Microsoft has released Secrets and Treasure: The Lost Cities on Windows Phone 8.1, but only for those in Canada at this time.
We recently looked at the Windows 8.1 version hitting the store with full support for Xbox Live and now it's time for the smartphone to receive similar treatment. If you're not familiar with the title, it's a brand new casual puzzle game that will task you with exploring lost temples and cities.
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The player will need to solve a number of puzzles to advance in the game and claim valuable experience to help train up the squad of helpers. Daily challengers are available to keep things feeling fresh. The game offers optional in-app purchases that range from $1.99 to $19.99, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since the game itself is free.
Considering most of you are unlikely to be in Canada, this news is of little value until the game goes to other regions. However, you can change your region under your phone's Settings to Canada and grab the game now, if you really cannot wait. Simply switch to Canada, download the game, and then switch back to your native region as you will keep the game.
SoulCraft II: League of Angels, the sequel to the popular fantasy action-RPG from developer MobileBits, has made its debut on Windows Phone after first being released a few weeks ago for Windows 8.1 (and before that for iOS and Android.
The sequel allows players to pick from one of seven different types of angels in order to battle demons from Hell. So you know .. no pressure. Here's a quick list of SoulCraft II's features:
New Multiplayer League: Challenge other players in asynchronous multiplayer matches and customize your defenses. Win your daily leagues to become the best SoulCraft Player in the world
7 different heroes: Choose your play style from melee warriors to range mages
Epic singleplayer campaign: continue your quest to save the world from the demons of the apocalypse
Full controller support - play it on your big TV screen
Offline Support: You can play the singleplayer modes offline as well
SoulCraft II is also a universal app for Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. While the game is free to download and pay, it does support in-app transactions. Will you be playing SoulCraft II?
Terraria has just arrived on Windows Phone and it's Xbox Live enabled! The critically-acclaimed sandbox adventure PC game has made its rounds across to mobile platforms and today is Windows Phone's turn. Players will be able to pick up their favorite mobile device, boot up Terraria and explore numerous biomes, as well as travel to the edges of the world and destroy enraged bosses. There's a lot to do here.
Coming across from the PC and excited to know what's included in the mobile port? Check out this list:
300+ CRAFTING RECIPES - weapons, armor, potions, and more!
25+ BLOCK TYPES to build anything you can imagine!
80+ MONSTERS!
8+ BOSSES!
Over a DOZEN environments to explore!
Dynamic water & lava, day/night cycles!
10+ NPCs to meet and recruit to your home!
Kill the Wall of Flesh and change your world to Hard Mode! experience new enemies and biomes
Use the Pwnhammer to destroy Demon Altars and create new ores
XBOX Live leaderboards & achievements!
On a personal level, can I recommend this game? Yes. Having played the original PC version since its release back in 2011 (it's difficult to believe it has been three years already), Terraria is an exciting adventure game, mixed with some RPG elements, action and even some teamplay and simulation through building (think, Minecraft). For $4.99 on Windows Phone, it's a steal even if it is a solid mobile port.
As an added bonus, 505 Games have made it so Terraria will run on 512MB RAM sporting hardware!
Puzzle games seem to be on the rise in the Windows Phone Store and Civiballs is hoping to make a name for itself with colorful graphics and challenging game play.
You play the role of a young scientist who travels back in time to rescue ancient artifacts from three historic civilizations. The game includes sixty gaming levels set to Roman, Viking and Incan themes. The levels are full of gadgets, gizmos and obstacles to use and overcome in solving each puzzle, challenging your skills at strategy, logic and to a degree, your imagination.
Available for low-memory devices, Civiballs comes across as an appealing game to pass the time with that may only be lacking by the number of gaming levels.
Player profiles and your main menu
When you first launch Civiballs you will need to establish your player name, creating your player profile. Once created the game transitions to the main menu where you will find options in the four corners of the screen that will give you access to the game's setting, the game's Facebook and Twitter pages, achievements/leaderboard, the developer's online message board and a link to other games from the developer. You also have the option to jump into game play (which should be a given).
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Settings cover muting the sound, choosing your language support, viewing the help screen and accessing your player profile.
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Civiballs will let you maintain two player profiles to allow the game to be shared without sacrificing your gaming progress. There does appear to be a slight bug with the profile management system in that your player name does not appear as you typed it in and I couldn't find a way to delete or edit the player name. With the leaderboard being local, the profile feature may still be a work in progress until an online leaderboard becomes available. These bugs do not affect game play.
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Game play consists of sixty gaming levels that are spread across three worlds; Rome, Vikings and Inca. The levels are progressively unlocked and progressively become more challenging. The first level of play will include a few tutorials walking you through the game's mechanics.
Game Play
The game screen for Civiballs has an assortment of information and buttons scattered across the bottom of the screen. They include a link back to the level map, a 'skip' button, your jewel count, a timer and a reset button. Should you run across a level that just leaves you flabbergasted to no ends, Civiballs affords you three skips that will jump you ahead to the next gaming level.
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Game play is straightforward with an assortment of colored balls suspended by chains that have to be delivered to their corresponding jar. You also have jewels that are placed throughout the game screen that need to be collected by hitting them with one of the colored balls.
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Placed between the balls and jars you will find an assortment of canons, catapults, crossbows, ramps, volcanoes, fountains, platforms and other obstacles that have to be navigated. Iron balls are also present to give your colored balls a little momentum. You put the balls in motion, by swiping at the chain suspending the ball to cut it. The game will test your skills of timing, creativity and logic to get the balls in the correct container.
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Speaking of which, you are up against the clock with each level but I've yet to see that become a factor other than impacting your final score (the faster you solve the puzzle the more points you earn). Should the wrong colored ball land in a jar, the game ends. Levels can be replayed to improve your score and collect all the gems.
Overall Impression
Civiballs is a fun and challenging Windows Phone game. Graphics are nicely done and while the game isn't overly complicated, the puzzles will test your wits, imagination and puzzle solving skills.
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The game ran smoothly for me with no glitches or bugs experienced, other than the oddities with the player profiles. The only thing really holding the game back is that it only has sixty levels of play. It will take you some time to finish all sixty levels and hopefully the developer is working on more gaming levels for Civiballs.
All totaled, Civiballs is a nice game to pass the time with. Civiballs has yet to receive any reviews (I'd give it a 4, maybe 4.5 star rating) and if you give Civiballs a try be sure to visit the Windows Phone Store, rate the game and let the developer know what you think of the game.
Civiballs – Windows Phone 8 – 39MB – Trial/$1.99 – Store Link
Rockstar Games has today announced that Grand Theft Auto V will hit next-gen consoles (namely the Xbox One and PlayStation 4) on November 18, with PC gamers having to wait until January 27. That said, the wait will be worth enduring simply down to the sheer upgrade in visuals and gameplay, thanks in turn to some handy exclusive content.
Check the above new trailer (new as of today!). Here's a quick list to detail just some of the new additions to these new releases:
New weapons, vehicles and activities
Additional wildlife
Denser traffic
New foliage system
Enhanced damage and weather effects
If all that wasn't enough, GTA V will also feature enhanced radio selections with over 100 new songs (on top of what's already available) and new DJs to boot. If you happen to pre-order the game on either the consoles of PC, you'll receive $1,000,000 in cash to spend in both story mode and GTA Online ($500,000 split between the two).
GTA Online will also be receiving some new features from Rockstar, including increased player count (up to 30 players in a single session on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One). All existing content will be available from day one to play through with more to come. If you've already played on the current versions of GTA V, your Online characters and progression can be migrated across.
Check out the Rockstar website for more details on neat gear for returning players. Who's excited?
Spin 2014 is physics-based puzzle game inspired by the ancient Chinese philosophy of YIN and YANG, that describes how apparently opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world. Yin 陰 or 阴 is the female/passive/negative principle in nature while the Yang 陽 or 阳 is the positive/active/male principle in nature.
Of course, you don't have to know the givens of the philosophy to play the game. Your objective is to restore the balance which is lost since YIN and YANG have been separated, and both cease to exist without another.
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Spin offers a mixture of Tao-inspired theme with a pinch of puzzle elements and high-quality graphics. There's soothing music intended to calm your senses. It's almost like playing a game sitting in a Thai spa!
The game features a rotating layout to guide YIN or Yang to their objective. You can play as either and experience different themes. The game puts your dexterity and agility to test, and you'll need observational skills and extreme control as you face mind-bending levels as you go along.
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Download the Spin 2014 game for Windows Phone 8 devices from the Windows Phone Store. It's cheap at 99 cents, but there's no trial available. It's a fine game though, and gets addictive soon like the typical progressive puzzle game. The unique philosophical theme makes it even more interesting. Give it a whirl, and let us know how you like it.
Just over one year ago, I brought news of the first release of SongArc, an exclusive Windows Phone music game reminiscent of Guitar Hero and Audio Surf. SongArc lets users download 'sheets' of preprogrammed data to hammer away to their music collection on their phone with colorful graphics, and it is driven by a 1.2 million user community. SongArc maintains an astounding 4.7 (out of 5) rating on the Store from 6K reviews and is consistently the top in its category.
Today, the developers behind SongArc have announced that they have accepted funding from European accelerator Traction Tribe to bring the game to the next level. Previously, SongArc was a hobby by András Velvárt and his team, but now with Traction Tribe, the SongArc group is looking to expand the one-of-a-kind game to iOS, Windows tablets, and later this year, Android.
Considering SongArc depends on the community for the music sheets, pushing the game to other platforms ensures its continued growth and higher quality contributions. For iOS and Windows tablets, we can expect those versions to arrive in four to six weeks.
What about Windows Phone? The SongArc team promises nothing changes:
"Windows Phone is the easiest platform to develop and try new ideas on - but most importantly, it is our parent platform - it is our Home Town, where we grew up. It was the WinPhone users are who helped us get here. So, we will continue developing and improving the WP version for the foreseeable future"
Indeed, to celebrate the big funding announcement, version 3.1 of SongArc is now live in the Store for Windows Phone users.
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SongArc 3.1
Awesome new visuals for hitting a note
Awesome new visuals for missing a note and Star Score (WP8 only)
Better ordering of Sheets for a song
On-screen back button for consistent navigation
A new Star Score button for easier access during game
Other visual and performance enhancements, bug fixes
Bonus Sale
In addition, as a thank you to the Windows Phone community, the SongArc team is putting on a fire sale for one week:
"The Fan Pack, which makes all present and future features and Sheets in SongArc free, will be a steal at only $4.99 (instead of the usual $14.99) and your daily free coins can be doubled for half (so, the Doubler will only cost $0.99 instead of $1.99). The coin packs will also see a significant price reduction."
Not a bad deal at all.
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SongArc is free to download and use, although users opt to buy sheets using coins collected in the game, and through in-app purchases.
As a fan of SongArc, I am very glad to see them moving to the next level. Having the game exclusive to our platform for a whole year has been a joy, as this is easily one of my favorite games to use due to its uniqueness. With SongArc growing and expanding, the quality of the game only gets better with more users hitting the leaderboards and making sheets match the music found on your phone.
So if you have not tried SongArc yet, give it a go!
Looking for a new game to play on your Windows Phone this weekend? If so, you should check out Shapist. It's a new mobile game that comes to us from iOS. It's not a super popular app (yet) but is well reviewed and received a nomination for in the Best Mobile Game category at Indie Prize Amsterdam 2014. Let's check out this new sliding block puzzle game for Windows Phone.
In Shapist there's no score, tutorials and no limits. Just you and 65 puzzles to solve. There's no tutorial, but you do get a free trial and can play around to see if you like the game.
There may be no tutorial, but it's not hard to spend a moment or two sliding the blocks around to figure out what you need to do in order to solve the puzzle. Your goal is to move blocks in a way that you reveal a puzzle piece hiding beneath them all. Clear the blocks on top and then tap that hidden piece to go to the next level.
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Shapist is a beautiful game with minimalist styling. Play a few rounds, and you might find yourself in a therapeutic state as you solve puzzles.
The game was recently updated to support the Russian Windows Phone Store and address a fix for those with Lumia Icons. Download the trial and let us know what you think of the game. Like it? It'll be $2.49 to unlock the game and play all the puzzles.
Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: AppCampus Showcase
For those not familiar, the AppCampus project is a collaborative effort between Microsoft, Nokia and Aalto University to help build new content for the Windows Phone platform. It is a great resource for developers to tap into as they strive to develop new apps and games for the Windows Phone Store.
The AppCampus Showcase is one of the many Windows Phone Store Collections and highlights a large selection of Windows Phone titles developed through the AppCampus initiative. The Collection features over fifty apps and games produced with the help of the AppCampus and we've pluck a few games to highlight in this week's Windows Phone Central Roundup.
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To avoid repetition, all the gaming titles in this week's round are available for low-memory devices.
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Pocket Sheep
Pocket Sheep is an arcade game where players are tasked with helping a herd of sheep navigate through a maze, ultimately arriving at a lush, green pasture ripe for grazing. While the gaming concept sounds easy, guiding the sheep around the twists and turns is a lot like herding cats out of your living room.
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Game mechanics are rather simple. You tap and hold the screen to scoot the sheep along. The game does support multi-touch so if a sheep strays from the herd you can gather it with a second finger. You may feel as though you are playing a game of pocket twister but after a few failed attempts, you get the hang of having your fingers multi-task. You'll also find yourself spinning your Windows Phone around often to get the best angle of approach to push the sheep in one direction or another.
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What do I like about Pocket Sheep? The graphics are well drawn up with, dare I say, a certain level of cuteness. But don't let the sheep's cuteness fool you. The mazes can get interesting with moving bridges, volcanoes and other dangers to overcome. Some of the levels take on more of a puzzle game feel with all of the moving parts and such. It is a simple, attractive, yet challenging game.
What I don't like? Pocket Sheep has thirty levels of play and ninety collectable cards to earn (achievements). While the game may not be everyone's cup of tea, the only real downside to the game is that it needs more gaming levels.
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There are a few nits about the pop-up ad banners, that can get a little annoying, but I've seen worse. I would have preferred the ads limited to the main menu and game level maps but as is they are not too imposing. Plus they help keep the game a free offering.
Pocket Sheep has a 4.5 Star rating over in the Windows Phone Store, a rating that we won't dispute. It is an enjoyable Windows Phone game that fits in nicely with the Kid's Corner as well as your main gaming library.
Pocket Sheep – Windows Phone 8.x – 23MB – Free – Store Link
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Dino Tribes
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Dino Tribes is a prehistoric match three game where you are tasked with creating matches of three or more of the same dinosaur character. Instead of creating the matches in the traditional swapping out adjacent puzzle pieces fashion, Dino Tribes has a line sliding mechanic. You slide complete columns and rows to create the matches.
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Game play is spread out across multiple levels and there is a daily challenge available. Each gaming level has a scoring target to reach in a set number of moves. Power-ups are available when you create matches of four or more. You also have a game store where you can purchase upgrades, boosts and power-ups with the gold you earn during game play.
What do I like about Dino Tribes? I do think the sliding mechanics help Dino Tribes stand out a bit from other match three styled games. Another feature that helps Dino Tribes stand out is support for Nokia Mix Radio. If you have Mix Radio installed on your phone, you can stream your favorite tunes while you play Dino Tribes.
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What I don't like? If you can get past the fact that Dino Tribes is another match three styled game, it's actually not a bad choice of games. But what hurts the game is its instability.
Some have reported the game wipes out your gaming progress but the issue I experience was the game locking up. It seemed to happen most when I launched the daily challenges and while this was easily cleared with a restart of the game, it was somewhat frustrating.
I imagine the instability is the main reason behind the 3.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store and if the developer could iron out these issues, I could see the game garnering a 4 Star, maybe a 4.5 Star, rating.
Dino Tribes – Windows Phone 8.x – 73MB – Free – Store Link
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Permia Duels
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Permia Duels is an online combat game that is reminiscent of the fantasy board games or possible the old battle card games of days gone by. The duels take place in the fantasy land of Permia and are played out on a hexagonal grid. You have deck of cards that represent your fantasy units that can be trained and promoted to increase their strengths.
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Permia Duels does have a lengthy tutorial when you first launch game play. While long winded, the tutorial does do a good job of covering game mechanics.
Game play is one of numbers and strategy, taking turns to put your cards into play on the game board. Each side of the card has a strength number and when placed adjacent to an enemy card, the higher number wins and the card is flipped to serve the victor. Battles are played out until all cards are on the table and the player with the most cards flipped is the winner.
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What do I like about Permia Duels? Game play will test your skills of strategy, much like a game of chess, while maintaining simple game mechanics. Permia Duels is one of those games that are easy to pick up but not so easy to dominate. Game time is also on the short side, making Permia Duels a nice choice when you only have a few minutes to spare for a game.
What I don't I like? Permia Duels has the potential of being an entertaining, challenging gaming network for our Windows Phone. However, the game is plagued by bugs that render the game useless at times. I ran into issues where the game locked up, graphics did not load correctly and the game crashed.
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At first, I thought it was a connectivity issue but even on a Wi-Fi network, I ran into problems running Permia Duels on my Lumia 925.
Permia Duels has a strong following, a 4.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store but with the instability, we would knock the rating down a notch. It is also is a universal app that is available for the larger screen of Windows 8. If the developer can improve the stability, I can see Permia Duel being a fantastic Windows Phone/Windows 8 game.
Permia Duels – Windows Phone 8.x – 70MB – Free – Store Link
Permia Duels – Windows 8 – 59MB – Free – Store Link
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Pirates Don't Run
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Endless runner games can be a fun way to pass the time with and we've got plenty of endless runner games to choose from in the Windows Phone Store. Pirates Don't Run hopes to catch your eye with its pirate theme and comic book story line.
The game has you running for your life, being chased by a collection of undead skeletons. As with most endless runner games, you control your character by a series of screen swipes with your tilt controls handling your characters side to side movements. There are also plenty of gold coins to collect as you try to stay one step ahead of the evil skeletons.
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Pirates Don't Run has a gaming store where you can spend those coins on power-ups and to unlock additional pirate characters to run.
What do I like about Pirates Don't Run? Again, I think endless runner games are fantastic time wasters and can be rather addictive. Where I like the Temple Run series (partial to the Brave theme) it is nice to see a pirate themed runner. The running course changes up enough to keep things fresh and the background images are well drawn up to the point of being a little distracting.
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What I don't I like? There are a few key elements in developing a successful endless runner game. You need good graphics, challenging courses, useful power-ups and responsive controls. Pirates Don't Run does a good job at all of these elements save one.
The swipe controls were not always responsive. Quick, short swipes didn't seem to register and at times it would take a second or two for the gesture to register. All of which resulted in your character meeting their fate. I did find that longer swipes worked out best but when the pace of the game picks up, you may not be able to take the longer, more distinct swipes.
Nonetheless, I found Pirates Don't Run to be a nice addition to the endless runner genre and the 4.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store seems to be spot on. I'd feel more comfortable with the rating if the developer could fine tune the screen gesture though.
Pirates Don't Run – Windows Phone 8.x and 7.x – 43MB – Free – Store Link
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Best of the Bunch
It is a tough call to say which game in this roundup is the best of the bunch. All four titles have the potential of being fun games to pass the time with.
Pocket Sheep is a cute, challenging game but may not appeal to everyone. It's not a bad time waster but the game is a little one dimensional to have it top the charts. Permia Duels is a nicely drawn up board game that will test your skills of strategy, much like a game of chess would. However, stability issues hold this game back and can be frustrating.
Pirates Don't Run and Dino Tribes are two genres of games that are well represented (some may say overly represented) in the Windows Phone Store. Pirates Don't Run is a nice endless runner game that is really only held back by the quirky controls. Endless runner games are well suited as time wasters and if the swipes were more responsive, Pirates Don't Run would be tops.
I like how Dino Tribes takes the match three gaming concept and puts a twist on game play. Being able to move columns and rows to create the matches helps the game stand out a little but it may make game play a little too easy. Still, it's an enjoyable game and with the simpler gaming mechanics it should be attractive to gamers young and old.
So which game is the best? It's a coin toss. The developers have done a good job of tapping into the resources of the AppCampus to deliver some nice Windows Phone games to the Store. All are free and all support low-memory devices making them easy to take for a test drive.
Let us know in the comments which you prefer and let us know what your favorite AppCampus title is.
This report comes from Reuters, which cites unnamed sources. There is already speculation that Minecraft's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, will depart Mojang after the buyout from Microsoft has been completed. Microsoft has had a massive amount of success with the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft, selling over 13 million copies. The company just launched a version for the Xbox One.
Reuters' story also has a ton of speculation from gaming and financial analysts that claim any purchase of Mojang by Microsoft could be designed to help boost Windows Phone, since iOS and Android ports of Minecraft have been highly successful as well. However, we want to point out that the statements in that story are indeed highly speculative and should be taken with a very large grain of salt.
Do you think Microsoft will get a good deal if it does indeed spend $2.5 billion for Mojang?
Sticks is a relatively new Windows Phone puzzle game that has you building sets and runs of playing cards. The multi-level game is full of challenges and an annoying game clock that never has enough time on it.
Available for low-memory Windows Phones, Sticks is a fast pace, somewhat addictive time waster of a game. While the game could use a little fine-tuning with regards to the ad banner, we think it's a puzzle game worth a look.
Simple menu, fast game play
The general gist of Sticks is that you are given a playing field full of assorted playing cards (including a wild card) and a small collection of combinations and runs that you have to find before the 90-second timer hits zero.
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The main menu has options to start game play, launch the tutorial, view your trophies and achievements and access the game's settings (sound/music). While Stick's isn't a difficult game to pick up on, go ahead and take the few minutes to run through the game's tutorial. The game lacks a help or reference section and the tutorial does a nice job of covering scoring multipliers and combos.
Sticks is a multi-level game but you always start game play at the first level and work your way up the ranks. The game does start off a tad mild but by no means is the first level a cake walk.
Your gaming screen for Sticks has your score and lives displayed across the top of the screen, your level challenges or sticks listed in the bottom left corner of the screen and the timer sits in the bottom center of the game screen.
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You are afforded ninety seconds to build each of the required sticks. Sticks can be anything from finding a run (or straight) from any suit, find four of the same card, find a run from the same suit, etc. You begin game play with four sticks to build and as you advance through the levels, more are added to the mix.
To create a stick, just tap on the cards you need and then tap the "GO" button at the bottom. As you remove the sticks from the playing field, additional cards are supplied from the top of the screen to keep the field populated with cards. Should you lack the necessary cards to build a stick, you can always build random sticks in hopes that the right card falls into play.
Once you have built all your sticks you get to spin a point's multiplier and then add to your score by collecting random sticks with the remaining time. As a general rule, the longer the stick the more points earned.
Should you run out of time and fail to create all the mandatory sticks, fear not. You do have a number of lives available and if you haven't used them all up, you will get a fresh 90 seconds to finish building your sticks.
Overall Impression
Sticks is a game that grows on you but there is room for improvement. I like the fast pace of the game, making Sticks well suited to help you pass short bits of time. The sticks are challenging and you'll be surprised how hard it is to find the necessary cards from the playing field.
The room for improvement is most noticeable with the ad banner. I understand that ad-support helps keep apps and games free but the banners should not obstruct your score. Narrow the game screen header and move the banner to the bottom of the screen out of the way.
Next item in the Suggestion Box is to restart game play where you left off. If you made it to level 4 before losing all your lives, it would be nice to return to the game at that level. Okay… that may be too nit picky but the ad banner does need to be re-positioned.
Overall, Sticks is a simple game that can drive you nuts. Currently there are no user reviews in the Windows Phone Store (we would score it in the 4 Star range) so if you give Sticks a try, be sure to head over to the Store and toss out your review. These reviews help developers see what they are doing right and what they need to work on.
Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate for Xbox One is the latest in Japanese publisher Koei Tecmo's long-running series of Warriors games. The Orochi sub-series in particular merges characters from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, with this Ultimate release throwing in guest characters from Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Soul Calibur, and other games for good measure. You don't need to be familiar with any of these series to enjoy the game, but they instill it with both history and variety.
Throw in 2-player split-screen and online multi-player, hundreds of characters, dozens of original and user-tweaked levels, and you have a hack-and-slash game with incredible scope and nearly endless playtime. Read on for our comprehensive review with exclusive game play video and screenshots!
Beware the serpent
Warriors Orochi 3 takes place in the past during China's Three Kingdoms period and Japan's feudal era. The story starts with a bang, as a gigantic seven-headed hydra starts attacking the various castles and human settlements spread across both nations. Impossibly large and strong, the hydra manages to defeat the era's finest warriors. Meanwhile, an army of demons moves in to crush the remnants of humanity.
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Thus starts the tutorial mission, with the last defenders of humankind engaged in a suicide mission against the hydra and its demonic accomplices. One or two players will have to move from checkpoint to checkpoint, defeating enemy commanders in order to open gates and continue their assault on the monster. You'll man a pair of ballistas and attempt to bring the beast down, but to no avail.
When all hope seems lost, the remaining survivors find themselves rescued by Princess Kaguya, a figure from Japanese folklore. Using her powers, she offers to take the warriors back in time to battles in which the demon forces defeated their allies. By winning those battles, the Warriors can rescue fallen allies and change history. And once their forces have been sufficiently augmented with fallen warriors, they will unleash another assault on the hydra.
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Campaign
The first, doomed battle against the hydra is confusing and not much fun. But fight through it and you'll be rewarded for your troubles with a lengthy and engaging campaign. I do mean lengthy – the campaign consists of over 175 levels spread across 8 chapters. Each level can be played on four different difficulties. You'll actually want to move up through the top three difficulties in order to unlock rewards such as top-tier weapons for each warrior.
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As you complete levels and rescue new Warriors, you'll be able to travel to new levels based on those Warriors' memories. Sometimes, new information or the results of a previous battle will unlock a "Redux" version of an existing level. Experiencing those battles from multiple perspectives and achieving new outcomes is one of many clever ways the game makes good on its time traveling premise.
The levels themselves take place in a variety of environments borrowed from past Warriors games, new ones, and even levels from the guest character's games such as Ninja Gaiden's futuristic city. None of them really shows off the Xbox One's graphical power, although the game runs better than on Xbox 360 and has improved draw distance and lighting.
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Simple but fun fighting
Like Dead Rising 3, Warriors Orochi's main claim to fame is throwing hundreds of characters on-screen at once. If you're looking for large scale hack-and-slash action, this game won't disappoint. You'll lead teams of AI fighters against hundreds or thousands of enemies on each stage. Each battle has specific objectives, such as rescuing key warriors and/or eliminating target demons.
You can fight your way through many battles by simply mashing on the X button to perform normal attack combos, killing hordes of grunts left and right. But the combat offers a bit more depth for those who want it. You have a second attack button for more complex combos; a special attack button that consumes Musou (special move energy); a unique and deadly Musou move for each fighter; and the ability to guard and strafe.
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During battle, you actually control a team of three warriors. Each level has a recommended team, but you can also choose your own. Tap the triggers to switch between teammates, giving injured fighters time to rest. Call your teammates to your side by tapping down on the d-pad, or allow them to fight on their own with the rest of the AI forces.
Hitting up on the d-pad summons your horse. Hop on it to cross large distances in a hurry. You can even fight on horseback, knocking over enemies and slashing away with your weapons.
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Outside of battle
Between missions, you'll return to the Warriors' base camp. The camp grows as you reach campaign milestones, gaining new buildings and features.
Initially, players simply have access to the blacksmith. He buys and sells new weapons for each Warrior. You can also combine weapons, imbuing one with the attributes of another. A weapon can have up to eight attributes, including bonuses like extending its reach, longer combo time, fire damage, increased EXP gain, and more.
Warriors even gain compatibility with individual weapons the more they use them, increasing damage. Considering that your team will eventually consist of up to 145 characters, that's a lot of potential micromanagement. But it's rewarding and surprisingly intuitive.
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Eventually the camp will gain a tea house. Here the Warriors can engage in tea parties, increasing their compatibility with one another. This causes your AI teammates to help you out in battle more. You can also just walk around talking to the other characters, learning about their stories and sometimes unlocking new missions with the information they provide.
These laid-back RPG elements provide a nice counterbalance to the large scale, frenetic battles. Just be sure to save your progress after doing stuff in the base. Pause, go to Options, and there you'll find the Save option hidden away.
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Co-op
If you don't want to go it alone during the campaign, you can sign in a second player after choosing a level. When playing locally, the second player gets to choose his or her own team of three Warriors from the main player's pool. The game will switch to split-screen during the level, allowing both players to stick together or divide and conquer. Sadly, the second local player can't use her own profile or earn Achievements.
You can also host or join an online game. However, the matchmaking isn't very good and I don't think many players choose to play online. Shame that Warriors Orochi 3 doesn't take advantage of Peggle 2-style matchmaking. It would be great to continue playing solo until the matchmaking finds a second player.
Teaming up against hordes of enemies essentially doubles the fun, just like in a beat-em-up. Both players can even perform the devastating True Musou Burst maneuver, combining the special attacks of all six of their Warriors.
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Mission failure and loading times
The co-op fun drops a notch when either player dies. If that happens, both players fail the level. Dying mid-level kicks players back to the main menu, forcing them to go back to base and then reselect the level. Both steps take way too long to load.
Still, you can do two things to lessen the stress of failing a level. One, always try to switch to another character on your team before you die. That way, the injured Warrior can heal in the background. Two, you can actually create a mid-battle save at any point. Just pause and choose to Save. Then if you fail, you can load straight back into the battle save instead of going to the camp and starting over.
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Modes and Achievements
Besides the massive campaign, Ultimate offers several extra modes:
Gauntlet allows players to take a team of five warriors (instead of three) into special stages with unique enemies and rewards.
Musou Battlefields is where you'll edit stages and download other players' stages. The browsing interface is slow and clumsy, but it's still a cool feature.
Duels lets you battle against another player or the AI in closed arenas.
Each of these modes has its own unique Achievements, contributing to the game's total of 44. This game also offers lots of time-limited Challenges. Complete them to earn extra items in the main game.
Many of the Achievements are secret, but they tend to involve clearing all stages, unlocking all characters, and getting the best weapons for every character. It will take hundreds of hours to do everything, making Ultimate a dream for grinders and a nightmare for completionists in a hurry.
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Overall Impression
The Warriors series has a reputation for having way too many games that are far too similar to one another. But Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate is a great entry point. The time-traveling premise is compelling and stands on its own, whether or not you know your Dynasty from your Samurai Warriors. The campaign structure is great, giving players a nearly endless supply of stages and characters to unlock. You'd almost need to be a time traveler to see it all!
Few games provide this much content and playtime. If you have a taste for fighting large hordes of enemies and can overlook a few rough edges, Warriors Orochi 3 will keep you occupied for months to come.
Royal Revolt 2, the recently released fantasy action-strategy game sequel from developer Flare Games, has received a big update for both Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 that adds a ton of new content, including four new monsters, 70 new missions and more.
Here is the change log for the game, which boosts the version number for the Windows Phone port up to 1.4:
Enter the dungeon, play the 70 new spooky missions and win lots of lovely loot
Unlock four awesome new monsters; the ugly Ogre, the mesmerizing Mummy, the gory Gargoyle and the wily Werewolf
Get a free Gold Shield each time you get raided
Get medal bonuses for top positions on the leaderboard
See the strength of your enemies in battle; the darker the unit or tower is, the stronger it is
Enjoy the various improvements, polishing and bug fixes.
While both versions of Royal Revolt 2 are free to download and play, they do offer in-app purchases. Do you like the new content that's been added to the game with this update?
Microsoft has now confirmed the rumors that started last week that it will acquire Mojang, the creators of the hit PC, mobile and console game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion
In a press release, Microsoft stated that the acquisition will be completed sometime in late 2014. It added, "Microsoft plans to continue to make 'Minecraft' available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation."
In a statement on Xbox Wire, Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, stated:
"The Minecraft community is passionate and diverse, ranging across all ages and demographics. We respect the brand and independent spirit that has made Minecraft great, and we'll carry on the tradition of innovation to move the franchise forward. Our investments in cloud, Xbox Live and mobile technology will enable players to benefit from richer and faster worlds, more powerful development tools, and more opportunities to connect with the Minecraft community."
Microsoft also stated that Minecon, Mojang's fan convention for all things Minecraft, will be held next year. There was no mention of Minecraft coming to Windows Phone or Windows 8.1.
What do you think of Microsoft buying Mojang and the Minecraft franchise?
Mojang has now issued their own statement today about Microsoft buying their company, and the Minecraft game franchise, for $2.5 billion, confirming that the three founders of Mojang, including Minecraft's creator Markus "Notch" Persson, will now be leaving the development team they formed.
The statement said:
"Though it's too early to confirm which of us will continue working on Minecraft or other projects, we predict that the vast majority (if not all) Mojangstas will continue to work at Mojang for the time being. The founders: Notch, Carl (O. Manneh), and (H) Jakob (Porsér) are leaving. We don't know what they're planning. It won't be Minecraft-related but it will probably be cool.
The statement also offered a little more insight as to why Mojang was sold to Microsoft in the first place. It said:
"As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He's decided that he doesn't want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. Over the past few years he's made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang. He'll continue to do cool stuff though. Don't worry about that."
It added that the company was impressed by Microsoft's support of Minecraft, stating, "We're confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in an awesome way."
What is your reaction to "Notch" and the other founders of Mojang leaving the company?
UpdateMarkus "Notch" Persson has now issued his own statement on his personal blog, stating that after he leaves Mojang he plans to work on small game projects from now on. He also commented about how selling Mojang to Microsoft could be thought of as contradicting some statements he has made in the past about supporting independent game development. He stated:
"I'm aware this goes against a lot of what I've said in public. I have no good response to that. I'm also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I'm not. I'm a person, and I'm right there struggling with you. I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can't be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it's belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change. It's not about the money. It's about my sanity."
Beaver Kickin' is an endless runner styled Windows Phone game where you are tasked with kicking a beaver and have him sail as far as possible before giving into gravity.
Each chapter of the game has a story line that is nicely illustrated with a comic book feature. For example, with the first chapter has aliens dumping a cosmic seed into the forest creating crazy mutations. It's the beaver's job to soar through the forest taking down the mutations and saving the day.
Story line aside, Beaver Kickin' has great graphics, challenging game play and is available for low-memory devices. In playing the game for a short time, Beaver Kickin' comes across as a fun time waster of a game.
Beaver Kickin' Layout
The main menu for Beaver Kickin' is slightly on the modest side with options to choose your language, customize your beaver, visit the game store, check out the game achievements, check out your beaver profile and access the settings (sound/music and Facebook log in).
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Your player profile will have links to re-play your story line comics, view the goals you have met and need to meet, view you gaming stats and reset the game. The gaming store has purchase opportunities for the money you earn during game play. You can purchase beaver upgrades, specialty items, outfits and to unlock the additional forests. Game progression will unlock these forests but you always buy these forests and jump ahead.
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Customizing your beaver is a nice feature and you can create some cool looking beavers without worrying about game store purchases. The only downside to customizing your beaver is that you will need to share it on Facebook to put the customizations into play.
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There isn't a help section (the game needs one) but you will be walked through a tutorial when you first launch game play. Beaver Kickin' isn't an overly complicated game but there are so many gaming elements that a help section would really help.
Sending your beaver soaring
The game screen has your fuel and coins collected displayed in the upper left corner, your speed meter runs along the right side of the screen and your distance is displayed along the bottom of the screen. You also have a mute, help and pause buttons in the upper right corner of the game screen. The help button will pull up details on the gaming screen layout.
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Game mechanics are simple. You start the game by having your lumberjack kick the snot out of your beaver. A strength meter will spin around and when tapped, the lumberjack kicks you beaver sending him sailing through the forest.
To keep your beaver airborne, you need to tap the screen to have him flap his tiny little arms or get a boost from forest creatures scattered about the woods. As long as the beaver is traveling at a decent speed, he can chomp through the forest trees, which unlocks fuel and bonus items that can be collected. If the beaver isn't traveling fast enough, he'll get his teeth stuck and the game is over.
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You have a vast assortment of gadgets floating in the sky that include rockets, axes, boxing gloves and more. All designed to help your beaver get a little more distance. You also have coins to collect and space ships to crash along the way.
Beaver Kickin' has a wide assortment of missions or goals to complete. These are your typical travel a certain distance, collect an amount of coins, etc. As you play the game and complete missions your beaver gains experience and will move up in levels. This gives your furry little bucktooth critter a little more hang time.
Overall Impression
The more I played Beaver Kickin' the more the game grew on me. Game play does take a few tries to get the hang of and will test your skills at timing. You need to time your descent just right to have the forest animals give you a boost.
What do I like about Beaver Kickin'? The graphics are nice from the customizations for your beaver to the forest animals that populate the game. If you only have a few minutes to spare for gaming, Beaver Kickin's game time fits the short periods nicely. Yet game play can be addictive, keeping you pulled in to fill longer gaming sessions.
What don't I like? I'm not a fan of the Facebook integration to take advantage of the free customizations. Not everyone is a Facebook fan and cannot help but think it would have been better to make this sharing requirement optional.
I also think there needs to be a help section to serve as a reference for all the gadgets and creatures that populate the game. In the very least, you should be able to replay the tutorial without resetting the game.
Still, while there is room for improvement Beaver Kickin' is an appealing Windows Phone game that is worth a try. The average of thirty user reviews gives the game a 4.5 Star rating in the Windows Phone Store, which isn't too far from the mark.
Beaver Kickin' - Windows Phone 8 - 24MB - Free - Store Link
Last year, a fun game dubbed Benji Bananas arrived on Windows Phone, coming a few months later than the iOS and Android version. Rinse and repeat for Benji Bananas Adventures, a sequel to the popular banana swinger game, which came out earlier this month.
Benji Bananas and its sequel are those types of games that often slip under the radar. They do not garner many headlines, but they tend to have millions of fans who enjoy the simple vine-swinging mechanics found in the game. Indeed, the sequel builds off the original but keeps the majority of the same style. The graphics are smooth, and the gameplay is short, letting users get some quick action without much time commitment.
Like the previous version, as a monkey you are tasked with swinging on vines, going a certain distance or collecting enough bananas to score some points. Game levels are in the Angry Birds-style, where you get a rating of 1 to 3 depending on how well you completed the mission. Benji Bananas Adventures boasts over 100 levels and the following features:
Absolutely gorgeous jungle landscapes
Jungle, Waterfalls, Hills, etc.
Simple to learn but hard to master unique one-button gameplay
Feel the joy of flying through the jungle
Unlock different game modes and upgrades
Animated stories featuring Benji, his girl Bella, and the dangers of the forest
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Benji Bananas Adventures is certainly a silly game, but since it is free (with optional in-app purchases) and the gameplay is charming, it is worth taking a quick look, especially if you liked the original. There is just something satisfying in swinging around in this game that makes it hard to resist.
There is good news too as this game plays just fine on 512 MB devices as well. Although the original Benji was a timed-Lumia exclusive that is no longer the case as the sequel and original are open to all Windows Phones.
When there's a bug crawling near you, do you freak out? Sok and Sao act the complete opposite. They shoot water, fire, crystals, poison, lightning, and even grenades towards them. It's for a good reason, though. Sok and Sao are out to save the world from Dengue fever by destroying Aedes mosquitoes, the primarily transmitter of the Dengue virus. Sok and Sao's Adventure is available first on Windows Phone, and is heading to the iPhone and Android devices soon.
Features:
Run, jump, shield and Shoot in 2D view.
Collect Coins to upgrade Hero, Life, Gun and Grenade
4 Game Worlds
7 different powerful guns
6 Different bullets (Water, Fire, Crystal, Poison, Electro and missile)
2 Heroes to choose
Optimized to run on any resolutions
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Sok is available to play from the beginning. Sao needs to be unlocked with 85,000 coins. There are several buttons on the screen to help you get through the levels. The left side of the screen provides the directional pad. This lets you move and aim your character. The right side is a bit more crowded. You can jump, hit, shield, fire, or throw grenades.
Aiming is a bit difficult since you do not tap on the bugs to fire towards them. You need to adjust your position as well as the directional pad to hit your targets. Your gun initially fires water, but keep your eyes open for ammunition boxes with other types of bullets. Our favorite is fire.
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You will definitely get bitten by the bugs and your health meter decreases when that happens. Collect bananas, papayas and cakes to increase health.
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There are boss levels that require more time and accuracy. Pay attention to their weak points in order to defeat them.
Sok and Sao's Adventure is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. There are in-app purchases available for upgrades, extra lives, and more, but you're not forced to buy anything. If you've got some free time, this game is worth checking out. Sok and Sao is with Windows Phone right now, but they're heading to Android and iOS soon. Download it now and let us know what you think.
Microsoft's $2.5 billion purchase of the game developer Mojang and its hugely successful Minecraft series wasn't just about adding a new game franchise to the Xbox division. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said today that it will also be a big boost in helping kids learn more about science and technology.
Nadella made those remarks as part of a annual luncheon at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce today, According to GeekWire, Nadella said:
"If you talk about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education, the best way to introduce anyone to STEM or get their curiosity going on, it's Minecraft ... So I think what this open-world phenomenon will mean to the community at large, for people who builders, is pretty big, and we are very excited about the acquisition, obviously."
Nadella also said that his own 10 year old daughter asked him this morning if he knew about Microsoft acquiring Minecraft. Do you think Nadella's vision for the game is a proper one or should it just be about offering an entertaining game experience?
Last week we reviewed Dance Central Spotlight, the best Kinect game on Xbox One and also pretty much the ultimate dancing game. Spotlight is a downloadable game, but it will soon face increased competition at retail from Ubisoft's Just Dance 2015.
The latest in the Just Dance series will arrive at stores (and for download) on October 21 in North America and October 23 in Europe. The lead versions are Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U, with previous-gen versions on the way as well. Which platform has the best sensor for full-body motion tracking? I think we all know.
The main reason to buy a new Just Dance game is that version's song list. Ubisoft has just helpfully announced the 2015 edition's full lineup. Let's see what variety it offers.
Just Dance 2015 Song List
Get ready to dance to the following songs in this year's Just Dance. Note that many of these are cover versions, not the original artists' versions.
"Bang Bang"– Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
"She Looks So Perfect"– 5 Seconds of Summer
"Problem"– Ariana Grande Ft. Iggy Azalea and Big Sean
"4x4"– Miley Cyrus
"Best Song Ever"– One Direction
"Happy"– Pharrell Williams
"Till I Find You" Austin Mahone
"Addicted To You"– Avicii
"Black Widow"– Iggy Azalea Ft. Rita Ora
"Maps"– Maroon 5
"Birthday"– Katy Perry
"Bad Romance"– Lady Gaga
"Built For This"– Becky G
"Holding Out For A Hero"– Bonnie Tyler
"Summer"– Calvin Harris
"Tetris"– Dancing Bros.
"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"– Dead Or Alive
"Let It Go"– Disney's Frozen
"Burn"– Ellie Goulding
"Bailando"– Enrique Iglesias Ft. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona
"Mahna Mahna"– Frankie Bostello
"Never Can Say Goodbye"– Gloria Gaynor
"I Love It"– Icona Pop Ft. Charli XCX
"You're On My Mind"– Imposs Ft. J. Perry
"Love Me Again"– John Newman
"Only You (And You Alone)"– Love Letter
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"– Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
"Get Low"– Dillon Francis & DJ Snake
"Diamonds"– Rihanna
"Me And My Broken Heart"– Rixton
"Walk This Way"– Run-DMC & Aerosmith
"Don't Worry Be Happy"– The Bench Men
"Epic Sirtaki"– The Bouzouki's
"Speedy Gonzalez"– Los Pimientos Locos
"Macarena"– The Girly Team
"Love Is All"– The Sunlight Shakers
"It's My Birthday"– will.i.am Ft. Cody Wise
"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"– Ylvis
"XMas Tree"– Bollywood Santa
"Fatima"– Cheb Salama
I'm honestly looking forward to that Tetris song.
As far as we know, downloadable songs from Just Dance 2014 will not be compatible with the 2015 game. Ubisoft has always lagged behind Harmonix in that DLC compatibility.
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New and improved, mobile companion in tow
Just Dance 2015 brings forty new songs, all with their own unique Ubisoft-created music videos to dance along with (a key difference from the Dance Central series). The Xbox One version will support four local dancers, which is actually a pretty big advantage over Dance Central if you have the room for it.
The 2015 Edition adds a cool new Community Remix mode. Instead of dancing along to those music videos I just mentioned, players will be able to dance along to other players shown on-screen.
How the game can share video of other players while filtering out inappropriate content remains to be seen. Players will definitely be able to vote on shared content. If everything works right and nobody gets unwittingly exposed to anybody else's junk, it should be a great alternative way to play.
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Alongside the main game, Ubisoft will release a companion app called Just Dance Now. The app acts as a controller for the game, using a phone's accelerometer to communicate the player's hand position. That feature makes more sense on the Wii systems in which players hold motion controllers called Wiimotes in order to play the game. It sounds totally unnecessary on Xbox One and 360. The Kinect sees your whole body and doesn't require players to hold anything.
The app announcement doesn't list specific platforms, but preview images hint at iOS and Android. We'll see whether Ubisoft releases a Windows Phone version of the app – we did get a Just Dance companion app way back in 2012. There was even a (terrible) Dance Central app that year!
Just Dance 2015 arrives on October 21 in North America and October 23 in Europe. What do you guys think of the newly announced song list? And do you have room for two different dance games in your life?
