no excuse to control your bike with skill and accuracy!

And the bike responds well to these controls to and after a few rides you should be able to get the bike to do pretty much as you please. Of course that may sound like the challenge to the game is over at that point, you’d be wrong though as the real challenge comes not only from control the bike but from anticipating the tracks, collecting the relevant objects and finding the hidden objects too.

All of this takes place across 24 progressively difficult levels, bonus levels and additional levels promised at a later stage too, as you progress you will unlock features for your bike and character as well as a 3 wheeled bike that you can use on the bonus levels. Once you think you’ve mastered the various tracks though you’ll find yourself racing side by side with the bosses who are out to prevent you taking their crown.

Leaderboards and 40 achievements are provided via GameCenter integration which provide additional challenge to the game and while it’s a Universal app there is no synchronization of your progress between devices.

Rock(s) Rider, despite its frustrations, is a fun and challenging game, if you like you racing action on two wheels then this could be $2.99 well spent.

Back in 1961 Mad Magazine published the first in a hugely popular cartoon strip going by the title Spy vs Spy. 23 years later after they were used in a variety of media and advertisements the Spy vs Spy video game was released to much critical acclaim. And now First Star Software have brought it to iOS for a whole new generation to enjoy the classic title.

The aim in Spy vs Spy is to hunt down the 4 special objects in the form of your passport, money, a key and the secret plans place them all in your suitcase and escape to your plane before you adversary does the same, it’s just that simple, get to the plane before your opponent will win you the level.

There are 24 levels in total, with many of them new to this version of the game, and each of the levels are based in progressively larger embassy’s that eventually become a rabbit warren of rooms and countless doors for you to hunt through.

People who know the Spy vs Spy cartoon strip will feel perfectly at home in the game, it’s perfectly recreated and whether you play it in the 8 bit retro version or the modern retina display the graphics look great. The style doesn’t lend itself to eye-popping graphics but they look great and sell the game expertly.

While you are hunting through the cabinets, cupboards, hat-stands, tv’s and other pieces of furniture you will often bump into your Spy opponent and when you do you have the option to fight him or to run away. If you beat the other spy you will get the opportunity to grab whatever he was carrying at the time. Choose your battles based on what you have to lose, and gain!

Hunting for the 4 artifacts is not just a game of hide-n-seek though, there are booby traps throughout the various embassy’s and unless you have the correct item to defeat the booby trap you will be killed, only to re-spawn later with any objects that you previously had, lost.

The single player game is fun in itself, it’s when you play the multi-player option though either locally via wi-fi/bluetooth or globally via the Game Center integration is where the real fun begins as defeating a ‘real’ spy is much more satisfying the defeating a cpu one.

The only flaw is the controls, while I like the idea of a floating d-pad to control your Spy, meaning that you can touch the screen anywhere to move your Spy, it’s not as responsive as I would like and sometimes getting the alignment of your character right so that you can search an item of furniture or get through a door can sometimes be a little frustrating.

Spy vs Spy is a universal app and is currently only 99 cents in the App Store, whether you are new to Spy vs Spy of want to revisit a classic game from yesterday year Spy vs Spy will be a dollar well spent.

Back in 1996 I played the original Playstation game, Resident Evil. It was the first game that actually had me on the edge of my seat and literally jump out of it at times too. Ever since then I’ve been hunting for a game to re-create the same atmosphere. Despite valiant attempts however by such games as F.E.A.R. and Condemend, I’ve never found one that quite hits the mark in the same way. That is until now.

Walking Dead: The Game, to give it its full title is a point and click adventure game that follows the storyline of the Walking Dead comic book series. If you are more familiar with the TV series you’ll still know what’s going on even though the TV show used some ‘creative license’ when bringing it so successfully to the big screen.

The cell shaded comic book style graphics do a great service to the comic book series and along with the awesome atmospheric soundtrack and possibly some of the best voice acting in an iOS game, if not any game, that I’ve seen Walking Dead: The Game sucks you in from the moment you start it. (The game recommends that you use headphones to play the game and I couldn’t agree more.)

You take the role of Lee Everett while be transported in the back of a police car you manage to find yourself free after the car hits a walker. From this point on it’s you and a collection of other non-walkers that you get introduced to along the way against the ever growing numbers of undead that walk the earth.

The interactions with the walkers is impressively done to ensure maximum shock value and excitement as they attempt to take your life and that of the people that you band together with.

The game moves along at a good pace and this is helped by the way that the storyline and the action sequences where you control the action are intertwined. The controls are easy to pick up, move Lee around the screen to investigate the environment is a simple case of dragging your finger across the screen while objects that can be interacted with are highlighted.

This may initially appear to make the game seem rather linear, however, thanks to the short time limits that you are given to make your decisions and how these decisions affect the gameplay that’s certainly not the case.

The characters interactions are expertly done and as mentioned before the voice acting is so good you sometimes forget that you are playing a game and not watching a movie. Decisions of how to interact with the other characters and what to say to them are given as a set of choices and making the wrong one, in the allotted time could have catastrophic ramifications.

The game is a universal app but unfortunately there is no syncing of your progress so you can’t jump between playing on the two devices which would have been nice. Some people may baulk at the price too as not only is the app a cent shy of $5 that will only get you the first episode, subsequent 4 episodes will set you back an additional $4.99 each, or $14.99 if you buy them all at the same time.

Personally the price doesn’t put me off and therefore I would highly recommend that your shell out the initial $4.99 for episode one, enjoy a thoroughly engrossing and atmospheric game and then decide whether you want to purchase the additional episodes.

Some, but not all, people are reporting issues with performance especially on older devices, I reviewed Walking Dead: The Game on both an iPad 3 and an iPhone 4S with no such issues.

A new racing game has hit the App Store this week from NaturalMotion who already have the popular Backbreaker range of games under their belts.

CSR Racing for iPhone and iPad has two distinct differences from many other racing games in the App Store. Firstly, the racing in question is city street drag racing where you pot your wits against other cars of a short distance to see who can accelerate the fastest.

The second distinctive feature of CSR Racing is the fact that it is one of the first racing games to use the freemium model. This means that while it’s a free app to download there are multiple opportunities to spend your real money via in-app purchase, more of that later.

The game is possibly one of the most beautiful racing games available for iOS and that’s certainly the case in regard to the multiple vehicles in the game which pop of the screen in glorious technicolor. All the cars are customizable to allowing you to put own creative spin on your drive.

The racing is pretty simple and is more a test of timing and reactions, as there is no steering involved your focus is on changing gear at the optimum moment and using your turbo.

This may seem all rather basic but it’s actually good fun as you attempt to out sprint your generally bigger and better opponents.

Progress in CSR Racing see’s you challenge a variety of city crews as you compete against them via increasingly difficult races. To get your vehicle into a position where it can challenge the various crews you can race in other events to earn cash and gold.

It’s this use of cash and gold that can become increasingly frustrating as the balance between progress and in-app purchase is heavily balanced in the favor of the later.

Yes, you can progress through the game without spending a penny but in it’s current form it will take you a long time to earn enough money to challenge the top players not only because of the cost to upgrade and buy vehicles but also because gas is in limited supply and it can only be earned by either inviting friends to play or waiting for time to re-fill your tank.

The freemium model is clearly one that works but in CSR Racing the balance is clearly set incorrectly which causes frustration and annoyance.

From a gaming perspective CSR Racing is a success, from a monetary perspective it’s a complete failure. I would recommend taking a look but be warned that you will either need to be patient or be willing to dip your hand into your wallet on a regular basis.

Darkside is the second iOS title from developer Clockwook Pixels and if you have a soft spot for the retro game Asteroids then Darkside may be worth a look.

For those of you under 30 Asteroids is a 2 dimensional space shooter where you control a 4 line spaceship surrounded by spinning asteroids with your only option to spin and shoot your way through them.

While Asteroids still stands the test of time Darkside brings it into the 21st century with gorgeous retina display graphics, firework like explosions and a thumping aural experience.

Each level is based on a planet which you spin around and using the left virtual analog stick while shooting a full 360 degrees using the right virtual analog stick. The controls are simple and effective and allow you to navigate the busy planet at speed which is something you’ll need if you plan to progress through the levels.

You single weapon soon finds itself as little help against the huge asteroids that are bombarding you but luckily a variety of power-ups will provide you with just what you need to blast through the levels.

The game comes in three flavors, Arcade, Mission and Survival modes which add slightly different challenges to the main concept. Arcade is included in as part of the free universal app while a single in-app purchase will unlock the additional two modes.

If you are looking for a shooter that fires up the senses or want to relive the memories of yesterday year then you can’t go far wrong with Darkside that has a built-in trial period thanks to the 99 cent in-app purchase.

N.O.V.A. 3 as the name suggests is the third in the the first person shooter series which follows the explosive exploits of Kal Wardin as he fights for no lesser prize than humankind itself. If you haven’t played either of the previous N.O.V.A. that’s not a problem, (although you may go back to them after playing this), as the game stands on its own and the short intro will soon get you up to speed.

As previously mentioned the whole look of N.O.V.A. 3 is completely immersive as the rich, massive, interactive environments are a pleasure to behold. Starting in and around the derelict buildings of San Francisco, through alien spacecraft and an explosive fire and ice wasteland the worlds look incredible.

As we’ve all come to learn though, games require more than just graphics to be a success and N.O.V.A. 3 is more than just eye-candy, in fact it’s one of the closest experiences to having a console in your pocket that I’ve ever played on a mobile device.

The audio helps this with the overall experience too, from powerful gun-shots and explosions to great voice acting and background music the aural experiences is excellent, especially if you listen with headphones.

The action comes fast and furious, right from the start and you will need fast fingers to keep yourself alive. These fast fingers have to be balanced with the amount of ammunition you have as supplies are limited especially if you don’t want to if you don’t want to increase the cost of the game by stumping up more of your hard earned money to upgrade your weapons and abilities.

The downside of the scarce ammunition though is exacerbated by some less than perfect controls. There’s nothing substantially different in N.O.V.A. 3 from other first person shooters but they feel unpolished and the limited customization ensures that we will have to spend quite a while with them before you feel at ease.

Spending time with N.O.V.A. 3 though is something you will want to do though as the rewards are worth it. A compelling, if short, campaign mode is great to play but the addition of not only a local wi-fi multiplayer but also an online version, via Gameloft LIVE, is going to have you hooked for months.

Six different multiplayer game modes as well as weekly tournaments keeps things interesting and as long as you put in the time to learn your skills so that you aren’t re-spawning every 30 seconds the online modes ultimately make N.O.V.A. 3 {$6.99} a very rewarding experience.

All this comes at a price, not the $7 that it’ll cost you in the App Store, that’s a bargain, but the 1.5 GB of storage space that it will take up on your iOS device. You may need to manage some space before installing this monster!

There are games that push the limit of mobile gaming and make other companies step up, N.O.V.A. 3 is one of those games and you don’t want to miss the bandwagon.

Burnout Crash Review

One of the most eagerly anticipated games has finally made its way to the iPhone and iPad. But while the wait is finally over it may not be what some players of the massively successful franchise want.

Burnouts first journey onto iOS is in the from of the mini game, Burnout Crash, that has already made it onto the PlayStation and XBox Arcade. So instead of a full-on 3D crash-fest of mangled metal, you have the pleasure of playing God, (or should that be the Devil), in a crashtastic onslaught of exploding cars, trucks and every other type of vehicle you can think of.

The 2D top-down view looks great, across a massive 18 different junctions the detail pops of the screen and the whole environment is interactive so not only can you destroy the vehicles but also blow up the surrounding buildings, parked cars and pretty much anything that burns.

Each of the 18 junctions have three different game modes so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to hone your skills and have plenty to keep coming back for as each of the have 5 stars to be collected based on high scores and other side-goals such as performing special moves or destroying certain items.

The 3 modes are Rush Hour, Pile Up and Road Block and while they all take place on the same junctions they require slightly different techniques to succeed. Rush Hour puts you up against the clock to destroy as much as you can while Pile Up tasks you to crash as many vehicles as possible and then keep them blazing. Road Block meanwhile is as simple as blocking any vehicles from driving off the screen, lose 5 and it’s game over.

All of the modes provide special vehicles too that offer a variety of challenges. Stop a Pizza delivery truck and you get to spin the lotto wheel a win a bonus item while stopping the bank truck will rain down bags of money on you.

Like all great games Burnout Crash is easy to learn but difficult to master. Controls aid this as all that’s required is a swipe to move your car or truck while a tap of your vehicle will cause it to explode once the burnout bar is maximized of course.

There are 7 cars and trucks to unlock and each one offer a slightly different balance of power and control, switching between these vehicles can offer different opportunities to grab all 5 stars on each level and you will often find yourself heading back to earlier levels with better cars to grab all the available stars.

While causing all of this mayhem you are blasted with a cacophony sound and a great set of songs from the 80’s. I certainly recommend playing this game with headphones in to get the best sound experience and so that you don’t annoy anyone sitting around you!

Unfortunately the multi-player option that they provide in the form of Autolog, is a little disappointing. It certainly works and you can send challenges to your friends but no ability to play against other players in real time is a real disappointment. And while GameCenter integration is included there are no leaderboards, just 20 achievements to be unlocked.

That being said, I do keep coming back to Burnout Crash to unlock more levels and to go back and gain more stars, it could just be so much better if the social aspects of the game worked better.

Burnout Crash is a universal game and is available in the App Store, despite its shortcomings it’s still a recommended purchase.

If as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the people over at Zynga must be very flattered indeed and must be doing something right. The latest company to be inspired by the success of Zynga’s ‘…with Friends’ series is Stofle Designs with their version of Yahtzee called ‘Dice with Buddies’.

Despite the obvious influences Stofle haven’t rested on their laurels, instead they have produced a highly polished and playable game with both turn based online and local game-play for two-people.

If you have ever played Yahtzee before then you will feel perfectly at home in Dice with Buddies. The game consists of rolling 5 dice to complete different sets. From 3, 4 and 5 of a kind and groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6’s to straights, full house and the always useful chance option if you’ve not played Yahtzee before a basic understanding of the hands in Poker will also see you through.

The game is nicely laid out, you can see all your available combinations listed down the page and your opponents alongside them too. This allows you to easily see what combinations you have remaining and how you are doing compared to your opponents. While the layout is usable yet compact on the iPhone on the iPad with its larger real estate is even better with no scrolling required.

The updates come thick and fast with push notifications working well to inform you when it’s your turn to play and you can have multiple games running at the same time. In game notifications are all well managed meaning that you don’t have to navigate away from the game screen to play multiple games.

The game integrates with Facebook allowing you to easily play with your Facebook friends and brag about your success to your wall. There is no Twitter or GameCenter integration though which is a shame as achievements, if not leaderboards, would be a nice addition. There are in-game stats though so you can see how well you are doing including such as your highest score, average score, wins and wins percentage.

Of course no game would be where it is without in app purchases and Dice with Buddies is no different. You can buy bonus rolls from 99c to $100 (seriously!) and these will enable you to have extra rolls of your dice to get the combinations you need, however, these are certainly not required and not buying them certainly doesn’t make the game any poorer.

Dice with Buddies is a universal game which is a great feature if you have both devices, and the game comes in both paid and free versions. If you’re a fan of these types of social games and prefer numbers to letters then Dice with Buddies is a must.

Shark Dash Review

In the world of gaming anything goes, so a back story of a group of sharks hanging out happily in a bathtub before being joined by a noisy group of rubber ducks and helping them take revenge on them is perfectly normal, right?

Luckily, reality is not a requirement in most games these days, in fact quite often the more bizarre the story the better, and that’s certainly the case for Shark Dash.

The game uses the now traditional 3 star rule to progress through the almost 100 levels over 4 different environments, (i.e. bathtubs), and these are achieved by eating all the ducks, collecting all the coins and doing this within the given number of shots.

Each level is played within the confines of a bathtub and is viewed as a sideways cut through including, bubbles, plughole, and all of the usually bathtime accoutrements that you would expect to see around the side of a bath. The graphics are solid and are certainly in keeping with the cute and fun style of the game as is the music which in is light and jaunty.

Controls are easy to learn but the levels can be difficult to master especially if you aim to get 3 stars in every single level. Collect the coins and stars is a simple task of pulling back on the shark’s tail and launching him in the direction that you desire. Your shark will pick up coins and the rubber ducks as he passes over through them, ducks will also float along the top of the water so as long as you knock them into the water and there is nothing blocking their path then they will willingly swim into your jaws.

As you progress through the 100 levels additional obstacles will be put between you and the ducks, these include salt sticks, soap, pipes, chains and a host of other things which all affect the physics of the game. The physics are additionally affected by the water in the bath so you will have to take that into consideration if your plan of attack takes you underwater, rather than over it.

Some of the objects that you’ll need to overcome will require sharks with different skills and as you progress you’ll get to unlock Sawy, Hammy and Scuby who all have skills associated to their names.

As with the majority of these games, if you don’t want to put the work into unlocking all of the levels by competing all the stars and earning coins then you can purchase coins to spend on unlocking levels, sharks and undo’s that will allow you to rewind a shot it didn’t quite go according to plan.

As if completing the 100 levels wasn’t enough there are 24 achievements to unlock and another 24 missions to keep you entertained. Unfortunately these don’t synchronise with GameCenter so there’s no way to compare your scores and achievements with your friends.

Shark Dash is a universal app and is available from the App Store now for just 99 cents. Grab it now for hours of fun, with a bite!

Madcoaster Review

If you are one of the millions of players who downloaded and lost hours of their lives playing Jetpack Joyride then I may have a new game to break that addiction.

Madcoaster from App Store dominators Chillingo is a new universal game where you control a roller coaster train on a never ending journey through multiple lands in order to collect as many coins and travel as far as you can with all your lives intact.

The game has a great cartoon look to it and the multiple lands look great as you speed through them. The game starts with just a few ‘themes’ enabled which you travel through for 1,000 meters at a time. Should you complete 1,000 meters you will continue on through another ‘theme’ until you run out of lives.

The themes are based on different events and locations, so one moment you may find yourself zooming past panda’s in a Japanese themed environment and the next past pumpkins in a Halloween inspired theme. Additional themes can also be unlocked via in app purchase or by reaching 10,000 meters in the game. The in-app purchases are nicely positioned meaning that you don’t have to keep on buying them.

Your roller coaster carts have no speed control but things get pretty crazy straight out of the traps and you’ll need fast fingers as you leap gaps, loop the loop, and move up and down tracks.

As you fly along the rails you can pick up coins and smash though a variety of animals, the only thing that can kill you is falling off the track though, in fact smashing through the animals that are standing on the tracks or hitting birds that are flying past the tracks earn you rewards rather than hinder you.

All these things contribute to the variety of objectives that are set for you on each run and clearing these objectives will provide upgraded carts for you to ride. Not that these carts have any additional features, instead they just look different to prior carts, it would be nice to have power ups to make your cart faster or jump higher.

The game has that addictive quality that makes you want to try one more time to beat your current high-score or complete one more of the 30 achievements that are available via Chillingo’s social gaming network Crystal, or the GameCenter integration.

Madcoaster is a Universal app and is available from the App Store for just 99c so grab it while you can.

The Simpsons – Tapped Out

Homer Simpson has never been one to turn his back on a freebie and now he’s giving back with ‘The Simpsons – Tapped Out’, EA’s entry into the freemium market place.

In typical Homer action he is distracted during his shift while playing on his MyPad with disastrous consequences in that he destroys Springfield, leaving you and Homer to bring it back to it’s former glories.

For those of you familiar with the show you won’t be disappointed as all your favorite characters and locations are there and it’s been written with the same irreverent humor as the TV show itself. In fact it also pokes fun at itself and the freemium model of gameplay which is nice to see.

For those who have played these types of games before there isn’t too much new here but it’s clearly grabbing a lot of peoples attention as over the first few days of its launch it’s be hit by various connectivity issues which has prevented the game from being played at times.

I’m sure these issues will be addressed however and everyone will be back helping Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie to rebuild Springfield. This is done via the usually variety of tasks which can all be completed without handing over a dime. However, should you want to speed things up a little you can purchase additional donuts via in-app purchases.

Now I have nothing against the freemium model, I’ve been addicted to Tiny Tower in my time and as long as the balance is set correctly it can work well. However, while the in-app purchases start at $1.99, $4.99 and $9.99 the top price is $99.99 for 2400 donuts and while I’ll all not impinging on other players freedom, surely nobody should be allowed to spend $100 on an in-app purcahse!

If you are a fan of the Simpons and this type of game in general then you should certainly give Simpsons – Tapped Out a look as it has everything a game like this should have. However, just don’t buy 2400 donuts however much you think Homer would like them!

Race illegal: High Speed 3D Review: A fantastic racing game that is beautifully adapted to the iOS environment.

Imagine your favorite racing game. Now imagine it on your iPhone. That’s Race illegal. It has all the elements that make racing games great: car customization, track choice, tough competition, and good control of your car. Its fast pace keeps you focused on the race and any cussing you might do is for your mistakes or against your opponent, but it won’t be aimed at the game design.

The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to control my car. Many racing games attempt to bring the joystick controls to the screen, with mixed results. Race illegal for iPad opted to go a different way. Your car just goes, and you steer it using your device’s accelerometer. This feels like a much more natural way to race. But don’t think that you have lost the ability to control you car. Simple taps on the screen give you brakes, nitro, reverse, different camera angles and track views, or you can get all the info off the screen and leave nothing between you and the road. But it’s really nice to play the game without having your thumbs attached to the screen.

The races and story line are in the best racing game tradition. It’s your clan against the other. You’ve got tasks to accomplish that send you careening around the city and countryside to prove your worth and stick it to the other guys. But once you get behind the wheel, all that matters is you and the road – and maybe an oncoming car or two.

As your scores improve, new tracks, cars, and other options become available to you. Some of the fun of racing games is in customizing your car, and Race illegal isn’t short in that department. Paint jobs, decals, high performance vehicles and options are all there to earn and choose from. And you can also share your accomplishments through Game Center achievements and leader board.

Upbeat technica music provides the backdrop and gets the blood pumping. The game is brightly colored, even in the night scenes, which makes it much easier to play in a variety of lighting conditions. The graphics are smooth and everything is easy to see and read. The information you need is clearly presented and located well to make the controls, the car, and the track easily visible. I had no desire to switch to an iPad to play just to make things easier to see/control.

Honestly? I suck at accelerometer games. Over-steering or extraneous motion always seems to keep my focus on simply controlling the vehicle. Race illegal managed to make that simple and allowed me to focus on beating the competition, increasing my speed, and earning points for drifting. Even when you crash or spin, you’re not spending a ton of time and effort getting righted. And it’s near impossible to get off-track. All of this keeps the emphasis on racing. And that’s where it should be to make the game fun to play.

Race illegal: High Speed 3D has an introductory price of $0.99. Get it at that price while you can, but if you miss the sale, this game is going to easily be worth full price. Race illegal could easily become your favorite iOS racing-style game.

Pros:

Zombie Gunship Review: It seems that the onslaught of zombie based games shows no signs of letting up. The same is true of the onslaught of zombies attempting to breach the door of the bunker which remains the one safe spot for humankind as the earth is overrun by zombies.

The people on the ground though are not alone as there is a lone gunship flying overhead which you take control of in a vain attempt to keep the flesh eating monsters away from the bunker entrance.

If you’ve seen the video footage of the bombing raids of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya then you will be familiar with the view of the desolated waste ground that you have as you slowly fly over the area covering the entrance. A night vision awaits you with the cold bodies of the zombies showing black while the last few humans show up glowing white due to the heat from their bodies.

Your only task is to aim your weapons and shoot. A short tutorial takes you through the basics and it’s not long before you hear the rattle of your guns littering the ground and the zombies with bullets. The zombies arrive pretty sporadically to begin with and you can easily pick them off before your gun over heats. That doesn’t last for long though and you’ll soon find yourself struggling to keep you weapon from over heating as your bunker becomes under threat.

The simple challenge of the game is to see how long you can survive and the simple answer at the beginning is not long as you will soon become overrun with the undead and it will be game over.

However, which each attempt you will be rewarded with power-ups to your gunship meaning that not only can you upgrade you weapons but also purchase new ones and some extras that boost your point scoring potential but also give you the opportunity to purchase a Bomb Buddy which will automatically clear the entrance to the bunker once per game should the zombies be about to spill the blood of all those inside.

Spread amongst the hordes of undead are humans that are seeking cover. Sometimes these will be in the center of a swarm of zombies and it will be a challenge to avoid killing them. Kill three of the humans that are seeking cover though at it will be game over. Just when you thought it was getting easy though mutant zombies will appear that will require multiple shots to kill, with those mutant zombies around keeping the bunker safe just gets even harder!

The game is a little repetitive but the challenge of trying to beat you high score and earn the coins to boost your gunship kept me coming back for more again and again. Coins are earn’t relatively quickly and you can get an extra 1000 coins buy liking Zombie Gunship on Facebook. However, if you are a little impatient and you want to max out your upgrades as quickly as possible you can purchase more coins via in app purchase.

Zombie Gunship {$.99} is a great little game with pick up and play features and a can’t put down addictiveness. A GameCenter leaderboard will keep you up to date on how you compare to your friends, (no achievements at this point), and you can also post your scores to Facebook to challenge you friends to beat your score.

At just 99 cents for a universal app you can’t go wrong with this zombie slaughterfest.

Pros

Allied Star Police Review: This is a special game. It is more than a game. It is a Wish come true.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It does what it can to grant a wish to children who are staring down a fatal disease. Well, it was one fourth-grader’s wish to hang out with real video game designers. Owain Weinert, who suffers from a form of leukemia, did more than just hang out. He surprised everyone and outlined an entire game, challenging the developers at 4th and Battery at PopCap to make it real. And the result is Allied Star Police available for free in the App Store. (Read more about Owain’s story.)

The game is a fine bit of work that gets pretty intense at times. It’s a type of tower-defense game that somehow reminds me of Han and Leia during the battle for Endor. (I have no idea why. It really has nothing to do with it.) You are the Allied Star Police with your home base on the left of the course and the Flamion base on the right. There are four lanes that connect the two and your job is to deploy ATVs, snipers, tanks, and other resources in each lane to battle against the Flamion’s encroaching advances.

Your equipment fires automatically, so your attention is focused on keeping the lanes occupied with the best equipment and making sure enough equipment is deployed to keep the enemy at bay. Eliminating the Flamion’s equipment earns you cash that can be used to purchase more and bigger resources to improve your chances. Once you’ve succeeded in defending your home base, you advance to new courses that get more, um, “interesting” as you go.

The graphics, animations, and colors all hint at the intense nature of the game. Some of the text on battlefield can be difficult to read, but colors help keep things straight. The music, voice commands, and sound effects all give it an arcade feel. Overall, everything combines to keep your heart rate elevated and your attention focused.

It’s easy to love this game for the good it does. But it’s also easy to love this game because it’s good.

Pros:

9mm Review: Gameloft have released a high end action shooter onto the App Store in the form of 9mm, a universal app for both the iPhone and iPad. At $6.99 it’s not the cheapest game but is it worth it?

The game starts as it means to go on as you are thrown straight into the action, along with a tutorial to help you get accustomed to controls. Not that it takes to get too long to get used to them.

A floating D-pad controls your movement and you can drag your finger over your device’s screen to look around your environment and aim your weapon. You can choose to use the inbuilt gyroscope to control your sight and aim if you are using one of the devices with that available to you but I preferred the more subtle control of using my fingers.

As mentioned before though it doesn’t take long to pick all of this up and you’ll soon be shooting your first, of many, victims. During the tutorial you are also introduced to the slow motion mode where your can launch your character, Kannon, backwards, forwards or sideways in slow motion, shooting and dodging bullets as you do. This is a vital skill to learn and you a duly rewarded with certain achievements when you successfully kill multiple opponents in this mode.

Wi these skills learned you take you character, Kannon, on to the wrong side of town where violence, and gun shots are around every corner. It’s a drug war out there and you find yourself in the thick of it. The story is told via the usual cut screen movies but they are nicely balanced and while they keep the story moving along they don’t make you feel like you are watching a movie.

Talking of movies the game does have a great cinematic look to it and you could be fooled into thinking that you are playing the game on one of the latest consoles. The voice acting is well done too, all be a little cheesy at times, and along with a thumping soundtrack from some established artist of the hip-hop and rap seen the overall experience is one that keeps you coming back for more.

The action never let’s up either, whether you are defending your child from an apparent pedophile, clearing out a strip club or rescuing your family from a firefight in a restaurant the gun fire just keeps raining down on you. Luckily for Detective Kannon you have a large armory at your disposal and you can also pick up the weapons and ammo from your fallen enemies.

While shooting is the mainstay of the game you’ll also find yourself have to tap and swipe across the screen in any given pattern to complete certain takes. This can be simple taps to open doors, more complex combinations to interrogate suspects and swipes up and down the screen fight dogs, dodge bullets and leap fences. It’s a dirty world in the world of 9mm and you’ll be fighting for your life all the way through it.

On successful completion of each of the 12 levels you will be rewarded with coins which you can then spend in the in game store to purchase extra protection, extra weapons or more powerful ammo. You can also purchase more in game coins with your real money should you really want to rampage through the game with a full set of armour. However I was able to complete the whole game without the need for any additional purchases meaning the game doesn’t need to cost you any more than the original $6.99.

One downside to this great game is how quickly it can be completed, especially on the easy level where I was able to complete it with only a couple of hours of gameplay. On the plus side though the game includes a multi-player mode that is not only enabled for local play but also over the Internet. This addition means that you’ll be playing 9mm long after you’ve completed the single player game.

You will need to create an account with Gameloft to play online but this is simple enough and can be done in game, once that is done you can join a existing game or create one yourself. There are 4 maps to choose from a couple of games modes to including a simple free for all where it’s a case of hunt or be hunted.

Online you’ll start off with some basic weapons but you can again use the coins that you have earnt from the single player game to by the better guns. This you will certainly need to do if you are to stand a fighting chance at survival given the skills of some of the people hat you will meet online. The online game is simple to setup though and very intense to play making it something that you’ll certainly want to come back to.

Overall 9mm is a great additional to the App Store and if you can overcome the strong language that litters the game you are in for an enjoyable romp through the mean streets as you look to clean them up!

Pros

Most of the time when I write a review I want the reader, i.e. you, to read the whole article, making you wait until the end to decide whether or not to get the game. In this instance though I feel I would be doing you a disservice.

Any time you take doing anything other than going to the App Store to pick up Sonic & Sega All Star Racing will be time wasted and therefore I don’t want to be responsible for that loss.

You still here? Seriously, you haven’t gone and reduced your bank balance by $5 yet by purchasing this game? In that case I’ll write on.

Sonic & Sega All Star Racing is game that will delight all of your senses, ok, maybe not your sense of smell or taste, but touch, sight and hearing will all be blasted in a cavalcade of gaming delights a Sonic and his Sega friends push you to you racing limits.

Let’s cover touch first. Obviously the iPad or iPhone doesn’t feel any different while playing this game as it wouldn’t playing any other racing game. However, what it does do is provide the sort of handling experience that makes you feel at one with your iOS device.

Acceleration is automatic and steering is controlled via the accelerometer with an emphasis being put on your ability to drift your vehicle. Drifting is your way to gain speed boosts and the longer you drift the bigger your boost as you let go of the drift button. It’s this drifting, and the level of control that you have over it that makes he game feel so good.

There is a great sense of speed in the game too as you screech around the variety of tracks. The bright colors fly by with each of the tracks offering a new set of challenges and difficulties as you play through the 3 cups and 3 difficulty levels.

So sight is also well covered as your eyes are treated to Sega’s traditional bright colors and bold graphics. From the in game graphics to the bold and clear menu’s the game is a visual delight.

All you Sega friends are there for you to race as, from Sonic, Tails, Aiai and Dr Eggman to Ryo Hazuki, B.D. Joe, Beat and Chuih there is someone for everyone and each of them have their own racing style, abilities and special powers which can be called upon when you find yourself in sixth place with only one lap to go.

You may not find yourself in that position too often as you start playing on the easy levels of the Grand Prix circuit but as you progress through the difficulty levels the AI players get both faster and more aggressive. This is a good thing though as it provides an enjoyable challenge to progressing through the levels.

Accessing additional locked players and tracks can be achieved by spending coins that you accumulate by successfully completing levels but can also be earned by racing in the other modes that are available.

As well as the Grand Prix mode their are also single races, time trials and missions. Single Race and Time Trial modes are self explanatory while missions set you certain tasks to complete as you race around the tracks. There are 25 missions in total and earning stars in them will unlock them, some of the missions include shooting flowers, driving through gates and collecting coins or bananas.

If you are feeling social you can also join your friends for some multi-player fun. This is provided either local WiFi or online via the games Game Center integration. Using the online method but you can choose quick races or battles to be thrown in against a random opponent or choose the custom race mode to select one of you Game Center friends to play against.

Playing online shows no sign of slowing the game down and with all this content the $4.99 price tag suddenly seems like an absolute bargain. If you are still reading this I urge you now to go out and buy this game so that you can lose yourself in it and become the Sonic & Sega All Star Racing Champion.