Set in a fantasy world full of monsters and magic, Outcast Odyssey tasks you with exploring your surroundings and collecting treasures, as well as defeating the various creatures that you encounter in RPG-like battles.

Your weapons of choice in these battles are – of course – cards. There are hundreds of hand-drawn cards available to collect in Outcast Odyssey – many of which can be enhanced and even evolved to create more powerful variants.

You won’t just be battling monsters in Outcast Odyssey, mind. Through the game’s PvP mode, you can compete against other players from around the globe and even earn weekly prizes if you manage to outshine your opponents.

Are you a fan of joining guilds with other players? If so, you’ll be pleased to hear that you can do just that. In fact, you can battle outcasts from opposing guilds in the game’s arena for the chance to pick up ‘great rewards’.

Outcast Odyssey is now available to download worldwide for free. Be sure to grab it for your iPhone and iPad [download] right away. The game will be available for Android-powered smartphones and tablets very soon.

Trailer

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GooMonsters Review: Ever wanted to be a Ninja? Ever wanted to use your ninja like skills to kill blobs of goo that are out to attack you? Well now you can in the virtual would of GooMonsters on your iPhone or iPod touch.

Across a variety of levels in campaign mode it’s your task to defend yourself against an onslaught of different types of goo. Different shapes, sizes and color of goo squish and splurge across the screen to attack you and you get points for killing them, and even more points for killing multiple of them at the same time.w

As you progress, and the goo becomes more frequent and aggressive, you do get some additional help to defeat the goo however in the form of weapons that you can purchase with the points that you earn as you complete the levels. From bombs and GooFields to drones and delays this arsenal of weapon is vital if you are going to progress through all the levels.

Each level has different objectives but ultimately they all come down to killing the smudges of goo before they kill you. This is completed by swiping the virtual control stick on the right side of the screen to cut them with your sword while the left virtual control stick will control your aim. Moving your charachter is completed by using the accelerometer and this can be customized before each game so that you can play the game whichever position you are in.

The controls take a little getting used too especially the swiping of the sword as I lost count of the number of times that a swipe failed to be recognised only for the lump of goo land on my face exploding in a colorful explosion of color. Depending on the type of goo it may either slow you down, block your view or even kill you……game over!

The graphics are bright, clear and colorful but while this may appeal to a younger player. There isn’t enough detail in the graphics of the gameplay to keep the more experienced player entertained for too long and that even includes the addition of the 10 minigames that become unlocked as you progress through the campaign mode of the game. There are also over 50 achievements to be unlocked via the OpenFeint and GameCenter integration.

The game plays well for a short amount of time but ultimately it’s laking in variety and even at just 99c will leave you wanting more. But don’t forget to save Fluffy!

Pros

• Configurable controls
• 10 unlockable minigames

Cons

• Repetitive gameplay
• Bright but simple graphics
• Tricky controls

Pocket Warriors Review: Pocket Warriors for iPhone is a cute game reminiscent of Sonic and Tails. Your characters fight side by side to take on monsters and protect the village.

The game begins with two characters, which I suppose could be considered a boy and a girl. You can name them or just accept the default Gavin and Kelly. You begin by heading to the village to meet the people who can help you, such as traders and blacksmiths. You pick up your first weapons and then head out to battle your first monsters.

Each mission you successfully complete rewards you in coins that you will need to upgrade your weapons so you can take on the next level of monsters. Each monster has a weak spot, which you only uncover once you’ve defeated them. But that information helps you as you progress and move on to battle other monsters.

You have to work as a team during the battles. When one character is taking the brunt of the attack the other needs to step in and protect them in order to defeat the monster. Both characters fight even when your focus is on only one, so switching back and forth gives you a different perspective of the battle.

The graphics are simple and cute and the colors are bright and cheerful. The background music tends toward medieval with some birds, cows, and other ambient noise thrown in. All in all it feels a bit like a renaissance festival, especially when in the village.

This game seems a bit overpriced when compared to others. It’s a solid, basic game, but there’s not much in complexity or that anything special that sets it apart from the rest. Still, it’s a fun game with an easy to use interface. Give it a try and test your teamwork against the monsters.

Pros:

• Play either character, but you eventually need to play both
• You can see the list of missions you will be sent on
• Simple graphics keeps the information displayed on the screen clear

Cons:

• Movement a bit clunky
• Needs a bit more complexity and/or storyline

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Rolling Spells HD takes an interesting story and unique gameplay to make one heck of a game for your iPad. The game uses a unique mechanic that tasks you with switching a bunch of dividers to different angles so the colored balls falling from the top fall into their designated receptacle. You are to help the Good Fairy rid the world of the dreaded Elephy who as it sounds; looks like the cross between an evil elephant and fly. You must help the Good Fairy gather the necessary ingredients for her magical potions so you can dispose of Elephy and his menacing companions.

The game takes you on a journey through 35 levels in which you will take on eight original monsters. You will have a map that will guide you along your quest towards Elephy. The Good Fairy is also always willing to share some useful tips and advice. The map not only provides you with a means of seeing where you have been but also how well you did when you took on that challenge. After each challenge you will get a rating of gold, silver or bronze. The ultra-competitive like myself will never be satisfied with less than gold but you do not have to reach gold to continue which is nice. You can always come back to a level to pass it with a gold prize so not to break up the gameplay. This also gave the game some replay value on many of the levels that I was unable to get gold on the first try. Aside from the map, you also have the always useful “Book of Knowledge”. This book has everything you need to know about the world you are encountering. It tells you how the different spells work, how to get different prizes, what to do and who to fear. This thing comes in extremely handy unless you have a knack for memorizing things quickly.

The gameplay mechanic is a tricky one to explain but a fairly simple one the figure out. I like to think of it as Plinko from The Price Is Right you only get to designate which direction the dividers will send the balls down the screen. Along the way you have other tasks as well that are not always mandatory but that can help you. Along the right side of the screen you will notice some gold triangles that have the picture of a given spell next to them. If you see a gold ball cascading down the screen instead of green, blue or red you can angle these balls towards the gold triangle and you will receive the spell that corresponds with that triangle. These can become invaluable as you carry on throughout missions. Of course if there are aids like the gold balls, there will be road blocks such as locks that appear on the screen when you see a lock you must wait for a gold ball to appear and angle it towards the gold triangle with a key next to it. Sometimes there are multiple locks and they can be a real pain because if a green, blue or red ball hits a lock it disappears. After you unlock the locks they become a normal divider that can be used to angle the balls in the right direction. Another example of road blocks are the bees that will fly by and try to steal the balls and fly away with them. It is important to tap on them to knock them out so they don’t take your balls. Along the way you will find more aids and obstacles such as these but they help make the game experience one of a kind.

The visual and audio presentation on display in this game are great. I really enjoyed the audio and all the simple little noises that accompanied all of your actions that help to make the sound scheme ever-changing and diverse. The visual presentation is obvious from start to finish. They do a great job of taking advantage of the large iPad screen so that the game never feels scrunched and always looks sharp. You have smooth gameplay from start to finish.

Pros

• Addictive & Unique Gameplay
• Stunning Visuals
• Story to back the game

Cons

• More levels would be nice
• Mini games would be another cool addition

$2.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Games
Updated: Mar 12, 2011
Current Version: 1.3
1.3
Size: 92.1 MB
Language: English
Seller: Denis Oleynik
© Melior Games
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Aaah! Chompsters! [rating: 3.5/5]

If you enjoy using explosives to feed crocodile looking Chompsters with little monsters then this 60 level app could be just the game for you.  Aaah! Chompsters! is a physics based puzzle game where the premise is exactly as mentioned in the previous sentence.

There is no pre-amble to the game, instead you are instantly taken to the world selection page where you can choose 1 of the 4 available worlds each of which has 15 levels.  While you can open each world levels are available only one at a time so completing the first 15 levels of the first world before the 2nd, 3rd and 4th worlds become unlocked.

Each of the 60 levels include at least one of the aforementioned Chompsters with their mouths wild open waiting to be fed.  Also on each level will be a given number of small monsters waiting to be fed to the Chompsters.  Feeding the Chompsters is done by using one of three bombs, the power of the explosion will force the monsters hopefully into the waiting mouths of the Chompsters.  The challenge therefore is to place the bomb in the correct location so that the monsters end up in the Chompsters mouths.

Each of the Chompsters is color coded and this enables you to ensure that you don’t run out of bombs as feeding the Chompsters with the same colored monster will restock one of your bombs.  Each level also has a minimum number of monsters that are required to complete the level, sometimes this is the whole number of monsters, sometimes it’s a smaller number and this can be tracked via a countdown at the top of the screen.

There isn’t much variety in the levels other than an increasingly difficult solution but while it lasts the challenge is fun.  While the levels can be completed sometimes with a lower number of monsters fed, clearing all of the monsters will gain you a trophy.  It doesn’t appear that winning these trophy’s gain you anything more than satisfaction and there is no scoring available so replay value once all the 60 levels is limited.

That being said the game looks good and is enjoyable enough but at 99 cents there may be equally priced alternatives such as Angry Birds or Cut The Rope that offer better value for money.  If you already have those titles then Aaah! Chompsters! Should keep you entertained for a while.

Pros

• Simple, single finger controls
• 60 levels

Cons

• Limited replay value
• No rewards

$0.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Games
Released: Nov 24, 2010
Version: 1.0
1.0 (iOS 4.0 Tested)
8.0 MB
Language: English
Seller: Big Blue Bubble
© 2010 Big Blue Bubble Inc.
Rated 9+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later

It’s pretty rare that a computer game can strike fear into you, the original Resident Evil was the first to make me physically jump while recently it was the eerily superb Fear that had me reaching for the cushion. However, no such iPhone /iPod Touch game has got the same reaction…..until now!

The premise of Soul is that you need to help the soul of a dead man reach Heaven rather than the dark depths of Hell. The game starts in what appears to be a dark, old, institutionalized hospital with a corpse laying motionless on table with a glowing, white ball hovering over it. The glowing, white ball is in fact the soul of the person lying dead on the table and it is in your hands.

You move the soul via the use of the accelerometer, tilting your iPhone or iPod Touch left, right, backwards and forwards will move your soul around the screen and as is becoming more common place you can re-calibrate the accelerometer at any time so that you can play the game in any position. You can also control the sensitivity of the movement too which certainly helps.

The view of the environment is a top down 2D view of the hospital and it’s a dark one too giving the whole game a level of tension that I’ve not felt before in a hand held game. Each stage/location in the game is a new maze where you have to navigate the narrow dark corridors to the exit on each level. The game is unforgiving and you will find yourself being sent back to the beginning of the level multiple times as you attempt to navigate the narrow passages.

While initially you are zoomed in on the Soul unable to view what’s ahead of you holding a finger on the screen will zoom out showing more information to decide on the appropriate route to take. This won’t help you on certain levels though as they are bathed in darkness with only the small amount of light emanating from your Soul acting as your guide.

The fearsome undercurrent in the game is extrapolated by the monsters, (resembling psychotic Killer Whales), that leap out from the darkness and the spooky young girl that mysteriously appears through the game. The cut scenes are also beautifully drawn and only add to the eerie undercurrent. If you’ve seen those YouTube video’s where a gruesome face will suddenly appear while you are watching an apparently sedate move of a car driving through the mountains then you will know exactly what to expect from this game.

I found myself gripping my iPod Touch tighter and tighter as I played through the levels, a combination of the tension from fear and the the frustration from the tricky levels that I often had to restart over and over again.

Somewhat annoyingly there is no auto-save function in the game so before switching the the game off you must remember to save the game otherwise all you progress will be lost. The game is also a single player game only so once you’ve completed it there will be little replay value. There are 3 difficulty levels through that will add extra challenges to the task in hand with the Hardcore level specifically making life difficult by adding a timer to each level.

The Good

• Great level of tension
• Atmospheric sound and graphics
• Finger numbingly addictive

The Not So Good

• No auto-save
• Limited re-play value

Reviewed By: Craig Willis

Soul Trailer (Xbox Live Indie Game)

Price: $1.99 (iTunes Store Preview)
Updated Mar 02, 2010
Reviewed Version: v1.1
Size: 19.8 MB
Languages: English
Seller: Kydos Studio
© 2010 Kydos Studio
Rated 12+ for the following:
Frequent/Intense Horror/Fear Themes
Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.