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Zombie Highway 2 ups the eye candy and adds buckets of blood
I've been a fan of the original Zombie Highway since it launched on iOS in 2010. The game received regular updates in the years since, adding so much additional content that today it's practically unrecognizable from the original App Store release -- in a good way, of course. Tomorrow, Zombie Highway 2 makes its long-awaited debut, and it continues the series' bloody tradition in fine style. If you've never played the original Zombie Highway, let me get you up to speed (pun intended, forgive me): Zombies are destroying humanity and your only goal is to get as far as you can down a road crawling with the undead. You need to use any means necessary to keep from wrecking and having your brain gnawed on by the every increasing horde, who just so happen to have a nasty habit of latching onto your vehicle. The first thing any Zombie Highway fan is going to notice is how pretty the sequel looks. Everything from your vehicle and the zombies to the road debris and the background environments looks like it belongs on a dedicated game console. Zombies fly off your vehicle in a spray of blood from gunfire, garbage litters the roadway, and you can even see the individual treads on your tires. In short, there's a lot of eye candy here. Each drive is slightly different in Zombie Highway 2, and your path is randomized enough that devising a strategy to outsmart the game isn't possible. Sometimes you'll be tossed into a dark tunnel in the middle of the city where it's nearly impossible to see things before it's too late, while other times you'll spend much of your run weaving back and forth from one side of the road to the other to avoid wrecked semi trucks and piles of cars. The further you make it down the highway, the more cash you can earn, and the better your odds of completing bonus objectives to level up. Higher ranks bring the ability to purchase new weapons and vehicles, so making sure you're gaining as much XP as possible is a high priority. If you feel like taking a shortcut, you can purchase cash from the in-game store, which will make things slightly easier for you, but the fact that your available options are based on your XP rather than just how rich you are means that you'll still end up having to gain experience just like everyone else. This is probably the most elegant solution to the in-app purchase option I've seen, as it allows the game to be made available for free, while preventing players from simply buying their way to greatness. Zombie Highway 2 is an easy recommendation for the App Store faithful who have enjoyed the original title at any point over the past four years, but it's accessible and easy to grasp for newbies as well. It looks great, plays great, and improves on its predecessor in every single way, which is the best compliment that can be given to any sequel. You'll be able to pick the game up for free via this link once the game goes live tomorrow, October 9th.
Metareview: Middle-earth Shadow of Mordor
Our five-star review of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor reassured players that an appreciation for J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe isn't necessary to enjoy the deep action game. "What would have otherwise been a competent sandbox game with solid combat mechanics and an interesting twist on a known fantasy world is elevated by the Nemesis System," which greatly personalizes your experience. The game's unique systems means our Nemesis in Shadow of Mordor differed from that of other critics, yet reviews around the web are mostly positive about the game. Head past the break to get a better sense of the collective opinion on the game, which launches next Tuesday, September 30 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were delayed to November 18 earlier this month.
Poorly designed, MemoPics memory game is still fun, unique
MemoPics is a free game for iPhone and iPad that gets inspiration from the classic memory match games in which you keep flipping over cards until you find all the matching pairs and eliminate the cards. That version of the game is built in to MemoPics as well, but the novelty here comes with game modes that have you match composer's faces to sounds or even create your own custom game using your photos. Yes, I know no one is supposed to judge a book by its cover, or in this case an app by its icon, but forgive me because I'm doing it anyway. The icon leaves much to be desired, as it's just "Picture Memory" written over and over again like some sort of annoying watermark. Alas, the icon does a good job representing the entire design of the game. Upon first opening, MemoPics greets you with an undesirable amount of instructions for game that should be so simple. Plus the text is so small and arranged in such a way that it looks like a PDF file. These mediocre design choices carry throughout the app. Fortunately, this isn't a graphically intensive game like Infinity Blade in which the design directly influences gameplay - we're just talking memory match. MemoPics comes preloaded with six different game packs: A Visit to the Zoo, Alphabet, Beautiful Flowers, Crazy Comics, Famous Landmarks and Great Composers. Each game comes with its own playing mode. For instance, A Visit to the Zoo and Alphabet both play like the memory match you're familiar with: tap a tile, find its matching tile, gain a point and eliminate the pair. Famous Landmarks and Great Composers, however, are in a somewhat different league. In Famous Landmarks, half of the tiles are automatically flipped over and displaying a particular location on the map. The other half of the tiles hide photos from those locations and it's your job to match the scenic picture to the location from which it originated. Great Composers use a similar technique except audio plays in the background when you flip over a card and you have to match the sound to the correct composer. The highlight of MemoPics is a feature that allows anyone to build a new game from scratch. It lets you customize everything from the splash screen to the game tile sizes to the images themselves to even the sounds and loops. The number of possibilities is stellar. Of course, some of the more advanced features do require an in-app purchase like Twin mode for associating two different photos or sounds. Other in-app purchases are found in the Extras section. Some additional categories are available for a free download, but the Pro extension is US4.99 to unlock the full set of features like multiplayer mode and more customization options. The amount of features MemoPics packs into the app is simply bar none, but the huge trade-off is the poor design. I found myself getting lost within the app being that it's not very intuitive to navigate, plus in terms of aesthetics it's just downright ugly. MemoPics is a fun twist on memory matching suitable for all ages, but you definitely have to get past the poor design to enjoy it. It's free and available in the App Store.
Goat Simulator crash lands on iOS
Goat Simulator - the surprise PC hit that was spawned by a single YouTube video - gave rise to a massive number of clones both on iOS and other platforms. Some are good, some are not so good, but now the one true king of barnyard antics is finally available on iPhone and iPad, and it proves quite handily that its copycats simply aren't as great as the genuine article. If you've never played Goat Simulator on PC, let me give you a quick rundown of what it's all about: You play as a goat. There, that's it. Ok, so there's objects in the game world to destroy, items to pick up and drag with your tongue, and a basic points system that revolves around stringing together your actions in quick succession, but the fact that you play as a goat is really all you need to know about it. The game is an open world sandbox and you can travel to basically anywhere you can see, though most of the fun stuff is located in a concentrated area comprised of homes, businesses, factories, and a construction site. With no objectives or missions of any kind, the game never really ends, and there are enough random secrets hidden around the world that it can keep you busy for far longer than you might imagine. On the iPhone 5s and iPad mini w/Retina, the game runs flawlessly and with an extremely smooth framerate. The game's description notes that anyone with a device older than the iPhone 4s or iPad 2 shouldn't try to play it, so don't waste your money if you have a particularly old iDevice. The developer of Goat Simulator describe their creation as "a completely stupid game and, to be honest, you should probably spend your money on something else." In a way they're completely right; Goat Simulator is a horribly stupid idea... but that's also what makes it worth playing. It's charming, funny, and has more personality that most games that try desperately to be taken seriously. At US$4.99, it's the full Goat Simulator experience for a much lower price than you'll find on PC, so don't hesitate to pick it up.
Blumoo turns your iOS device into the ultimate remote
If you've ever misplaced your TV remote for any length of time -- and I know you have -- you're familiar with how ridiculously frustrating it can be. Blumoo turns your iOS device into an extremely capable universal remote for virtually everything in your entertainment center, and while it won't help you find the remotes you've been searching for since last year, it can replace all of them. Oh, and it lets you stream your music wirelessly from your phone or tablet directly to your sound system. In short, it's kind of like a little box of magic. Specifications Compatibility: iPhone 4s (or newer), iPod touch 5th gen (or newer), iPad 3rd gen (or newer), Android 4.0 (or newer) Dimensions: 1.96" x 2.81" Weight: 0.8lbs (362.9g) Price: US$129.99 Design The first thing I noticed about the Blumoo is how tiny it is. From the size of the box I'd have guessed it was much larger than it is, but the actual unit is about three inches tall and less than two inches wide. The front is a semi-transparent plastic that hides the infrared transmitter and indicator light, surrounded by a brushed aluminum frame. It's got a futuristic look and it should it in with just about any decor or entertainment center arrangement you can dream up. A short cord runs out the rear of the base unit to small connection hub where the ports for the power connector, RCA audio cable (which is included) and infrared extension cable (not included) plug in. It's deceptively simple, and after the 90 seconds or so that it took me to set it up I felt like I had missed a step -- it's absolutely impossible to mess it up. Functionality Once the brief setup is complete it's time to download the Blumoo app. As soon as you boot up the app it automatically connects to the Blumoo base unit via Bluetooth to begin the setup process. The first time I did this the app updated the device's firmware so that it was compatible with updated controller codes, which only took a few minutes. The app walks you through the setup for your TV and asks your location to help customize your cable or satellite listings. Both my cable box and TV worked with the Blumoo immediately, but depending on which hardware you're using, you might have to go through a couple of different remote codes to find the one that works with your gear. Even so, the setup is painless and streamlined to the point that it won't take you more than a handful of taps from start to finish. Depending on your devices, you'll have a variety of virtual buttons on your new touchscreen remote, and multiple remotes can be swiped through or chosen from the home screen menu. The buttons on each remote can be rearranged and you can also set up macros that execute several commands at once -- like shutting down multiple components, and so on. When you're channel surfing, you can either browse using the standard remote buttons as you normally would or bring up your provider's channel guide to view the current and future listings. When you pick a program you are given the option of setting up a reminder or viewing the channel immediately, at which point the Blumoo enters the channel number and sends you there. It's all very impressive, and the Blumoo is seemingly capable of controlling virtually everything in your entertainment center that functions with an infrared remote. However, the one sticking point of this whole setup is that there is a significant delay between the moment you enter your command and the result on the screen. Consider that, in my current arrangement, I tap my input on my iPhone which sends the command to the Blumoo base unit, which sends an infrared signal to my cable box, which is routed through my Xbox One and into my TV. It can take up to two seconds for the commands to register, especially when choosing an item from the guide. Your results may vary, but even if your setup is more direct than mine, you'll still notice at least a brief delay. It's certainly not a deal breaker, but it is a bit annoying at times. Aside from the remote functionality, the Blumoo also allows you to stream music directly from your iOS device to your sound system. In order to utilize this functionality you'll need to connect the Blumoo audio option in your device's Bluetooth settings. Once connected, streaming from iTunes or Spotify on my iPhone was relatively smooth, though the range is a crapshoot depending on your home's layout. I was able to continue streaming while moving about most of my apartment, though there were occasional drops. If you're planning on just leaving your device in the same room, however, you shouldn't have any issue. Conclusion The Blumoo is a capable little gadget that honestly surprised me several times with its capabilities. As a remote replacement, it's virtually flawless, with only the input delay holding it back from being truly perfect. As an audio streaming device it's more than adequate, and can effectively turn any speaker system into a Bluetooth streaming hub with little effort. Combine these two abilities and the Blumoo makes a compelling case for a spot in your entertainment center. Rating: 3.5 out of 4 possible stars
The Daily Grind: Are day-one reviews of MMOs fair?
We've discussed the issues associated with previewing and reviewing MMOs on Massively before (we don't do "reviews" at all, you'll recall), but Bungie has brought the topic to the surface of MMO discussion once again. Ahead of Destiny's launch this week, Bungie wrote a blog post echoing what most MMO developers have long known: Experience with a launch MMO, with its systems not fully formed and its players not swarming the zones, can't really produce a review that fully captures the feel of a game with millions of people fluttering around in it. And even in a game with only 20 levels, a day-one reviewer can't possibly have completed enough content to deliver more than a snapshot of the gameplay. Bungie didn't even mention the likelihood of the day-one MMO launch disasters that we're all so unfortunately familiar with, disasters that often make MMOs unplayable, never mind unreviewable. Still, if a game sucks at launch, isn't it fair to say so? A snapshot is useful for what it is, and there's no reason a developer should get a free pass on criticism at launch just because MMOs usually improve with age and warm bodies. What do you think -- are early MMO reviews fair? How do you weigh them when deciding whether to purchase a game? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar ain't doing so good
If you somehow missed it, last week the WildStar team announced that the game will be squishing into megaservers to help bolster populations. What the hell happened? Contrary to what the developers would like you to believe, this is not good news. It's especially bad news if you're part of the roleplaying community, as you're about to get shoved into a server configuration that's almost specifically designed to prevent you from roleplaying outside of a handful of shared plots, but it's bad news for everyone. And it's bad news for the game when server merges are a reasonable reaction after less than three full months of operation. We all know that the game launched to good reviews, and it's far too early to say, "Well, it failed." At the same time, this is not a sign of a robust and vibrant future. This is the first stage of an organized retreat, and it doesn't inspire confidence. So what, exactly, took place that brought the game from the high of its launch to server mergers today?
Kelso's Quest: potential magic, serious flaws
Kelso's Quest, which is free in the app store for iPhone and iPad users on iOS 5.0 or higher, is an adorable game about a Koala (Kelso), who is on the very disney-esque mission to recover his stolen cub, Nico. Kelso is assisted along the way by weird wombats, some of whom seem to be ninjas, some scientists, etc., who show up and do what they can to help out hero on his way. The game is played from above, in standard the "map game" aesthetic, with missions along as set, linear path, around a map/landscape. The maps, like everything in this game, is slick and gorgeous. There are occasional breaks in the action for word-bubble dialogue between Kelso and other characters. Once inside the missions, your view is still from above, but instead of linear paths, you can take Kelso anywhere you wish to go by drawing the path you want him to travel with your finger. When you do so, it shows a dotted line, similar to a treasure map, which is a really nice touch. Missions are typically passed by collecting various feathers. On the way through this down-under adventure, Kelso encounters many enemies, including totem poles that fire poison blow-darts (one hit will kill you), predatory vultures above head, weird lizards that sleep most of the time (but wake up and try to kill you), among other weird, slightly psychedelic, but lovable foes. In-between missions, the game even gives you fun facts about the real-life versions of the creatures in the game, largely focusing on Koalas and Wombats. The game starts you with five lives and you accumulate gold pieces for completed missions, side games, etc. Then the trouble comes in. It costs gold to immediately continue this game. If you inevitably run out of gold and lives, your options are pretty lame. You can either spend actual money on more imaginary gold, you can sign up for mailing lists and give personal information to advertisers in exchange for more imaginary gold, or (worst of all) you can take the free route: they make you wait long periods of time to continue with 1 new life. The first time you go this way, the game forces you to wait 10min to resume play, the next time 15min, and (if you're like me) your patience will be gone at that point. So, if you want to play a really well animated game with a well planned storyline and fun controls, Kelso's Quest is definitely the game for you, assuming you don't want to be thrown into the jaws of advertisers or forced to wait half an hour before continuing to enjoy it. A lot about this game could be excellent, but I cannot recommend it, unfortunately.
WhoDoYou is a referral app with a lot of potential
WhoDoYou is a free app that uses public Facebook conversations to help you find local businesses. You can also see recommendations from your friends and groups on Facebook after logging in. The app aims to help eliminate the feeling of taking advice from strangers for local business recommendations. WhoDoYou is compatible with all iOS devices using iOS 7.0 or later. WhoDoYou has a very clean, pleasant looking layout that makes for a good user experience. Navigating the app is very easy and getting to the main feature is right on the forefront. When you open WhoDoYou, you see a search bar and a quick blurb about the app's goal. However, the search function is somewhat flawed. Take for instance, my search for a florist in Winter Park, Florida; the first result is for a photographer and after tapping on that result you realize why this is the first result. The public Facebook conversation that the app draws information from found the word florist in the request and someone answered that question with a photographer's name because the conversation was about needing help with all the details of a wedding. Continuing on with the florist search turned up another florist but this time they were located in Brooklyn, NY and not in Florida. The third result on the list actually did match the search terms very well and that information was useful. It was nice to see that once you tap on the result, the contact information for that local business is displayed along with reviews so you can easily get in touch with the company. WhoDoYou is an accompanying app for the WhoDoYou website, and it shows in a lot of ways. Looking at the website next to the app, it is really hard to tell them apart which is a nice feature. It creates a more seamless flow from using the website on your computer to using the app on the go. One difference is that when you open the menu and click on "About" in the app, a popup tells you the version number. However, on the website, when you go to "About," a really nice synopsis of how the app got started is shown. This type of information on the "About" tab in the app would be more beneficial to the user than the version number, which could easily be placed somewhere else. It is a little difficult to fully understand the purpose of the app without some kind of quick overview to introduce the user how it will benefit them. After browsing around the different tabs, a couple of tabs stood out to me as places where the designer could have put more information in to guide the user and help them appreciate all of the features that WhoDoYou offers. When you log into Facebook with the app, you can see conversations your friends are having about local businesses, which is a really cool feature that would go unnoticed if your friends haven't had any conversations. Recommendations from others are stored in "The Vault", but your vault could be a very sad and empty place. The vault that you see is a blank purple screen with a small header that says "My Vault 0 Results" on it. There is no indication as to the purpose of the vault, and unless you have friends talking about local businesses and recommendations for them, your vault will stay empty. Another tab that has a similar problem is the favorites tab. It shows a blank purple screen with a small header that says "Favorites" but this does not tell you much about the use of this tab or how to create favorites. The idea of using recommendations from friends on Facebook is exciting and with some refinement in the search function and a few design touch ups, there is a lot of potential for success with this app. WhoDoYou is free on the App Store and is good for people who would like recommendations from friends to help them find local businesses.
New York hotel tried to charge $500 fines for negative online reviews
Big brands and colossal companies spend small fortunes to protect their online reputations, so what's a small boutique hotel to do when it's worried about bad reviews? Well, for an object lesson in what not to do, consider the case of Hudson, New York's Union Street Guest House. By now, the broad strokes have been well established: The company had a ridiculous policy featured on its website, under which bad reviews were punishable with $500 fines. Here's the offending bit, before the hotel excised it from the web: If you have booked the Inn for a wedding or other type of event anywhere in the region and given us a deposit of any kind for guests to stay at USGH there will be a $500 fine that will be deducted from your deposit for every negative review of USGH placed on any internet site by anyone in your party and/or attending your wedding or event. If you stay here to attend a wedding anywhere in the area and leave us a negative review on any internet site you agree to a $500 fine for each negative review.
Say goodbye to Foursquare check-ins tomorrow
OK, I'm depressed. For years, I've enjoyed using Foursquare to check in at restaurants, airport gates, hotels, and even my own home. During that time, I became "mayor" at a number of different locations and loved getting the occasional badge for doing something awesome like checking at 30 different BBQ restaurants or 50 different microbreweries. Well, that all changes tomorrow when Foursquare will become more of a discovery app, forcing those of us who have loved using the app for check-ins to move to the company's Swarm app instead. If you've used Foursquare regularly over the past few months, you've seen the not-so-subtle changes. First, it seemed almost impossible to get a mayorship, mainly because they had dropped the feature. Next came the almost daily suggestion to download and install Swarm. And now, check-ins will be moving to Swarm tomorrow, meaning that you really do need to download the free app. Foursquare obviously didn't consult with users before making the move to two apps, one for discovery and one for check-ins. Swarm currently has about a one-and-a-half star rating out of five stars on the App Store, and Foursquare -- which used to be one of the more popular location-oriented social networking apps -- is now down to about two-and-a-half stars, primarily because users are upset with what the company decided to do. Take a look at some of the comments in the App Store reviews: I'm not sure the Foursquare Labs folks thought this one out very well. For those who want a single app to perform check-ins, see what your friends are up to, and even get ratings and tips for places you're thinking about trying, you might need to consider just using Yelp or -- God forbid -- even Facebook. For myself, I'll give Swarm a try, but I have a bad feeling that one of my favorite apps -- Foursquare, which took top billing in my social networking iPhone folder -- is going to get deleted soon along with it.
Engadget Daily: Top cellphones, Kindle Unlimited and more!
Check out the top smartphones you can buy right now, read to your heart's content with Kindle Unlimited, our review of the Samsung ATIV Book 9 2014 Edition and find out how to live off vending machines in Tokyo. All that and more inside Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Bill Killem mashes endless running and platforming into chaotic brilliance
Bill Killem is having a bad day. His movie is just about to premiere, letting the world know he's the best action star in the world, when disaster strikes. Aliens attack, destroying his event and inspiring Bill to do what Bill does best; killing aliens... and dying. A lot. Taking the furious fun of endless runner games and mixing it with a classic pixelated platforming title like Contra, Bill Killem is a furious burst of addictive classic gaming -- think Duke Nukem with Flappy Bird's endless cycle of death. Players control Bill as he runs through various industrial city hells capes and can make him run, jump, and shoot using the familiar NES-like A and B buttons. Bill blasts through levels as fast as possible, blowing up enemies and explosive barrels along the way. Despite the waves of aliens that attack you from every direction, your greatest enemy is time. From the second you start playing, a clock begins counting down. Once it hits zero, the aliens unleash a massive death ray which will kill you almost instantly. The only way to beat the beam is to collect clock power-ups which put off your certain doom for another few seconds. Along Bill's journey of vengeance, he collects coins for unleashing death on his otherworldly enemies. When death finally comes calling, users can use these coins to continue playing from where they just died. The first time you resurrect yourself isn't that expensive, but every time you come back after that takes more coins. Players can also use these coins to buy new power-ups and costumes. Here's where I'd normally talk about the drawbacks of freemium gaming but, while Bill Killem features in-app purchases and the ability to pay actual money for a stronger character, it isn't necessary. At no point during my play through did I pay extra money to make Bill stronger and I was still able to gain enough coins to try all the power-ups. There's a wide range of weapons from blasters to lasers to flamethrowers, along with jetpacks, speed boots, and item magnets. Players are also given missions to complete, like "survive for 50 feet" or "destroy X barrels". These missions add an extra addictive component to an already blisteringly fun game. If you miss the glory days of Commander Keen or Duke Nukem but wish they'd always been more of an ADHD freakout, Bill Killem is just the title for you. For the low, low cost of zero dollars you can enjoy one of the most fun action titles available on iOS. If you truly enjoy yourself, maybe consider buying a power-up. The developers deserve a little of your hard-earned scratch for making this game.
The Soapbox: This is how reviews actually work
Welcome back to the Soapbox, folks. Actually, let's call this a mini-Soapbox, since it's just a wee thing compared to some of the walls-of-text we've previously published in this space. Anyhow, let's talk about reviews, bias, and subjectivity. Whether it be film criticism, concert recaps, book reviews, or game reviews, there's an illogical expectation out there regarding "unbiased" work and -- to directly quote a recent Massively commenter -- "correct and honest" reviews.
Civilization Online review rounds out with combat and replay
Looking at Civilization Online with longing might not be a great idea, as there are currently no plans for a release here in North America, but Steparu has been reviewing the beta, and if you'd like to find out what it's about the last part is available now. This final portion covers the game's combat mechanics, how players can get into games in progress, and gives an overall assessment of how the game is shaping up through testing. While the combat in the game is fairly standard -- tab-targeting, hotbars, and WASD movement rule the day -- it does offer players a variety of options with both main and sub classes, along with a variety of vehicles and mounts that have their own combat uses. Overall, the game gets pretty high marks as what it's meant to be, a very PvP-focused game that sees factions warring for dominance again and again. Which is probably what you expected from the name, really.
Engadget Daily: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 review, hacking Watch Dogs and more!
We put Microsoft's new Surface tablet through the review ringer, took a look at vaporizer technology, found out just how realistic hacking in a video game can be, and discovered that Sony's new console's raking in the cash. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Zodiac Dodge asks you to save a monkey from a familiar Mario enemy
If you thought Flappy Bird was ripping off Super Mario Brothers, you're going to throw your iPhone down in rage when you play Zodiac Dodge. The game's premise is simple, but well executed; users control a monkey across a circular 3D isometric board. Your job is to grab as many bananas as possible before a swarm of bullets gun you down. For the sake of accuracy, lets call these bullets "Bill." The action comes fast and furious, with the average game time lasting just a few seconds until you get the hang of things. Even then my best time was only around one minute of playing. What's frustrating is I can't blame my low score on cruddy controls. Moving is tight and responsive. I'm just awful at dodging this hail of living bullets. While its difficultly is punishing, the addition of health power-ups keeps Zodiac Dodge from feeling unfair. There are even handy clocks that pop up from time to time that slow down the pace of the bullets. "Bullet time" if you will. Of course they wouldn't call it that and risk copyright infringement, so they've called it Matrix instead. Obviously there are other players who are mastering the game. Thanks to the included leaderboards I know there's at least one person out there who has managed to score 59,800 points. With such simple game play mechanics it would be easy to write this one off as a quick burner game, but then you discover the game's included achievements and get sucked right back in. Currently there are only 10 achievements to be unlocked, but if developer Maple Syrup Games is smart they'll add more in a future update. Zodiac Dodge is a great choice for your kid's iPod touch before a long car trip. The bright graphics are colorful and its platforming action has the charm of a brutal arcade classic. The latest update introduced a graphics upgrade, so it seems like the developers are committed to improvement. I'm still trying to figure out what the zodiac has to do with the title, but it doesn't really matter. There's a monkey out there that needs my help dodging bullets. Until he's safe, the stars can wait. You can find Zodiac Dodge right now for free in the iTunes Store.
Would Apocalypse Survival Guide help keep you alive?
Are you prepared for the upcoming zombie apocalypse? Okay, so you believe in zombies, but are you prepared for the apocalypse in a more general sense? Let's presume for a moment that you don't have a massive stockpile of weapons, food, and water just in case society falls apart. When the neighbors start chewing on each other for nutrients, what is your game plan? Apocalypse Survival Guide is an iOS that aims to aid you in your quest for making it through the bad times alive so you can start rebuilding society. Right out the gate, the app gives you two free scenarios, a zombie outbreak and the more likely global warming. There are more scenarios available as in-app purchases, but presumably the iTunes store won't be working when the crap hits the fan. If you think there's the potential for a volcano/UFO/meteor strike in the future, you can make those purchases now. Once you pick your apocalypse situation, the app provides you with a set of reading material, checklists, GPS options, and a quiz to help see how survival-ready you are. The supplied reading materials are well done, taking a real world approach to some of the app's more ludicrous ideas. Rather than tell you about zombies in pop culture, the reading focuses on whether or not a zombie outbreak could actually happen, including listing actual diseases that might bring about similar effects. The readings aren't particularly long, but by keeping the focus on real world possibilities there's some interesting meat to be found. The tips for each of the two provided scenarios are hit and miss. Guess what? You'll need a weapon if there are flesh eating monsters outside. Also, did you know food spoils? These are just some of the killer hits you'll be given by the app, or by watching a single episode of the Walking Dead ... or any zombie movie ever made. Next up is the "Check Your Surroundings" portion of the app. Utilizing your GPS or Wi-Fi, the app tells you where the nearest sources of food, medicine, shelter, weapons, hardware, or gas are. It's selection success depends on what you're looking for. Once you have a route or list of addresses planned, the app allows you to print them all out via the "Look. Listen. Learn" page. The map search results are mixed. I live in the middle of Atlanta, yet most of the returns when I searched for food were all the various Quick Trip's in the area. It doesn't show me any of the Walmarts or local grocery stores, but I'd be covered on Ding Dongs. When I search for where to find weapons, all of a sudden the app knows where every single Walmart in the Atlanta region is. The app also adds in Chuck's Firearms for a more authentic Southern experience. Once you've checked your surroundings, it's time to build your survival kit. The zombie and global warming plans have many of the same basic suggested supplies, so one plan will largely cover the other. Once you've checked off the items on your list you should go ahead and use the included print feature because if society falls apart, your iPad battery isn't going to be useful for long. It's a silly app that actually provides a few useful tips for surviving in hostile situations; maybe not a zombie outbreak, but a riot or weather disaster to be sure. There's just one major hitch that sort of ruins that app: the survival quiz. At the top of the each situation screen is a stat that shows your survival percentage for the scenario in question. Underneath that is little box that says "Update Your Chances of Surviving _________." Here you'll find the survival quiz that allegedly wants to help you find your survival percentage, but the quiz is completely broken. Here's what you see when you try and answer a question in the drop down menus for each answer: There's nothing worse than when you have to guess the surrounding population of your area only to discover all the suggestions are "?". This happens every time you click a question. Terrain? All question marks. Weight class? All question marks. Do you wear glasses? Ok, that's not a big issue, but it's still all question marks. This would just be an annoying quirk of the app if it allowed you to easily change your answer. Apocalypse Survival Guide, however, knows the end of the world doesn't come with second chances, so you'll just have to guess the right answer. If you get it wrong, you have to then select the text of your wrong answer, manually delete it, and guess again. If this feature was around in an actual zombie apocalypse, I'd leave it to be eaten alive. There are some really solid ideas in this app. The art design is beautiful and it's a fun way for parents to start talking about disaster planning with their kids. Sadly, solid ideas don't matter if they're wrapped up in a frustrating user interface. Currently the maps aren't useful enough to rely on when your lives are in danger, and even if they were, the broken quiz makes it impossible to tell how prepared you actually are for the end. How can I survive without my survival rate percentage? I'd be a dead man feeling all cocky because I think I've got a 78% when I'm really working with a 45%. Apocalypse Survival Guide is worth a fun afternoon of time killing, but when it comes time to form your post-apocalypse posse, this is one hombre you should probably leave at home.
Find local events and review with ItsPoppingHere! for iOS
Here is a clever and unique approach to event finding with your iPhone. ItsPoppingHere! (free) is a crowdsourced guide to what is going on around you. What's interesting is that all the events and reviews expire after 8 hours, so you know that all the local events you are finding are current. You can create a free account or use your Facebook login if you wish to suggest events or write reviews, and if you are "just looking" you don't even need an account. Registered users can suggest events to share with others, and must be within 300 feet of the event to ensure that no fake reviews are being posted from those who are not attending. You can find places to eat, events, clubs, parties and more. Every event you find is shareable on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. I tried ItsPoppingHere!, but in my small town there wasn't much going on. I could have added the local farmer's market, but decided it wasn't too big a deal. For people in larger cities, this app will generate some good ideas for things to do, and unlike a static guidebook you'll know the events or restaurants are really there, rather than cancelled or closed. Of course there is no shortage of guidebooks and social apps for finding places, but I like the idea of time relevance that ItsPoppingHere! promotes. Reviews are unmoderated, and you can include pictures. Everything you upload from the app disappears in 8 hours to insure that you are seeing only what is really currently happening or has recently happened. ItsPoppingHere! requires iOS 5 or above. It's not universal, but runs fine on iPads in 2x mode. The app is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Zombie Launcher is a fun time burner once you get past the ads
When it comes to iOS games I've got a particular taste for oddball time burners. The Flappy Bird and Spellgrid's of the world are perfect for getting a quick game in when you don't have a lot of time. So when I was sent Zombie Launch, I felt the familiar pull. How much time could I burn with this game? Zombie Launch has a simple premise. Dirk is a ginger zombie in search of brains. Sadly, the world has fallen into a burning apocalypse with hot lava covering the ground. Your job is to hop Dirk across each level by stringing lines of intestines underneath him. This will send Dirk flying through the air, happily munching on the clusters of brains that hang from the sky. Of course it's not all happy chewing. Rotting brains are also hidden within the route, and eating one will immediately drop Dirk from the sky. Occasionally Dirk will be able to catch a ride on a random crow which will allow him to zoom across the level. For the first ten or twenty times you play, your average game will last about thirty seconds, quickly followed by the desire to play again. The game's charming art design is far more adorable than its gut-strewn premise suggests. For all the intestines strung across the screen, the level of violence never goes beyond anything you'd see in a edgy Cartoon Network show. There's no blood or visible brain chewing. In fact, it's all rather pleasant. Even the cost is attractive. Zombie Launch is free to play without any in-app purchases or timed content walls. Instead, ads launch when you first load the app. Sometimes multiple ads in a row, which is a first for a free game that I've played. You'll dismiss one full screen ad only to discover another full screen interruption immediately behind it. However, the ads never show up during game play so they're only an annoyance at the beginning of your session. If you feel like racing other players the game offers a multiplayer mode of sorts. While you won't get to see a herd of flying Dirks battling it out for brains, a small bubble appears at the top of the screen to tell you which player is in the lead. If you don't want to play with your Facebook friends it will even match you with other players. That being said the game suffers from the same issue as Flappy Bird. It's a solid and addictive idea that doesn't have a lot of variation. Once you tire of flinging poor Dirk there isn't a lot to do. There are no power-ups or obvious level changes beyond a few new background screens. Still, the game's simplicity is part of its charm, and if it was any more complicated it'd defeat the purpose of being a time burner. Zombie Launch isn't the first game to use the idea of bouncing a protagonist off drawn platforms, but its adorably macabre design couples perfectly with its quick play. The addition of multiplayer provides an extra layer of playability that expands the length of time you'll probably want to keep the game on your device. It's a charming title with a high difficultly level. If found yourself screaming your throat hoarse over Flappy Bird, Zombie Launch is a probably right up your alley. Just watch out for the rotten brains.
