Ah yes, Cricket. The gentle thud of willow on leather, the chink of the teacups and smell of freshly made buns. All of which is nothing whatsoever like Cricket T20 Fever HD, out (on sale) in the Nokia Ovi Store and reviewed here. It's fair to say that the title is a labour of love by the developers and also the best cricket game I've ever played on a handheld device. But that doesn't necessarily make it particularly good as a flagship title for Symbian phones, as you'll gather...
It promises a lot, but when it comes down to it, Rally Master Pro has some fundamental flaws that make this the rally driving game that doesn’t feel.... like a rally driving game. Yes, it looks nice, but the title of the game catches out the Trades Description Act the second you start playing. Ewan finds out, to his sadness, why.
As you can tell, I’m working through all the game genres on the new Symbian platform, and next up is the “sports game”. Time to load up Gameloft’s latest version of Real Football HD for the new Symbian smartphones from Nokia to see if this is cup final worthy or just another jumpers for goalposts effort.
A capacitive screen isn't a great replacement for a Fender Stratocaster, but Gameloft's Guitar Rock Tour 2 HD brings the rock-rhythm genre to the new Symbian devices. But is your smartphone the best choice of musical instrument to take you on a digital career around the world? Probably not, but not because Gameloft haven't tried their best.
Who wants the short review? Okay here it is. This is just Golden Axe for your mobile phone. If that’s enough to make you go “oooh!!” then you don’t need to read any more, just head straight to the Ovi Store, download Hero of Sparta, and away you go. For everyone else, you might need a bit more convincing, so here’s the review.
It’s yet another racing game for the new Symbian platform! It makes a lot of sense for Nokia to ensure this genre is strongly represented – it shows off the graphical capability of the N8 (and the rest of the devices in that family, including the C7) and they are strong brand names that give the platform legitimacy. Even though it’s more 'arcadey' that GT Racing: Motor Academy (reviewed here), Need for Speed: Shift feels a touch more realistic and a lot more fun.
It’s rare to have a genuinely new game on any platform, let alone one that’s just launched. What you need is to give out an air of confidence in the platform by getting in comfortable names that people recognise, to say that this platform can handle the titles that every one expects to see. And that’s what Sims 3 HD on the N8 is. But does it live up to expectations? Just about!
Galaxy on Fire is such a rubbish name for a great game. I’d go so far as to say that even Roger Corman would reject it (and he ended up with “Battle Beyond the Stars” once). Get past the hokey name, and you have a wonderful mobile version of the sprawling space trading games that used to be religiously popular when having Mode 7 on your computer was cutting edge.
And now to the Symbian^3 'HD' games. Continuing our N8 coverage, it’s time to turn to the gaming possibilites on the new Symbian devices, and in pole position for the reviews is GT Racing: Motor Academy HD from Gameloft. I came to GT Racing with high hopes, after Steve and Rafe both praised the driving game in our editorial meetings. While it’s a step up from the majority of automotive games on previous Symbian platforms, GT Racing rather falls in the gap between “arcade” and “realistic simulation” and, as such, fails to excel at either.
