Illusion Labs' 'TouchGrind BMX' is Amazing!

    Back in May, Illusion Labs, the creators of TouchGrind and Labyrinth 2, released their newest masterpiece on the AppStore. Put simply, TouchGrind BMX is amazing. With near perfect controls and a nifty unlock system, TouchGrind BMX is a must-have for both casual and hardcore gamers.

    You begin the game with only one bike and one course, but there are a total of 6 courses and 9 bikes plus tons of different paints to unlock. The courses are based in locations around the world from South America to Japan and even to, ehr, Northland. All of this is displayed in a slick, globe-like menu screen. Now let me elaborate on the whole unlock system. In each course there are a bunch of challenges to complete. Completing these challenges earns you "Adrenaline" which act as experience points. Adrenaline can also be gained by earning either a bronze, silver or gold medal on a course. As you gain Adrenaline, you unlock new bikes, paint jobs, and courses. This system works great and adds a lot of replay value to the game. 
    The selling point of TouchGrind BMX has to be its controls. Just as in the original TouchGrind, the swipe gestures work brilliantly in BMX and create an amazing feeling of immersion. My first time playing I was blown away and felt like I a had a little bike in my fingertips instead of a bunch of pixels. You can perform several tricks including bar spins (flick the handlebars), tail whips(flick bike body),flips and spins, along with any combo imaginable. All in all, the controls work great and fit nicely with the true physics in the game.
    The one disappointment that I had was that there is no free riding area. All of are pretty much linear race tracks that provide jumps to do tricks off of. Sure this works great for its purpose, but it would be nice to have one map to ride around in freely just like in the original Touchgrind.




   Another cool feature is the ability to upload your runs to YouTube. This feature shoots the game's replay value through the roof and is pure genius. By saving and uploading your best tricks, you can challenge your friends and anyone in the world to beat your score.

   
    What all of this boils down to is that Touchgrind BMX is the best bike simulator out there and will be forever if a free-ride mode is added. Toichgrind BMX is currently priced at $4.99 on the US AppStore and it is worth every dollar and cent.

Read more...

'Call of Mini:Zombies' Review : Don't You Ever Miss Mini's Call

  Back in May, Triniti Interactive revealed their new third-person shooter, Call of Mini: Zombies.  Unfortunately, the company’s lack of originality in the title created the false assumption that this would be a blatant copy of the popular Call of Duty series. However, aside from the lack-luster title, Call of Mini plays great and will keep your thumbs glued to the dual stick controls for hours on end.

In this zombie shooter you play as one of 8 characters, each with its own special attributes, in a struggle to live to see another day. You begin your journey as “Joe Blo” who is “nothing special” other than the fact that he can shoot an RPG while dodging zombies.  As you earn more money (by mowing down zombies) you can buy new characters ranging from a nerd to a cowboy to B.E.A.F…yeah that’s right, BEAF. If you ever find yourself running short in cash, you can spend a dollar, 2 dollars, or 4 dollars to get 500,000 or 1,200,000 or 2,700,000 in-game dollars respectively via in-app purchase. In my opinion, the in-app purchase isn’t absolutely necessary because the only thing it will save you is time.

They spit fire...or is that cheese?

There are 12 hilariously terrifying zombie types which add a little spice to the endless carnage.  You have the standard walking zombie, a sprinter, grenade-throwing police officers, fire-spitting chefs, and hunters, boomers, and tanks.  Wait, did I just say hunters, boomers and tanks? Yes, it is almost too obvious that some of the zombies were pulled straight from Valve’s ‘Left 4 Dead’, but that doesn’t detract from the fun of killing them in any way.

The Armory : Buy and Upgrade Weapons

One great feature in the game is the Armory.  The armory is home to 13 completely upgradeable weapons ranging from a weak-sauce MP5 to a beastly PGM rocket launcher that can shoot multiple homing missiles at once.  Weapon upgrades include damage, fire rate, accuracy, and ammo, but they can put a rather large dent in your cash pile.  You can have up to 3 weapons equipped at any time which allows you to develop a unique zombie-killing style.

With all that being said, the only downside to Call of Mini is that there are only two maps.  The fact that this is a day-based survival shooter means that you are going to be doing the same thing over and over.  Since there are only two maps you will be doing the same thing (killing zombies) in the same two places over and over.  Even though the maps are fairly large and look great, once you get around Day 20, they become very repetitive and boring.  Triniti plans to release a large update with “new content” in July, so we can only hope that they will include some new maps.

All in all, Call of Mini: Zombies is a very enjoyable third-person shooter. Where it lacks in originality it makes up for in customizability. I have high hopes that Triniti will eventually bring new maps and cooperative play to the field. If you are looking for a fun zombie-filled third-person shooter, then go pick up Call of Mini today.  It will only drop you a buck and hours of play time.

Read more...