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.
[rating: 4.5/5]What we like
What to know
Crust is a 2D cave shooter which for me at least is reminiscent of similar games that I used to play some 25 to 30 years ago. This is not necessarily a bad thing however, in fact there and many retro games that are as, if not more, popular as they were when they were originally launched.
In Crust for iPhone and iPad you take charge of a spaceship which has to negotiate the tight and dangerous confines of the caverns to clear them and move through the 9 levels. Only 9 levels is a little disappointing especially for newer gamers that may not fully appreciate the retro styling and game-play. However the 2 multi-player modes certainly extends the reach of the game and adds additional value, more on that later.
The single player mode certainly gets you prepared for the challenges that you will find as it includes a basic tutorial of how to control the ship, fire your selectable weapons and complete the required tasks.
The controls take a little getting used to, a virtual joystick on the left of the screen controls both the direction and speed of your craft while multiple buttons done the left side of the screen enable you to access your weapons. This can be a little tricky, esp. on the iPad in the heat of battle as you will have to move your fingers up and down the full height of the screen which can result in failing to engage the enemy for a vital split second that can render you dead!
You have a choice of ships on each level, each with their own positive and negative aspects including the number of weapons, speed of cooldown and shields and this choice can have a significant effect on the outcome of each level so choose wisely.
While the single player mode provides only limited enjoyment it does prepare you for the multi-player options that can take place online against up to 7 additional players or on a single device in split screen mode where you can enjoy twice the fun on a single device as you play cooperatively through the campaign mode.
The online cross platform multi-player mode certainly promises to offer added value to the game with multiple game types, unfortunately though each time I’ve played the multi-player version of the game there has never been more than 1 other person available in a game which has limited the promise of a massive online multi-player gun-fight.
Crust will certainly appeal to some players who are looking for some retro cave shooting fun but at $2.99 for a universal app with a limited single player mode and only a few players in the online version of the game there are better alternatives out there for everyone.
[rating: 2/5]What we like
What to know
I think I went to school with Keith T. Maxwell, not the war hero who finds himself at the centre of a battle to save the Earth from aliens who’s purpose it seems is to destroy everything in their path. No, the Keith T. Maxwell I believe I knew was a mild mannered boy who would never have got mixed up in such shenanigans!
The game starts as it means to go on with the beginning of a beautifully crafted and engaging storyline interspersed with a splattering of humour along the way. There is a lot of story and while some people may not enjoy that it certainly adds to the game especially as it is completely voice acted meaning that you don’t need to read the words on screen.
As the game starts you are immediately thrown into a space dog fight which quickly gets you a handle on the controls which for the most part are very simple. The simplicity is helped by the lack of a throttle for you to control the speed of your ship. While this makes things easier it limits the maneuverability of the ship which is a little disappointing. Steering options include either the touch screen or the accelerometer but while the accelerometer is fun the touchscreen offered better accuracy and control.
You’ll soon find yourself flying around downing the enemy combatants with relative ease. If you’ve come here just expecting a space shoot though you will either be disappointed, surprised or both as for has much shooting goes on there are missions to complete that will help you build your experience and more importantly upgrade your ship.
While you may be tempted just to upgrade your weapons you must also upgrade your shields and engines as a slow ship is a sitting duck however strong your weapons are. Complete enough missions however and you’ll be able to purchase whole new ships too.
The scale of the game is pretty impressive, there are over 100 space stations to visit spread over 20 solar systems. Luckily there is a map to help you navigate and avoid the long flights between locations. Not that flying around space in this game is always a bad thing as the game looks great, from the detail of the ships to the beauty and scale of the planets, asteriods and other items just flying around can be a delight too.
The missions are fun and included finding specific items, mining asteroids, collecting loot and ‘rescuing’ abandoned ships to trade with. The various space stations is where you will complete your trading activities, you can also meet other characters here who will offer you additional opportunities to improve your reputation and items.
The variety in Galaxy on Fire 2 is great especially with the number of interesting characters you will get to talk to and shoot down during the dog fights in space. At $6.99 you would probably expect nothing less and it’s worth every cent especially for those of you with both an iPhone and an iPad as while this game is currently only for the iPhone/iPod Touch a future upgrade will provide an iPad compatible version and if you’ve already paid for the iPhone version the iPad version will come free.
If you were disappointed with the original Galaxy of Fire you won’t be with this sequel and if you love the original, Galaxy of Fire 2 is the game you’ve been waiting for.
$6.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Games
Released: Oct 27, 2010
Version: 1.0.1
1.0.1
108 MB
Languages: English, German
Seller: FISHLABS
© 2010 FISHLABS
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later