It’s that time of year again when EA Sports come out with their annual upgrade to their FIFA franchise and this year is no difference as they release FIFA 13, their 13th iteration of the world wide soccer game. (Yes I’m calling it soccer, the whole world plays the game now and it’s just easier this way).
While previous versions of the FIFA franchise on iOS have sometimes seen minimal improvements outside of improved graphics and/or new features FIFA 13 has brought something to their iOS offering that people have been asking for for a long time and that’s the ability to play against other players over the Internet and not just those based locally.
While the old rivalries will continue to rage between the FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer fans, you generally either love or hate one or the other, the competition is clearly good for the players of each as they continue to push and innovate the graphics, gameplay and features and this continues to be the case.
Graphics ones again receive a boost that defies the size of the devices that you can play these games on. Player likenesses improve as FIFA continues to enjoy fully licensed players, teams and leagues from all around the world and the smoothness of the gameplay remains unaffected especially on the iPhone 5 that this was reviewed on and which is fully supported in full screen mode.
Controls have been tweaked in this release quite significantly however the new features don’t affect the core controls and instead the add and enhance what is an already well established control system.
A virtual d-pad on the left of the screen continues to provide directional control of your players while action buttons on the right side of the screen control the specific action that your chosen player will attempt, (I say attempt as based on your your skill and timing they don’t always come off), to complete.
It’s these action buttons that now include new features, firstly the ‘skill move’ button has been improved to provide more skill moves using a nine point grid around the button. Tapping the skill button and then making gestures up, down, left, right and around the skill move button will produce a variety of skill moves. And based on how you make the gesture will control whether you complete the skill to the left or two the right of the oncoming player.
While most players will be happy just to jump in a test the controls for themselves I would highly recommend reviewing the inbuilt help videos that will show you what all the gestures are and how they are activated to make the full benefit of them.
You can also control you whole teams gameplay via in game gestures too, want to make your team play more defensively? Then swipe two fingers towards the end you are defending. Want to play a more attacking style? Then swipe two fingers toward the goal you are attacking. The ability to do this without having to stop the game and make the selections in the options menu makes for a much more fluid gaming experience.
Another new feature is the ability to call in a 2nd defender when we feel that you need it. While holding down the tackle button will automatically make your selected player attempted to tackle the opposing player pressing the ‘call 2nd defender’ button will automatically bring over additional help should you find yourself trying to defend Messi, Ronaldo or any other tricky player.
These additional features add confirm able depth to the playing options for players to take advantage of while still ensuring that the game is easy to pickup and play for the newcomer to the franchise. And it needs to be said again that there are two many of these options to list here and you should view the in game help to learn them all.
The four game modes are still present, you can jump into a quick match, complete a league or cup from around the world in tournament mode, test your hand at club management in manager mode or play online.
Tournament mode continues to provide great value with even lower leagues from around the world being available, so if you want to play as lowly Southend United in the nPower League 2 in England you can. In total there are 67 trophies to be won in tournament mode and so to get a full trophy cabinet you’re going to have to play a lot of games.
Manager Mode adds additional depth to the game as you now have the ability to not only control the players but manager the whole club. From players contracts and club finances to keeping the board and supporters happy you are going to be juggling a lot of balls.
While this level of depth isn’t for everyone it does work well and provides a valid alternative to the management style games of Football Manager while providing the ability it take control of matters on the pitch too.
It also has to be said that EA have provided the ability to sync both Manager and Tournament modes using iCloud. This means that if you have this universal app running on multiple devices you can pick up on one device where you left off on another, that’s awesome.
We then come to the newly added online mode which has the potential of providing endless hours of game-play if done right. There are two ways to play online, 1 is in a quick match against a random opponent, the other is in a friendly against one of your friends.
Game-play is the same for both but if you play against a friend you win, draw, loss stats will be recorded against them so that you can prove who has the bragging rights.
I’ve played numerous times online and for the most part it’s been a great experience. I’ve never failed to be matched up with an opponent which suggests that there are a lot of people playing the game and while there have been a couple of disconnected games there is no way of telling whether that’s due to my opponent, network issues or a problem with the game itself.
The graphics appear a little toned down when playing online but it’s not something you notice in the thick of the action and games can be decided based on both players agreeing on the outcome. For example, it the game ends in a tie then you get to choose between ending the game in tie, extra-time or going straight to penalties.
Many hours could be lost in this mode especially if you have lots of friends who play the game too. It would be nice to have online leagues or tournaments to compete in but at this point that’s not available.
Both on and offline games provide a whole plethora of achievements, 79 to be exact, and they range from receiving no bookings during a match and scoring from long range to scoring a goal with your goal keeper and having a player score both an own goal and a goal in the correct goal!
While it’s great to have this number of achievements in the game it’s disappointing that EA continue not to link to Apples Game Centre achievements, continuing it use their own Origin network instead. Other games offer the option to link to both their own social gaming network as well as Game Centre and it would be nice to see EA do the same.
The daily challenges are a nice addition though were you get the opportunity to relive real matches, earn XP points to climb the social leader-boards.
FIFA 13 also enables you to share your greatest moments of skill and goals with the world via in-game integration with YouTube. Anytime you view a replay you will also get the opportunity to upload it to YouTube and given that the video is limited to just 9 seconds once you’ve authenticated your account once the sharing happens really quickly.
While some people may balk at the $6.99/4.99 price, this monster franchise continues to set the standard that other titles must aspire too and it’s worth every penny.
[rating: 4.5/5]
]]>
https://touchreviews.net/fifa-13-review/feed/ 0
On Wednesday, Amazon announced its own gaming service for game developers called GameCircle. By creating this new experience, Amazon appears to be competing directly with Apple Inc. (AAPL) Game Center, putting scores, competition and social gaming into one service and offering it to developers and users alike.
On the Amazon Mobile App Distribution blog, the company describes what GameCircle is all about, calling it a “new set of services designed to make it easier for you to create more engaging gaming experiences and grow your business on Kindle Fire”.
GameCircle will make achievements, leaderboards and sync APIs accessible, simple and quick for you to integrate, and will give gamers a more seamless and entertaining in-game experience.
Although it focuses mainly on developers creating an ecosystem for their apps, the end user features are very similar to Game Center, Apple’s own online multiplayer social gaming network. It allows users to “ track all earned trophies, treasures, badges, awards, and more without leaving the gaming experience”.
Other features include giving users the ability to invite friends, start multiplayer games, track achievements, and compare scores on a leaderboard. With GameCircle, Amazon’s Kindle Fire enters the social gaming market that other companies such as Apple and Google are currently dominating. GameCircle will allow Amazon to offer tailored services to its Kindle Users and with the new SDK can also offer users apps made specifically for their device.
With GameCircle, Amazon is preparing to get a leg up on the competition and make the Kindle Fire one of the more sought after devices in the market. Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2 is rumored to be unveiled next summer, and will likely take advantage of GameCircle and the company’s numerous other services.
{Via 9to5Mac}
]]> https://touchreviews.net/apple-inc-aapl-game-center-amazon-gamecircle/feed/ 2
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.
[rating: 4/5]What to know:
iBomber Defense Pacific is a follow up to the highly acclaimed iBomber Defense and provides hours of tower defense style game-play.
The action, as the title suggests, takes place on the Pacific Rim and the levels reflect that region in all their glory, from golden deserts and deep jungles to the city streets the graphics are clear, detailed and strong over 20+ different levels.
If you’ve played a tower defense game before then you are going to be very comfortable in iBDP but for those of you that haven’t there is in game tutorial that takes you through all the basics and it’s not difficult to pick up, although as with all good games there is more to simply knowing enough to cruise through all the levels.
You can do that if you like and even then there you will enjoy the journey but just like achieving 3 stars on all the levels of angry birds the real fun comes in attempting to get the best ranking in each level which in turn rewards you with the cash and honors to do even better in the following rounds.
The controls are simple, drag and drop to place your machine gun, cannon, rockets, flamers and other weapons and tapping on them provides you with the ability to repair, upgrade and sell them. If things aren’t going your way on any level you also get the ability to rewind a wave and try again, however this ability it limited so it has to be used wisely.
I highly recommend playing the game with your headphones on too as the sound of the thundering gunfire over the back-drop of the ambient location noises creates a great atmosphere.
As with all Chillingo titles the game comes integrated with Crystal, their social gaming network which provides multiple achievements and leaderboards for all the levels.
Chillingo continue to churn out quality titles and in iBomber Defense Pacific they continue to do so with a solid, if not ground breaking title. iBDP is a universal game and is available in the App Store now for $2.99.
What we like:
What to know:
Growing up I would frequently send and receive greeting cards that used the poems and character of Purple Ronnie, a stick figure, funny guy who always brought a smile to my face, and in Fancy Pants for iPhone and iPad I was taken back to that time as the lead character in this game reminded me of him.
However, most of you will know Fancy Pants from the web version of the game that’s been around for a while now and the port over to iOS is a pretty accurate representation of the stick figured platformer although the opportunity to take advantage of the iOS unique control functions of a touch screen and accelerometer was one that should have been taken advantage of. Instead the controls are simply via 4 virtual buttons.
All that aside Fancy Pants {App Store} is still a lot of fun, it’s fast, smooth and addictive and has loads of content that will keep you coming back for more again and again.
The back story consists of the everyday story of rescuing your sister from a bunch of pirates who have kidnapped her, the story is fun, entertaining but following the story is not required and doesn’t take anything away from the game play.
After a brief tutorial you’ll soon find yourself running, leaping, climbing and crawling through large sprawling levels which are full of obstacles but also various challenges and things to collect. You don’t have to complete everything to move through the store mode, in fact having something to go back to the earlier levels to do is all part of the fun.
The artistic style of the whole game is one of simple line drawings but they spring to life as Fancy Pants charges through the 11 levels and multiple arcade challenges that you can unlock as you play through the levels. These arcade games can then be played separately and you can track your success across all of this via the Crystal social gaming network.
If you decide not to complete all of the side challenges then the game can be literally run through pretty quickly, the question is though, why would you!
Despite not taking advantage of any iOS unique control options the controls do work well and Fancy Pants moves around so fluidly that even when he’s not swimming under water it can seem like he is, and that’s no bad thing!
If you like platform games but want something that is a step up from the normal jump up, jump over, stomp, repeat, repeat then Fancy Pants is for you. Fancy Pants is only 99c at the moment and is a universal game so can be played on both your iPhone and iPad, however there is no iCloud support so you’ll need to complete the game on both separately.
[rating: 4/5]What to know:
Other than reading the latest thoughts on Global Warming and watching the meteorologists on TV forecasting the weather the last time I did anything scientific was to burn some magnesium sulphate, I think that’s what it was called, over a Bunsen Burner during a school science lesson. Now though I’ve had the chance to get back to those fun times thanks to Master of Alchemy from Chillingo.
Master of Alchemy for iPhone is a puzzle game where you are challenged to get a certain number of colored elements to the end goal. This is achieved by manipulating the form of the elements from the initial form to the form required at their destination.
These elements take the for of solid, liquid and gas elements and you’ll use a variety of tools to manipulate and move the elements as you progress. However you are limited to only a certain number of tools so your solutions have to be specific.
Each level looks picture perfect and takes up more than the size of the iPhones screen so you’ll need to scroll and zoom in and out to see the big picture of both the starting and ending points.
As with most similar titles things start slowly and you are introduced to the various tools and their uses one at a time. The selection of tools for each level is provide via a menu located in the left hand side of the screen which opens and collapses as you tap on it. When you have decided which tool to use you can simple drag and drop it onto the playing area.
You also don’t have to worry to much about placing it correctly either as you can easily drag and move each piece as required. With any piece selected you can also rotate it to the correct angle to ensure the transformation happens as required.
While there is some variety to the sixty levels in Master of Alchemy many of them are repetitive with similar solutions required to complete the levels and this limits the enjoyment of the game somewhat as feelings of de-ja-vu are often felt.
It is nice that multiple profiles are enabled so that more than one user can play the game on the device without affecting the other players progress and as with most Chillingo games their social gaming network is also enabled. This enables 40 awards to be unlocked as well as Global, National and Local leader boards so that you can compare yourself to players far and wide.
At just 99c the game offers very good value for money despite it’s shortcomings, what is disappointing though is the fact that while the game is available for both the iPhone and iPad they have to be purchased as separate apps with the subsequent cost.
Reviewed on an iPhone 4
Price: $0.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:Aug 05, 2010
Version:1.0
Size: 37.8 MB
Language:English
Seller:Chillingo Ltd
© DarkWave Games
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
Say goodbye to your friends and family as you lose yourself in this addictive game!
Train Conductor 2: USA for iPhone is the follow up to the successful Train Conductor game and it carries on where it left off with it’s simple design and addictive qualities.
For those of you that haven’t played the original conductor game the premise is pretty simple. You are the train conductor and your task is to direct the trains to their respective destinations without letting crash into each other.
While the premise is simple the the task is not as the trains start coming thick and fast and you’ll find yourself juggling multiple trains across multiple tracks to prevent a fatal collision.
There are five US based locations each with it’s own unique set of challenges and each one becomes available as you successfully deliver the appropriate amount of trains. After a brief tutorial you’ll start conducting on the monorails of Miami.
Four numbered tracks are located horizontally across the screen and the trains start appearing from both sides of the screen. You are alerted to their impending arrival with a flashing light and as they travel along the track you can drag them from one track to another.
After successfully delivering trains in Miami you’ll move onto Nashville where ghost trains are on the menu and there is a small surprise in store which I won’t give away here.
New York, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas are the other cities that you’ll get to visit each with their unique style and challenges that will keep you coming back for more to see if you can beat your previous scores.
One thing that has disappeared from the original is the integration with the Plus+ social gaming network, but in its place Facebook integration has been added so that you can compare your scores with your Facebook friends.
The game is also a universal app meaning that for a single purchase the game will work both on the iPad and iPhone/iPod touch. While there are no additional features in the iPad version the games looks even better and plays extremely well with the larger playing area.
Train Conductor 2:USA is a beautiful, fun, addictive game that will keep you coming back for more and may even make you go and play the original if you haven’t played that before either!
Price: $0.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released: Jul 13, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0
Size: 17.5 MB
Language: English
Seller: The Voxel Agents
© 2010 The Voxel Agents Pty Ltd
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.