ancient war

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Triniti’s ALL-IN-1 GAMEBOX

Games, Reviews, ancient war, bowman defense, bundle, gamebox, triniti

Developer: Triniti
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.3

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.46 out of 5 stars

Triniti’s Gamebox (sorry, but I’m forgoing the caps-lock) currently contains fifteen games for the bargain-bin price of $1. I’m not going to lie; a lot of these games are the kind of shallow mini-games you’d expect in a bargain pack. However, a few of them are good, namely Ancient War and Bowman Defense, and with a few decent ones to accompany them, the $1 price tag makes the Gamebox a great bargain.

The games included are: Ancient War, Bowman Defense, Jailbreaker, King Fish, iSniper, Operation iWolf, 1945 Ace Destroyer, 2009 Road Master, 321! Jump!, Bubble Master, iSign Fortunetelling 365, iUFO Catcher, Climber, Get Rich, and Hell Flyer.

Here’s the thing about all of them, sans Ancient War: they’re simple. Most of these are actually too simple to justify being sold as stand-alone apps, and Triniti knows this; in fact, Jailbreaker, Climber, and Hell Flyer are already available for free. iSniper is dull, Get Rich, and Bubble Master are all dull, and iSign Fortunetelling 365 barely counts as a game.

So, no, the Gamebox isn’t a humongous bargain. But it’s still a bargain, and here’s why: Ancient War on its own is great, and well worth the $0.99. The other games—the ones that are decent, like Bowman Defense, iUFO Catcher, and Hell Flyer—make up a collection of mini-games that might not be worth money in their own right, but are actually pretty fun given that you can bounce between them.

I’ve already reviewed Ancient War, a game in which you take your tribe to war against others in a castle-defense game combined with offensive components. I gave it a solid 4-star review; once you unlock awesome weapons like dinosaurs and catapults for your army, the fun really kicks in. Plus, it’s gained a multiplayer mode since I reviewed it. While it still suffers from a bit of lag and doesn’t cooperate if you put your iPod into lock mode, it’s still a great title.

Of the remaining games, my next-favorite is Bowman Defense, which is just a castle-defense game in which you (an archer) have to take aim at approaching enemies. You drag your finger to aim and fire your bow, and you gain special arrow types as the game progresses. It’s nothing complicated, but it is fun. Unfortunately, the controls are a bit difficult to master, and the game is pretty repetitive, especially compared to other castle defense games in the App Store.

There are a few other entertaining ones, too. iUFO Catcher is a crane-game…you know, like the ones in arcades that are always stuffed with plush animals and other hard-to-grab stuff. The addition of multiple, moving tiers makes it surprisingly fun. Hell Flyer is a neat grappling-hook swinging game that feels like one of those Flash games that you keep on playing despite their simplicity. However, even the simplest of mini-games needs one basic feature: a local high-score list. I mean, really, not being able to compete against your own records saps some of the fun out of these games. Though the game calculates a score, your high score can only be viewed from the Gamebox’s launch page, not from within each game.

Then, of course, there are some dull games included that I’d delete in a second if they were taking up space on my iPod’s home screen. The Doodle Jump clone 123! Jump! falls into this category, along with Sign Fortunetelling 365, Bubble Master, iSniper, and 1945 Ace Destroyer.

So, the bottom line? Yes, Triniti’s ALL-IN-1 GAMEBOX (phew, obnoxious caps) is worth buying…but only as long as it stays at this rock-bottom price, unless they add another killer game to the mix. Getting one good game at its normal price, with a bunch of mediocre ones for no extra charge? Yup, that sounds just fine by me.

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Games, Reviews, ancient war, castle defense, triniti interactive

Developer: Triniti Interactive
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

iPhone Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.92 out of 5 stars

Ancient War is a castle-defense game of a sort…but instead of just sitting back while your opponent assaults your gates, you have to attack! From cavemen to dinosaurs to shamans, your troops bring their own style to the field as they work to both attack and defend. While it faces fierce competition from excellent games such as the Knight’s Onrush, Ancient War is still a great game in its own right, especially if you have a thirst for more offensive action.

Of course, because we’re in good ol’ Prehistoria, you’re not defending a castle; you’re defending your tribe’s totem pole whilst trying to topple the other tribe’s. Because of this, the gameplay ends up as a sort of violent tug-of-war between the two sides: when a warrior goes down, the line has an opportunity to advance. After all, you can’t attack your enemy’s totem pole unless it’s within your range…and this means that you’ll often be fighting just to get close enough to attack. This adds a new element of strategy. Sure, your standard melee fighters are in more danger (they’re closer to your opponent), but by the same token they are key to pushing your line ahead.

At first, however, Ancient War just isn’t that great. But with each battle, you gain gold…and with gold, you can purchase a plethora of upgrades and unlock new troop types. These demand new strategies and hold new delights: there’s nothing quite as satisfying as witnessing your trained T-rex munch on your enemy’s cavalry.

The actual gameplay goes something like this: your food meter fills at a constant pace throughout the battle. Food is required to build troops; each troop type requires a different amount of food. The T-rex is hungrier than the standard warrior, sure, but why does the catapult need food? Anyway. You tap the troop’s portrait at the bottom of the screen to build one, and then you watch as the battle begins, adding more troops as your food meter allows. If things start to turn south (and trust me, they will), you can use your divine powers to summon a “miracle,” which brings meteors raining down upon the field.

Yep, it’s pretty nifty.

The “home page” is the world map, which shows all of the tribes you can take on, along with a gold star for each level you’ve defeated. (Each tribe has four difficulty levels.) From here, you can also hit the technology page, fiddle with your options, see the high scores…that sort of thing.

Sadly, everything isn’t sunny here. My first and most minor gripe is that Ancient Wars isn’t incredibly original, but the implementation is what really matters, right? The current version has attracted hosts of complaints on the App Store about newfound lagginess and missing data. While I didn’t have Version 1.0 and therefore didn’t experience any data loss, I can definitely attest to the lag. In some battles, I was fine, but it gets hairy when more troops pour onto the screen. Worst of all is if you happen to tap the power button: send your device to sleep, and the game freaks out upon your return. For this reason, I’ve docked points for iPhone integration.

Despite those problems, though, Ancient Wars is definitely a solid title. I love the tug-of-war-esque combination of offense and defense; Ancient Wars is a well-balanced game, and the rounds are shorter (10-15 minutes is the longest I’ve gone) compared to other games. While it is lacking some functions like Endless Mode and the lag definitely needs to be addressed, promised updates have me excited: bluetooth and online multiplayer as well as new units and technologies. I can easily recommend Ancient Wars to anyone who enjoys a bit of cheery violence!

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