Back in May last year, I looked at Gameloft’s version of the family card game Uno. It impressed me then and even though it was coded in Java, it was solidly recommended. Now it has been upgraded to “HD”, is it still as loved. No. I love it even more!
They say that games can transport you to another world. Which is a bit of a problem, because the latest HD game for Symbian^3, H.A.W.X. HD, seems to have lifted me not into the cockpit of an advanced fighter jet, but to the seat in front of Tom Clancy’s typewriter. Which is no place to write a serious game review... is it?
Bounce It! is an interesting title. Coming from Hyperkani Games, it’s one of the new breed of games that relies on advertising to make the developers some money. That makes it free and initially appealing to people browsing the Ovi Store. And while the game itself, while not an out and out success, is nicely diverting, you’re going to get frustrated with the adverts long before you finish the game (or you could switch to the paid version).
I know that Cubix has elements from a bundle of other games. I know that I can spot the callback to the minor arcade classic Plotting in this title. I know that there are elements of Dr Mario in here. And I know that the structure of having a collection of levels acting as a mission is lifted from the how to extend your game guidebook. But there’s no need to forgive developers Herocraft for this approach, because all those ingredients have been mixed together and work really well! Here's my illustrated review.
To be honest, the N-Gage had a lot going for it just before it was retired. The game catalogue was pretty impressive (Rifts, Mile High Pinball, and Pathway to Glory’s Ikusa Islands spring to mind), but the standout title for me was the first mobile version of Catan. This German boardgame has continued to live on in electronic form as well as continuing to gather fans in its physical form. Rather selfishly, it’s one of the few N-Gage games that I’ve been hoping would make the jump to the next-gen platform (which it didn’t). Licences Exozet have done the next best thing though, with a J2ME version. And it's rather good.
Gameloft have put a lot of adjectives in the title of their latest Symbian^3 game, and for once, it’s well deserved. Not because Gameloft have done something new and innovative (this is yet another 3d-esque beat-em-up, with the same UI mechanics as Hero of Sparta and Assassins Creed), and not because the graphics look like they’ve been worked especially for this screen resolution (even though that’s true). It's deserved as there seems to be a bit more love and attention paid to this Spiderman incarnation than any of the other current crop of games.
The latest in our series of reviews of the new batch of GPU-aware, high octane driving games, I take a spin in Raging Thunder 2 (or II, as the title screen proclaims it). With everything, including the kitchen sink and full Internet multi-player gaming, bundled into the new graphics engine, RT2 should be a huge hit. And yet, I can't help but feel that there's just too much going on, leaving the player high on console bling and short on raw driving satisfaction.
Making its HD debut on Symbian is one of Gameloft’s franchise games, Assassin’s Creed. For those of you who’ve played this on consoles and handhelds, you know exactly what to expect - running around the ancient middle east, jumping a fair bit, and swinging your sword around as you seek out ancient relics. You'll be glad to know that you’re going to get the full experience on Symbian. Here's what else is on offer in our review of the latest HD game for Symbian^3.
It looks like the Nokia N8 and C7 are turning into petrol heads. Not happy with having the Top Gear Christmas specials downloaded via iPlayer (or from the dark corners of the internet) it’s now time for me to look at another racing game for the Symbian^3 platform. It's the turn of.... Asphalt 5... [Jeremy Clarkson voice ON] HD!
Appropriate for Christmas-tide, this all-time family classic board game is revived in graphics-accelerated, super-swish form for Symbian^3 phones. It's a port from the iPhone version, or at least from common code, but that's not enough to put much of a dent in a stellar title that impresses in almost every way. Monopoly Classic HD is faithful to the 'proper' rules (but you can 'tweak' them if your family is used to your own 'variant'!) and you can play against up to three computer or human opponents. Read on for my review.
