Welcome to the month of December, home of holiday apps, snow and eggnog. It’s still a bit early to be going crazy with Christmas though, so rather than focus on those apps already, we’re going to highlight some of the fine mainstream titles that have emerged recently — including one rather famous one you’ve probably heard of …
Click through to check out this week’s roundup!
Bullet Time HD
Let’s start things off with a freebie, shall we? Bullet Time HD is a surprisingly vast shooter with a great personality and an impressive amount of content.
You control John Irish, a character in a post-apocalyptic world, struggling to save his family from the mutated wretches that inhabit the wasteland. There are actually two campaigns to play through, and if you’re more of a social type of gamer, you can hop online (over Wi-Fi or 3G) and enjoy a strong co-op mode where you fight the horde arcade-style.
Bullet Time is a very beautiful game, with strong visual design and a refined engine that runs smoothly on more recent devices. As you can guess from the free price tag, there are in-app purchases available to buy extra crystals (the in-game currency), but you don’t have to take advantage if you’re patient enough to earn the upgrades the old-fashioned way. Regardless of how you play it, Bullet Time offers a fun time in a familiar package.
Infinity Blade II
No more stalling: Infinity Blade II has landed! Does it live up to the hype? In a word, yes. In several more words: Infinity Blade II is everything a good sequel should be; it offers more combat styles, a refined and improved world design, a deeper story, more customization options, and a comfortable control scheme that helps you enjoy this console-quality game on your mobile device.
If you’ve played the first game, you’ll be familiar with the lonely but beautiful world of Infinity Blade, and you’ll enjoy returning to it and seeing the new environments, incredible detail and breathtaking scenery. Plan to spend some time with this game, because it reveals its secrets patiently and with great respect, and unlike many other games with in-app purchases, you won’t feel like you’re missing out if you skip them — everything is within reach and requires only a modest investment of time to earn. And boy will you ever want to earn it in this game.
While Infinity Blade II looks and runs best on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2, you’ll be able to play it on a 3GS or newer, and if you’re on the newest generation of devices then you’ll also want to take advantage of the extra graphical fidelity to output your screen to a TV using the new HDMI connectivity for a truly cinematic experience. Unmissable.
Price: $6.99
Developer: Chair Entertainment Group, LLC
Download: App Store
Subject 7
Despite the recent lapse in episodic gaming, it is a structure that shows a lot of promise and has produced some truly memorable titles (Sam & Max, Monkey Island, etc.) A notable new entry into this category is Subject 7, a moody science fiction story set in a mysterious and engaging world.
You’ll spend much of the first episode exploring and solving puzzles, as you’d expect, but it’s worth noting that the puzzles in Subject 7 are extremely clever and may remind you of Myst or Portal. While you have standard controls, there is also a cool “window” mode that lets you peer into the world through your phone as if it was an opening straight into the game environment. It ends up being very useful, and in combination with the superb sound design (play this with good headphones, you’ll thank us later) makes for an extremely immersive game.
If you enjoy mystery thrillers, Subject 7 is a series to watch. It’s only available on the iPhone 4 or newer, which should tell you something about how impressive the Unreal 3 powered graphics are. The best part is that this is just the first episode in what seems to be a terrific story.
Price: $2.99
Developer: Float Hybrid Entertainment
Download: App Store
The Bard’s Tale
A blast from the past follows, with the new iOS port of the classic comedic RPG, The Bard’s Tale. This venerable title is a cult favourite and has finally made the transition to the mobile gaming world with perfect faithfulness to the original.
Besides being chock full of content, The Bard’s Tale sets itself apart from its peers with an effortless and disarming sense of humour. It’s easily one of the most incredibly funny games you’ll play on your phone, and the new port offers some additional refinements including achievements, leaderboards and the ability to buy and equip certain crucial gameplay items early if you’re in a hurry to progress.
Even years after its original release, The Bard’s Tale remains charming and addictive, especially for fans of traditional RPGs who aren’t afraid of a little self-referential humour.
Price: $5.99
Developer: inXile Entertainment
Download: App Store
Flight Unlimited
Though often ignored in favour of their story-driven companions, sim games have a special place in the hearts of many gamers, so it’s nice to feature one every now and then, especially when it’s excellent. Flight Unlimited is a perfect example, so if you’re bored of X-Plane then you’ll want to have a look at this.
Flight Unlimited, despite its title, actually contains just one plane (a gorgeously renderedCessna 172), and takes place in a single very detailed city. The compromise between content and quality is acceptable once you dive into the game and behold the terrific visuals and responsive controls. It makes a great showcase app, but it’s also a relaxing sandbox environment for flight enthusiasts who want to do some leisurely flying in their downtime.
Flight Unlimited is great for exercising those pilot goals, so have a look and have a nice flight!
What Have You Been Playing?
We’re going to go back to playing Infinity Blade II now, but don’t hesitate to drop into the comments and tell us what you think of this week’s selections. We’re always interested in hearing what you’ve been playing!