Not sure if this has been done yet but I thought it would be a great way for new and even old users to check out what the iPod touch / iPhone and iPad has to offer and for those people out there who were wondering on either "buying" that game or app but haven't really heard much about it, or even to open people's minds to new and exciting games and apps!
Everything I will be reviewing has had a extensive amount of testing and playing done as well research. These reviews will be un-bias and not in any way shape or form influenced by a liking for the company or "free" apps given to me by the developer or anything such as.
As well, I am a extensive gamer my self, I've been playing games since 1987 and own 15 different consoles at my house as well as a PC and 2 MAC's for gaming and over 300 different games for all my consoles combined together, from the old school to the new school, if it's been made, I've played it!
So here is the list with a brief description of each one of them!
I am also a technician full time with AT&T and no ding dong when it comes to programming or technology, I'll try to make these reviews as accurate as possible without missing the facts or making them boring or cheesy.
Hope you enjoy!
This is just a start, more to come in the next day or so!
Games:
-Sway ($.99 USD)
*Sway is a great platform "type" game, it gives you a vast array of characters to choose from that each have their own advantages and "dis-advantages" and uses great use of the multi-touch capabilities of the iTouch/iPhone and iPad. But be warned, sway goes from "nice and fun" to smash your head off the pavement hard in a quick way, but overall this is a extremely enjoyable and challaging game that I feel as if, a lot of people overlook due to it's childish looking thing, if you're looking for a challaging multi-touch game then this is it, it's simply extremely fun swinging around your character around the screen and flinging him about and grabbing onto different ledges or area. Most of all, it's only a buck for a couple hours of great fun, however not many updates come out for this game.
Sway gets a 4 out of 5 apples.*
-Cogs ($.99 USD)
*Cogs is one of those games that has a intriguing effect to it, such as games like Braid or Limbo does.
It makes you use your mind and gives you a visually charismatic enjoyment out of the most simple environments. It is a game based off of quick timing, moderate puzzles and forward thinking. It combines various different elements into one puzzle and forces you to think a head of the puzzle in order to finish it, though Cogs is not a (in my opinion) hard game, it certainly will give you a level of challenge that seems to have this strange rewarding feeling after you've completed a puzzle.
It uses elements such as Gears,Pipes with steam coming out of them and tons of other elements in a 3D puzzle that you need to move around and navigate in order to complete, it normally requires you to build in such a fashion in order to finish the goal which is to make this object moveable, almost as if you were piecing together the parts of a early machine that some crazy scientist would of made in the early 1800's.
The art of it is certainly filled with a classic feel, reminding me of the times in Britain when jack the ripper was alive and simple was simple...but yet so many things could be complex.
Overall Cogs is a very intriguing game and if you are a fan of puzzles then this is with out a doubt for you, if not if you enjoyed things like Bioshocks "pipe hacking" mini-games then you will no doubt enjoy this more.
The only negative thing I have about Cogs is that after you've completed the first section of levels you are forced to purchase the remaining levels in 3 more sections at a buck a piece, while I think it's a cheap idea I really do not hope that the rest of the APP making community catches onto this and instead of us getting free updates, instead we have to pay for updates.
Marketing wise it's a fantastic idea, consumer wise it's a poor choice.
Cogs get's 5 out of 5 apples.
-Doom Classic ($5.99-6.99 USD)
*Doom, it's DOOM man, John FRIGGIN Romero!! The violence! The controversy! When I think of DOOM I think, THE GODFATHER of modern FPS's. When DOOM came out in 1993 I received my copy through the mail, I had no idea what this game looked like or how it played, my Grandfather had ordered me this game for the PC we had just purchased in our house while I was learning DOS and thought because we had got the top end model that we should try games out on this. I was given the first DOOM that was on a few floppy disk then and since that very day, I have been in love with what I feel is the most significant franchise in the history of video games personally ( of course games like Pac Man are more significant as some would say, however DOOM was the first glimpse of the future, what video games WERE going to be, no one else had done it and still to this day no one has set the bar like ID did back in 93' ) Enter ID's master mind creature Doom Classic for the iPod Touch/ iPhone and iPad.
Now, I had played Wolfenstien 3D on my iPhone a good year or so back and loved it, I thought it was going to be complete garbage (controls) however it turned out to be a grand time and I even got my wife whom has never played a FPS in her life to get into this game and even beat it from the first level all the way till the last. I was beyond excited for Doom Classic to arrive on the APP store because I couldn't wait to have a legitimate port of Doom to carry around and play any time I would want to. I could play it at work, on break, in the bathroom(haha),while my wife was watching some horrible show on the tv or to play it while I was traveling...the idea behind it was amazing.
However, I do not know what happened in between Wolf3D and this but I'm not happy, the controls are next to impossible and the multiplayer is not internet supported only ad hoc. I was extremely disappointed with ID because everything that has rolled out of their doors has been top notch quality (minus Quake 4) and they have never settled for less. I'm not sure who exactly was in charge of this port, but they should be dragged down to hell to meet a cyberdemon in a locked room with no escape. Escalation Studios really flopped this one, I would be happy without real multiplayer if only they just fixed the controls, they had Wolf3D done correctly, so my question is why change the formula for this? Did you have a grudge against DOOM so that's why you just went and chopped it's "pinky" off? Okay okay, this port isn't all that bad, they did beef up the level's with better visuals without making it another one of those lame "re-made in HD" games and they did include all the original elements in the game (minus the room with the swastika on the roof). This is a great port if you learned to master the controls but that is the thing, we are talking about the itouch or iphone, you shouldn't have to pick up a game and master the controls for a hour or two, this device was meant for pick up and play and we need to keep it that way.
The save feature is nice on this game however allowing you to save whenever and wherever you would like and all the sound is 100% intact in this game unlike previous non-PC ports of this game.
Overall this games stomps the reindeer dick out of MachineWorks West port of Duke Nukem 3D (yeah we'll save that LONG LONG review for in a few day's).
If you can get past the black plauge like controls and if you have a few buddies to play AD HOC multiplayer with this, then it's a great game of course.
But the bottom line is, if you can't drive it, then don't buy it.
DOOM Classic gets 2 out of 5 apples
P.S. Don't even think about getting this thing for the iPad, it will make you want to rather dip your balls into a pot of boiling water then rub them in broken glass instead of trying to play it on the iPad.
Non-Game Apps
-5.0 Radio (FREE)
*5.0 Radio is simply amazing, it uses your internet connection to connect and listen to various police,fire,ems and public safety radios all across the world, yes the world..not your state or just places like NYC,LA and Dallas.
But all over the world, and the odds that they have the city that you live in as a frequency to listen to are about 9/10. SmartestApple.com has really out done their selves on this one, it's as simple as choosing the Country you would like to listen to then the state and finally the county that the town resides in and it will give you a list of different options after that and all you have to do is choose which one you would like to listen to and that's it.
Nothing more nothing less, it gives you a basic view of the time you've listened to the station, what station it is and how many listeners are listening in right now and a background that I guess is supposed to look like a CB radio itself.
I've taken the chance to listen to police and EMS radio stations in Alaska,Hawaii and all the way in Japan.
This is a truly awesome app for you nosey bastards out there to peep in to see what is going on in the world in real time, or if you're a crazed criminal on the run to see if they're coming after YOU!!!!
There are a few other options also such as skins and what not, it's a pretty vague list of options but I guess that doesn't really matter given the fact that you won't be really looking at your device but instead , listening.
You can also set up a favorites that list some of the stations you enjoy for quick access, there is also a CHAT option on here that allows you to chat with the other people that are listening into the station that you are as well and gives you a basic run down of all the different "CODES" they use on the radio to help you better understand what is going on. As well as a map feature that I think is pretty pointless, it just tells you where you are in the world and uses Google Maps for it, it's in full color as well. There is a hugely surprising amount of content for this little free app.
I'm just blown away that all of this, in a free app...that legitimately works.
To my understanding there have been a few other ones floating around out there in APP world but non come near close to this one, it's the real thing folks, so read up on your radio knowledge and listen in...you never know..maybe one of your friends could be getting arrested!!! Yes, fun times, fun times indeed.
5.0 Radio get's 5 out of 5 apples.
-iWallpapers (FREE)
*iWallpapers is a great way to get HD quality wallpapers for your iTouch,iPhone and even iPad. This app was put out by APPWILL and is totally free and totally worth it if you like changing the wallpaper on your device as much as I do. It gives you a large selection of wallpapers to choose from, from 3D to Apple all the way to Asian and Wester star? Don't ask me.
You'll find most likely what you are looking for on this and it will be of great quality, a lot of these wallpaper apps boast that they have "thousands of wallpapers" well let me tell you something, they don't or if they do they either...
A: Look like a cats butthole in heat
B: Do not save correctly or are a pain in the ass to save
C: Have a few categories that do not appeal to most people
or D: are never updated
iWallpapers is pretty good with updating their APP and updating their selection of content, you will find your main categories page and when you click on that genre you will be promoted with ton's of images and once you click on that image it will then give you ton's of more pictures that are within that genre or look just like that picture (yes the original picture is included).
They have a specific section that is for HD (640x960) but I honestly think they all are the same quality. There is a wide variety of crystal clear and vibrant wallpapers here and are sure to appease the decore' within you.
Bottom line, this is the best wallpaper app for the price out there right now, I've tried over 10 different ones, so get off your butt put them fingers to use and spruce up that ipod of yours right now!!!!
iWallpapers get's a 4 out of 5 HD apples.
That is it for right now, it's a test pretty much if this seems to get a okay reaction that I'll post some more every other day (3 games, 3 non-game apps) and I plan to review the best to the very worst out there right now on the market.
Let me know what you think and I hope it helps some of you out there find new and fun things to do with your apple products!
Next batch of reviews is on tonight, 7-28-10, including a app that so little people know about , but is capable of changing SO many peoples lives...what could it be you may ask?
You'll have to wait and see!
Everything I will be reviewing has had a extensive amount of testing and playing done as well research. These reviews will be un-bias and not in any way shape or form influenced by a liking for the company or "free" apps given to me by the developer or anything such as.
As well, I am a extensive gamer my self, I've been playing games since 1987 and own 15 different consoles at my house as well as a PC and 2 MAC's for gaming and over 300 different games for all my consoles combined together, from the old school to the new school, if it's been made, I've played it!
So here is the list with a brief description of each one of them!
I am also a technician full time with AT&T and no ding dong when it comes to programming or technology, I'll try to make these reviews as accurate as possible without missing the facts or making them boring or cheesy.
Hope you enjoy!
This is just a start, more to come in the next day or so!
Games:
-Sway ($.99 USD)
*Sway is a great platform "type" game, it gives you a vast array of characters to choose from that each have their own advantages and "dis-advantages" and uses great use of the multi-touch capabilities of the iTouch/iPhone and iPad. But be warned, sway goes from "nice and fun" to smash your head off the pavement hard in a quick way, but overall this is a extremely enjoyable and challaging game that I feel as if, a lot of people overlook due to it's childish looking thing, if you're looking for a challaging multi-touch game then this is it, it's simply extremely fun swinging around your character around the screen and flinging him about and grabbing onto different ledges or area. Most of all, it's only a buck for a couple hours of great fun, however not many updates come out for this game.
Sway gets a 4 out of 5 apples.*
-Cogs ($.99 USD)
*Cogs is one of those games that has a intriguing effect to it, such as games like Braid or Limbo does.
It makes you use your mind and gives you a visually charismatic enjoyment out of the most simple environments. It is a game based off of quick timing, moderate puzzles and forward thinking. It combines various different elements into one puzzle and forces you to think a head of the puzzle in order to finish it, though Cogs is not a (in my opinion) hard game, it certainly will give you a level of challenge that seems to have this strange rewarding feeling after you've completed a puzzle.
It uses elements such as Gears,Pipes with steam coming out of them and tons of other elements in a 3D puzzle that you need to move around and navigate in order to complete, it normally requires you to build in such a fashion in order to finish the goal which is to make this object moveable, almost as if you were piecing together the parts of a early machine that some crazy scientist would of made in the early 1800's.
The art of it is certainly filled with a classic feel, reminding me of the times in Britain when jack the ripper was alive and simple was simple...but yet so many things could be complex.
Overall Cogs is a very intriguing game and if you are a fan of puzzles then this is with out a doubt for you, if not if you enjoyed things like Bioshocks "pipe hacking" mini-games then you will no doubt enjoy this more.
The only negative thing I have about Cogs is that after you've completed the first section of levels you are forced to purchase the remaining levels in 3 more sections at a buck a piece, while I think it's a cheap idea I really do not hope that the rest of the APP making community catches onto this and instead of us getting free updates, instead we have to pay for updates.
Marketing wise it's a fantastic idea, consumer wise it's a poor choice.
Cogs get's 5 out of 5 apples.
-Doom Classic ($5.99-6.99 USD)
*Doom, it's DOOM man, John FRIGGIN Romero!! The violence! The controversy! When I think of DOOM I think, THE GODFATHER of modern FPS's. When DOOM came out in 1993 I received my copy through the mail, I had no idea what this game looked like or how it played, my Grandfather had ordered me this game for the PC we had just purchased in our house while I was learning DOS and thought because we had got the top end model that we should try games out on this. I was given the first DOOM that was on a few floppy disk then and since that very day, I have been in love with what I feel is the most significant franchise in the history of video games personally ( of course games like Pac Man are more significant as some would say, however DOOM was the first glimpse of the future, what video games WERE going to be, no one else had done it and still to this day no one has set the bar like ID did back in 93' ) Enter ID's master mind creature Doom Classic for the iPod Touch/ iPhone and iPad.
Now, I had played Wolfenstien 3D on my iPhone a good year or so back and loved it, I thought it was going to be complete garbage (controls) however it turned out to be a grand time and I even got my wife whom has never played a FPS in her life to get into this game and even beat it from the first level all the way till the last. I was beyond excited for Doom Classic to arrive on the APP store because I couldn't wait to have a legitimate port of Doom to carry around and play any time I would want to. I could play it at work, on break, in the bathroom(haha),while my wife was watching some horrible show on the tv or to play it while I was traveling...the idea behind it was amazing.
However, I do not know what happened in between Wolf3D and this but I'm not happy, the controls are next to impossible and the multiplayer is not internet supported only ad hoc. I was extremely disappointed with ID because everything that has rolled out of their doors has been top notch quality (minus Quake 4) and they have never settled for less. I'm not sure who exactly was in charge of this port, but they should be dragged down to hell to meet a cyberdemon in a locked room with no escape. Escalation Studios really flopped this one, I would be happy without real multiplayer if only they just fixed the controls, they had Wolf3D done correctly, so my question is why change the formula for this? Did you have a grudge against DOOM so that's why you just went and chopped it's "pinky" off? Okay okay, this port isn't all that bad, they did beef up the level's with better visuals without making it another one of those lame "re-made in HD" games and they did include all the original elements in the game (minus the room with the swastika on the roof). This is a great port if you learned to master the controls but that is the thing, we are talking about the itouch or iphone, you shouldn't have to pick up a game and master the controls for a hour or two, this device was meant for pick up and play and we need to keep it that way.
The save feature is nice on this game however allowing you to save whenever and wherever you would like and all the sound is 100% intact in this game unlike previous non-PC ports of this game.
Overall this games stomps the reindeer dick out of MachineWorks West port of Duke Nukem 3D (yeah we'll save that LONG LONG review for in a few day's).
If you can get past the black plauge like controls and if you have a few buddies to play AD HOC multiplayer with this, then it's a great game of course.
But the bottom line is, if you can't drive it, then don't buy it.
DOOM Classic gets 2 out of 5 apples
P.S. Don't even think about getting this thing for the iPad, it will make you want to rather dip your balls into a pot of boiling water then rub them in broken glass instead of trying to play it on the iPad.
Non-Game Apps
-5.0 Radio (FREE)
*5.0 Radio is simply amazing, it uses your internet connection to connect and listen to various police,fire,ems and public safety radios all across the world, yes the world..not your state or just places like NYC,LA and Dallas.
But all over the world, and the odds that they have the city that you live in as a frequency to listen to are about 9/10. SmartestApple.com has really out done their selves on this one, it's as simple as choosing the Country you would like to listen to then the state and finally the county that the town resides in and it will give you a list of different options after that and all you have to do is choose which one you would like to listen to and that's it.
Nothing more nothing less, it gives you a basic view of the time you've listened to the station, what station it is and how many listeners are listening in right now and a background that I guess is supposed to look like a CB radio itself.
I've taken the chance to listen to police and EMS radio stations in Alaska,Hawaii and all the way in Japan.
This is a truly awesome app for you nosey bastards out there to peep in to see what is going on in the world in real time, or if you're a crazed criminal on the run to see if they're coming after YOU!!!!
There are a few other options also such as skins and what not, it's a pretty vague list of options but I guess that doesn't really matter given the fact that you won't be really looking at your device but instead , listening.
You can also set up a favorites that list some of the stations you enjoy for quick access, there is also a CHAT option on here that allows you to chat with the other people that are listening into the station that you are as well and gives you a basic run down of all the different "CODES" they use on the radio to help you better understand what is going on. As well as a map feature that I think is pretty pointless, it just tells you where you are in the world and uses Google Maps for it, it's in full color as well. There is a hugely surprising amount of content for this little free app.
I'm just blown away that all of this, in a free app...that legitimately works.
To my understanding there have been a few other ones floating around out there in APP world but non come near close to this one, it's the real thing folks, so read up on your radio knowledge and listen in...you never know..maybe one of your friends could be getting arrested!!! Yes, fun times, fun times indeed.
5.0 Radio get's 5 out of 5 apples.
-iWallpapers (FREE)
*iWallpapers is a great way to get HD quality wallpapers for your iTouch,iPhone and even iPad. This app was put out by APPWILL and is totally free and totally worth it if you like changing the wallpaper on your device as much as I do. It gives you a large selection of wallpapers to choose from, from 3D to Apple all the way to Asian and Wester star? Don't ask me.
You'll find most likely what you are looking for on this and it will be of great quality, a lot of these wallpaper apps boast that they have "thousands of wallpapers" well let me tell you something, they don't or if they do they either...
A: Look like a cats butthole in heat
B: Do not save correctly or are a pain in the ass to save
C: Have a few categories that do not appeal to most people
or D: are never updated
iWallpapers is pretty good with updating their APP and updating their selection of content, you will find your main categories page and when you click on that genre you will be promoted with ton's of images and once you click on that image it will then give you ton's of more pictures that are within that genre or look just like that picture (yes the original picture is included).
They have a specific section that is for HD (640x960) but I honestly think they all are the same quality. There is a wide variety of crystal clear and vibrant wallpapers here and are sure to appease the decore' within you.
Bottom line, this is the best wallpaper app for the price out there right now, I've tried over 10 different ones, so get off your butt put them fingers to use and spruce up that ipod of yours right now!!!!
iWallpapers get's a 4 out of 5 HD apples.
That is it for right now, it's a test pretty much if this seems to get a okay reaction that I'll post some more every other day (3 games, 3 non-game apps) and I plan to review the best to the very worst out there right now on the market.
Let me know what you think and I hope it helps some of you out there find new and fun things to do with your apple products!
Next batch of reviews is on tonight, 7-28-10, including a app that so little people know about , but is capable of changing SO many peoples lives...what could it be you may ask?
You'll have to wait and see!
