iPhone Article Zone

Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers

Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers is a stylish hack-and-slash adventure, and Gamevil’s latest US release. Demolishing soldiers from horseback is a swift, fun experience, which is no surprise—I’ve always been a fan of combat in Gamevil games. The ink-style graphics are also a nice departure from run-of-the-mill cartoons. It’s a shame that autosave is entirely absent and that the game is so repetitive, because Vanquish is a lot of fun.

The game draws its story from the Three Kingdoms period of China. The basic premise is that three warlords once swore an “oath of brotherhood” to each other, and now the main character, Ghuan Yu, must lead his “brother’s” wives to safety. There is great potential for an epic, historically sound storyline here, but the bland dialogue leaves much to be desired. The only times you have to pay attention are when a strategic decision must be made, and then it’s easy to determine the other characters’ intentions. Thankfully, there’s more to Vanquish than its mediocre storyline, and the dialogue is easy to skip through.

Vanquish truly shines once you get into combat mode. It plays like a typical hack-and-slash, but with a good dose of flair. As Ghuan Yu, you must defend the wives’ carriage from the enemy armies, which attack in waves. The story is divided into stages (10 for Ghuan Yu, and 4 apiece for the warlords you unlock later). At the end of each wave, one of the enemy generals will show up, and defeating him ends the wave.

What makes Vanquish so much fun is the way in which you attack. There’s a basic slash as well as a “dash” that sends Ghuan Yu charging through a line of enemies. You can also press and hold on the basic slash button until the power meter turns red, thereby unleashing a storm of energy upon your opponents with the “Royal Flight” attack. Items like a lightning attack can also be equipped. There’s just a great sense of constant action and speed, and being on horseback just makes it better. Light RPG elements are also included in the form of being able to upgrade your horse and equip different weapons, but for the most part it’s a straightforward gallop to the end.

Vanquish is very proud of its graphics. The art is based on traditional ink and wash paintings, though you won’t see much of that beyond the conceptual pieces. In-game, everything is much sharper, with ragged edges and a pixelated style. Whether or not you like this look is a matter of personal preference, though I beseech you to look at the video; the still images don’t do it justice. What’s really stellar is the balance of monochromatic elements against small bursts of color. The colorful wisps of your victims’ souls and the dark-red flashes of blood become much crisper as a result, and the effect is really neat.

What I don’t like about the graphics is the strange parallax effect used to create a psuedo-3D environment. The joystick that controls your movement speeds and slows your horse as well as moving him up and down on the field, but the attempted use of sorta-kinda-3D means that the depth of field changes. This looks great, but makes for some awkward issues when you’re “zoomed out”—it’s hard to tell if you’re really hitting the soldiers, or just striking empty air.

That’s a minor gripe compared to my two major problems with the game, however. First and foremost is that autosave doesn’t exist. At all. And, more importantly, each level can take up to ten minutes to beat. With no way to save mid-level, even in the app itself, Vanquish’s potential as a pick-up-and-play game is completely demolished. This is the iPhone, not a dedicated gaming device, and we need fast ways to save our games. Secondly, the levels are simply too repetitive. Hack-and-slash is fun, but it won’t last you forever…especially with a mediocre storyline. With little variation between levels, there’s not much content here, and even less replay value.

Vanquish is a fun jaunt through a war-torn ancient China, and I’ll be the first to say that mowing down lines of soldiers is rather thrilling. But without more depth or a decent storyline, Vanquish remains a simple hack-and-slash. And who knows? That might be exactly what you want. Personally, I prefer more variety. At $2.99 Vanquish is an affordable, action-packed experience that’s still worth playing through…albeit one without autosave. There’s one feature you might want to wait for!

Boom It Up

Gamevil’s latest title is a bit of a departure from previous releases like Zenonia and Baseball Superstars. Instead, it’s almost a super-strategic Doodle Jump. In Boom It Up, you try to fire a canonball through a series of wacky obstacles, pausing many times to wait for the perfect moment to strike. The goal is simply to rise as high as possible. It’s a promising premise and a good amount of fun, but the lackluster graphics and jerky gameplay keep it from being a must-buy.

To launch your canonball, you simply tap the screen; the ball will fly from its current cannon and you’re immediately confronted with some creative obstacles. Trampolines, levers, springs, gears, fire…you’ll find all of those, among others, in addition to nasty birds that will result in an immediate death. Timing is key, as obstacles are seldom immobile. The course is randomized each time you play, and while each course starts easily, the difficulty quickly escalates. The resulting game is a fun, casual treat, with each playthrough lasting for only a minute or two at most…if you’re as (un)skilled as me, anyway.

Included leaderboards (both local and global) keep track of your best distance, but there are no achievements or any other “extras” to unlock. It’s you, your cannonball, and a quest for height—nothing more, and nothing less.

However, once you get past the bare game, a few flaws emerge. For one thing, the graphics are annoyingly blurry. I know that it’s supposed to look cartoony, but I suspect that the sprites have simply been blown up from a cell phone game to match the iPhone’s resolution. The jagged images, therefore, a little disconcerting. The audio is decent but not phenomenal; most of the time I left it off. The thing that annoyed me the most, however, was the way the game pauses after each time your cannonball advances to allow the camera to follow. This creates a sense of jerkiness that quickly becomes frustrating. I want a seamless experience, not a staggered, jerky one.

Having to time your moves and the intentional “stuttering” really slow the game down, making it less fun than it could have been. On the other hand, the skill and timing required also make it a lot more challenging and entertaining. If you’re a fan of super-simple casual titles like Doodle Jump, you might find Boom It Up to be a blast. Just be prepared to deal with some few rough edges.

Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers Trailer

It’s not surprising that Gamevil, makers of the Zenonia and Hybrid: Eternal Whisper series, would have another action RPG up their sleeve. What is eye-catching, however, is the art style of their new title, Vanquish: The Oath of Brothers. Billed as an “Artisitc Action RPG”, Vanquish features striking ink and wash painting graphics.

An initial teaser trailer of the game was released, and the presentation is indeed very stylish. Not much of the game itself can be seen, except for a brief glimpse of side-scrolling fighting on horseback. You can view the trailer below…

Along with the new trailer, Gamevil has put out a call for 25 beta testers. Anyone interested can apply on the Gamevil website. All submissions must be received before midnight January 17th.

Gamevil Announces New Details For Zenonia 2: The Lost Memories

Zenonia made its debut back in May as one of the first “real” RPG experiences for the iPhone. The months haven’t done much to tarnish its popularity, which is hardly surprising given its quality. (Check out our review.) Now, the folks at Gamevil are teasing us with details about the upcoming sequel, which will be titled Zenonia 2: The Lost Memories.

The game is expected to launch in March and comes with a list of new features. First, instead of playing at the generic Regret from the original Zenonia, players will have the option to chose from four distinct characters, one each from the Paladin, Shooter, Magician, and Warrior classes. These new classes should add some variety to the gameplay…especially as the Shooter and Magician classes will feature ranged attacks. Zenonia 2 will also feature new difficulty modes: Normal, Hard, and Hellish. Playing Normal will be a decent choice for new players, but only within the Hard and Hellish modes will players be able to get unique loot and access a hidden boss stage. Terrain effects (water, snow, ice, etc) will also add a bit of a twist to the realm.

Perhaps most interesting, however, is the addition of asynchronous PvP. While it’s not quite full-fledged live battling, you’ll be able to download your friends’ characters to compete against. We don’t know much more yet, but this sounds like a tantalizing new feature.

With a tentative March release date, Zenonia 2 is quickly approaching. The first Zenonia was an exceptional game that still marks a standard for iPhone RPGs; I can’t wait to see what Gamevil finally produces for its sequel. This is one to watch!

Daily Double: CLUE for $0.99, Ickle Count for Free

Today’s Daily Double comes with a real gift from EA Games: Clue for $0.99. Meanwhile, the Appvent Calender is featuring Ickle Count (a kid-oriented counting game), and Gamevil has a bit of a bonus for us, too: Hybrid: Eternal Whisper is on sale for $2.99 for a limited time.

Let’s start with Clue. While this is wrapped in all of the traditional board game’s branding, it’s actually not the game you’re familiar with. Instead of a board game in which you compete against other players or the computer, it’s a one-player mystery-fest in which you step into the shoes of a sleuth. Once again, Mr. Boddy has been murdered, and it’s up to you to figure out which of his devious guests is at fault. We looked at Clue back in June:

Albeit quite different from the traditional Clue board game experience, this app is an excellent mystery solving puzzler. Some have criticized this game for being C.I.N.O., Clue in name only, if you will, but that is a strong criticism for an iPhone adaptation which retains much of the original whodunnit Clue spirit.

Given that this game usually goes for $4.99, this is the day to get it if you’re looking for a detective-style app. Has anyone else noticed that EA is putting a lot of its summer releases on sale?

CLUE

Our Rating: :: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Category: Games / Board
Released: 2009-05-15
Price: $2.99 ON SALE: $1.99

The Appvent Calender’s offering is much less serious. Ickle Count is light-hearted and colorful—and above all, simple. The name of the game is counting. Numbered divers float in the water above a sea monster, and it’s your job to tap them in sequence as quickly as possible before time runs out. From the bright graphics to the silly theme, it’s clear that this one is targeted towards younger children, not older gamers.

Ickle Count

Category: Games / Educational
Released: 2009-10-17
Price: $0.99

So far we’ve had a morbid mystery and a cheerful counting game. Adding to the mix is Hybrid: Eternal Whisper, which differs starkly from our other two deals. Hybrid is a hardcore combat-based RPG with a fantastic combat system, a good amount of customization, and a heavy emphasis on combo moves. Unfortunately, it’s hampered by heavy dialogue and load screens, but for a serious gamer, the combat makes it all worth it. A recent update also added a great “battle only” mode. While this isn’t technically part of the Daily Double, it is on sale—50% off, in fact, which puts it at $2.99.

HYBRID: Eternal Whisper

Our Rating: :: PROMISING

Category: Games / Adventure
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $4.99 ON SALE: $2.99

That brings today’s Daily Double to a close. As always, we’ll be back tomorrow!

Hybrid: Eternal Whisper

After playing Gamevil’s fabulous Zenonia, I found myself waiting with bated breath, wondering what epic RPG they would port next. Hybrid: Eternal Whisper has been in production for quite some time, and the teaser trailers had me salivating. A combat-oriented adventure with a complex fantasy storyline? Count me in!

Hybrid just hit the App Store a few days ago. The combat is there, and it’s just as complex, fun, and stunning as I’d expected. However, the storyline is another story entirely. I’m an avid reader and a fan of lengthy RPGs…but there is such a thing as too many blocks of text, especially when the story spends more time introducing new concepts than exploring existing, interesting ones. Hybrid’s combat makes it all worth it, but I really recommend hitting the “skip” button. You won’t miss much.

Your character, “Grey,” lives in a world called Platina, which is under attack by dark spirits. Needless to say, it quickly becomes apparent that you’ve got to dig your fellow inhabitants out of this mess by ruthlessly murdering every monster you come across. That’s the short version. The long version includes a mish-mash of way too many bizarre concepts: parallel worlds, spirits, ghosts, hybrids, fairies, magic, mana, force power…every scene, it seems, we learn about a new thing. The story might have been interesting if the player wasn’t inundated with so much information. Unfortunately, skipping the dialogue means you sometimes miss crucial instructions.

Combat is much more interesting than the endless dialogue. Gameplay takes place on a two-dimensional field, and you can move left, right, forward, and back using the virtual D-pad, which works well enough. There’s an easily mashable attack button on the right side of the screen, as well as a button for changing your sword grip. Everything is about well-timed combos: switching your grip in mid-attack, combining magic with sword thrusts to unlock more special abilities, and so on. Make no mistake; Hybrid is not a casual game.

Characters join your party as you progress through the game, but in a way that makes much more sense than just throwing in extra characters. Fairy, for example, can be called into battle to defend you, or to attack enemies, but you’ll have to build up enough “Sync” before doing so. Salamander, a fire spirit, grants you the ability to cast fire spells. The magic system thus evolves in a sensible fashion. While some of the gestures used for magic aren’t always recognized, for the most part, the technical controls work well.

There’s plenty of room for customization. You get points to spend on basic stat upgrades with each level up, but you can also collect “POW” from fallen enemies to increase other stats. Plus, weapon and equipment drops are also common.

My main gripe with Hybird is really that I don’t get to spend enough time playing the game. I adore the combat system; it’s extremely exciting and absolutely murders what little competition it has among fighting RPGs in the App Store. However, between the load screens and the endless plot, you don’t get to spend much time fighting, especially in the beginning. As time goes on the battles get longer, which is a good thing, but many players may give up before they get to the real meat of the game.

I love Gamevil in general, but while Hybrid certainly kept me occupied, it isn’t a home-run like their previous releases. If you’re a hardcore gamer, the proudly beating heart of Hybrid (the combat!) should be enough to thrill you. Just be warned that you’ll be sitting through a lot of load screens.

Monday Morning App HQ

Random musings of the app store

App Alluvion

This week’s only news story also has the sign of the apocalypse and the apps of the week built in – handy, eh? Over a 24 hour period, 453 new games were released! What happened Apple, did someone finally wake up? This is a great disservice to developers, as it’s exceedingly hard for an app to get noticed when so many other good games are released on the same day. Sure, developers can set release dates, but if they do, their app is placed on the latest releases section in iTunes according to approval date not publication date, therefore burying it beneath the first page and limiting valuable exposure. Please fix this, Apple! Anyway, enough ranting, here are some of the most notable releases this week. We’ll try to have reviews for as many as we can in due time, but until then, here’s a quick rundown:

Hybrid: Eternal Whisper

Gamevil’s action-RPG follow-up to Zenonia certainly has great aesthetics and a nice online component, but for me so far, the story has been too intrusive and the gameplay mediocre. At $5.99, you may want to wait for our review.

HYBRID: Eternal Whisper

Category: Games / Adventure
Released: 2009-09-17
Price: $5.99

Unify

Zach Gage’s first iPhone game is a very stylish Tetris variant with OpenFeint integration. Instead of blocks falling from from the top, the fall into the middle from both the left and the right, where you have to manipulate them using multi-touch controls. Match four or more of the same color to clear blocks. The game starts out slow with only black and white, but quickly becomes challenging with the addition of more colors and faster scrolling. From my time with the game, I can say it’s one of the more fun puzzle games on the App Store.

Unify

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-17
Price: $0.99

Aera

This beautiful flight sim had our editor Chris in a frenzy before its release. From initial impressions, it seems the game delivers on the hype, but if you don’t want to shell out the $2.99 now, Chris will have a review up very soon.

Aera

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $2.99

Aves
Aves contains some truly magnificent animations and entrancing binaural audio, but with its simplistic gameplay, it plays more like a tech demo. Still, if you want to see some really cool technology, it’s worth the $.99 price of admission, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Ghost LLC’s future projects.

Aves

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $0.99

Above and Beyond Air Combat

Young developer Josh Rosen’s followup to SciFly is a totally different beast. It’s still an arcade plane flying game, but it shines with OpenFeint integration, a huge level of customization, open-world gameplay, and shiny graphics. In any normal week, this would easily earn the app of the week award.

Above & Beyond Air Combat

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $2.99

Robocalypse – Mobile Mayhem

Robocalypse is a humorous and strong entry into the RTS genre, which is relatively weak on the App Store. Featuring a lengthy campaign and full online multiplayer, Robocalypse is a safe bet for RTS fans.

Robocalypse - Mobile Mayhem

Category: Games / Strategy
Released: 2009-09-15
Price: $4.99

Alley Gator

Alley Gator is Glu’s entry into the quick $.99 games category with accelerometer-based gameplay.

Alley Gator

Category: Games / Racing
Released: 2009-09-04
Price: $0.99

Champion Archer

From the guys who made Sparta comes a port of an addictive online flash game.

Champion Archer

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $0.99

Against the Fire!

Meridian’s followup to their smash hit Alive 4 Ever is a similar survival shooter but with theme of a fireman putting out water monsters.

Against the Fire!

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $0.99

Dungeon Hunter (pulled from the App Store)

Otherwise known as Gameloft’s Diablo clone, Dungeon Hunter was said to be very impressive, but was unfortunately pulled due to a bug in the game. The game should be available for download again soon.

Castle Warriors

Castle Warriors is another nice addition to the RTS genre on the App Store. The gameplay is similar to Galcon and the graphics are very nice overall.

Castle Warriors

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-17
Price: $0.99

Super Shock Football

After App Store giants Gameloft and EA turned out full football sims, you would expect Chillingo, publisher extraordinaire to follow up with one of their own, right? Instead, developer Steamroller studios has produced a light-hearted throw back to vintage vibrating football games that is ultimately more suited to the iPhone than either Madden or NFL 2010.

Super Shock Football

Category: Games / Arcade
Released: 2009-09-17
Price: $1.99

Underground

This Chillingo “shmup” is very stylish but adds little to the genre gameplay-wise.

Underground

Category: Games / Arcade
Released: 2009-09-15
Price: $3.99

Scarecrow

Scarecrow is Ezone’s take on Doodle Jump and also the latest 3rd party game to incorporate ngmoco’s plus+ network.

Scarecrow

Category: Games / Action
Released: 2009-09-18
Price: $0.99

Apps of the Week

iBlast Moki

iBlast Moki is the best puzzle game on the iPhone, period. This physics-based puzzle game contains challenging gameplay. The goal is to, using bombs and eventually other elements like balloons, get all of the mokis to the exit of the level. It sounds simple, but some of the levels are head-scratchingly devious. There is almost unlimited replay value with over 70 levels, Plus+ integration, and a full-featured level editor/sharer.

iBlast Moki

Our Rating: :: VIRTUALLY IMPECCABLE

Category: Games / Puzzle
Released: 2009-09-09
Price: $1.99

Meteor Blitz

By the same token, Meteor Blitz is the best top-down space shooter for the iPhone, surpassing even the famed Isotope. The dual-stick control scheme is incredibly fast and responsive, the graphics are simply stunning, and the gameplay is livened up by the inclusion of RPG elements and many different weapons. The game also features superlative pause and auto-save functions.

Meteor Blitz

Our Rating: :: WOW!

Category: Games / Arcade
Released: 2009-09-15
Price: $1.99

Wow, so many great games, and I’m sure I’m missing a few. Of course, I won’t expect any good game releases for the next month couple with reports of month-long approval times.

Monday Morning App HQ

Random Musings of the App Store

New iTunes brings fresh App Store

Among the goings-on at the 9.9.09 Apple event was the release of iTunes 9.0 which included a redesigned App Store. To sum up the changes in one word – “clutter.” It seems as if Apple has challenged themselves to fit as many app icons on one page as possible. There are some nice changes, but they are masked by the overall clutter. Top 100’s are now top 200’s, though looking over the lists now causes eye damage. There is now a top grossing app list, though it is hidden at the bottom of the page and used in conjunction with the top volume list making it confusing for all. Tabs at the top of iTunes are nice though the drop down App Store categories are initially hard to find. One of the new iTunes is the ability to organize iPhone app icons from iTunes. Though it’s not perfect, this new feature is infinitely preferable to organizing on the iPhone itself.

Gameloft clones

Gameloft is really wearing thin on me with their clones. GTA is more of a genre now, so I was ok with Gangstar, but with their COD4 clone (Modern Combat) and Soul Caliber clone (Blades of Fury), I’ve had enough. These games certainly show off the iPhone as a gaming platform, but there comes a point when I just can’t get excited about exact clones of existing games. These aren’t rough clones either, they’re almost indistinguishable. Gameloft is a talented developer, but in order to start making memorable games, they’re going to have to show the creativity involved in creating games like Sway and Gomi, two indie darlings. For now though, all the upcoming Gameloft games are clones, including a Diablo clone, a Mario Kart clone, and a Halo clone.

Exciting upcoming games

In contrast to Gameloft, here are some trailers for some games I’m really excited about. Enjoy!

iBlast Moki:

Hybrid: Eternal Whisper:

Ravensword: the Fallen King

Well, you were all horribly wrong, but sf49lu wins the $15 gift card for being the most detailed in his wrong predictions. Congratulations, Chris will email you your winnings as soon as he stops watching football.

Apps of the Week

Sadly, there were no apps good enough to be deemed worthy of this award. Blades of Fury was lacking, Madden was disappointing, and I haven’t gotten a chance to play Dexter yet. See you all next week!

Zenonia 2!

I’m sorry… this one is mean of me. Zenonia 2 for the iPhone isn’t even in production yet and isn’t expected until sometime next year. Again, I’m sorry for getting you all so worked up. I found this poster on Gamevil’s Facebook page and just had to post it. Enjoy!

Zenonia 2!

I’m sorry… this one is mean of me. Zenonia 2 for the iPhone isn’t even in production yet and isn’t expected until sometime next year. Again, I’m sorry for getting you all so worked up. I found this poster on Gamevil’s Facebook page and just had to post it. Enjoy!