The Halloween season is almost at its conclusion and for those who celebrate this yearly event
I hope you have something fun planned for the evening!
If not you can always waste away the time between carloads of kids by playing some games
on your iOS device (though if you're home you may just be watching TV or playing a console...
shame on you!).
However, lets not dilly-dally around, I have costumes to complete and meals to prepare,
so here's the Friday News Wrap Up for the 28th of October, 2011.
I could be all super old and mean and claim that if you don't love the Peanuts cartoon
then you're nothing but a cold heartless shell of a human being, but that wouldn't be productive
now would it?
Honestly, you'll either love the idea of this to bits or not, but it looks like Capcom's
next major release is set to do to Peanuts what they did to The Smurfs and despite the
handful of mishaps from parents who left themselves recently logged in to iTunes, for a freemium
game it's still a huge success.
So, do you have what it takes to pull off a Street Fair while taking control of the
lovable Snoopy?
Street Fair is set to hit the App Store on the 17th of November.
This news piece is definitely more for the hardcore fans of the series who just can't
get enough of the Prince's antics as he rolls up the denizens of earth for the pleasure
of the King.
The latest update to the game, released yesterday, adding six new stages plus a bonus 'Tekken'
stage.
The 'Time Trip' pack is available for unlocking in the Online Store for a currently discounted
price of US$3.99 - so yeah, definitely one for the hardcore fans.
However, if you're after a real bargain you can check out most of NAMCO BANDAI's games
on the App Store as they're currently on sale at 50% off or more until Midnight PST Monday
31st of October.
Perhaps one of the biggest complaints we had at AppSpy about The Dark Meadow was the way
in which the game managed to hamstring its pacing and spookiness by packing the game
full of monsters that required lengthy after-combat sequences.
With that in mind it's great to see Phosphor games attempting to recapture the haunting
feeling of their game by reducing the amount of monsters wandering and removing the post
combat summary screen.
Other tweaks to the game include a higher level cap (from 40 to 50); the addition of
'save slots' to have multiple games running; and a 'New Game 9' for those after a harder
challenge.
If you haven't already picked up The Dark Meadow, the game is currently on sale until
Halloween for US$2.99 - a great spooky treat for the holiday season!
Despite being a fan of comics I must admit more than a little ignorance when it comes
to the story of Elisa Cameron, a journalist stuck between the realms of the living and
the dead as she attempts to solve her own murder.
Set for release in early 2012, the so-dubbed 'First Person Mystery' (otherwise known as
a hidden-object adventure game) seems like an interesting way to bring a comic to life.
If you're a fan of the comic, hit up the comments and let us know what you think.
This piece of news has me conflicted - on the one hand the Wizardry series is a classic
that certainly deserves at least some mention, other other the recent release of Labyrinth
of Souls on the Playstation Network was so true to its roots that it sort of missed the
part where it's 2011, not 1981.
Surprisingly, despite being a personal fan of the work by RPG studio Atlus, their 2001
reboot of the series passed me by, so this recent reboot of a reboot was truly surprising.
At any rate the game is set to see its way on to iOS devices with a copy of the game
dropping on the App Store on the 3rd of Nov.
If you love classic dungeon crawling (and I do mean real dungeon crawling - graph paper
and all, no mini-maps) then keep an eye out for this one.
While this may not excite many of our viewers, I'm always interested in checking out games
that come out of the smaller studios out there (and by small I mean super small) because
there's a chance you may find something truly special and unique.
Unfortunately Ocarbot isn't quite on the upper tiers of being one of these hidden gems, however
fans of puzzle games may still get a kick out of the little robot's plight.
Each room simply requires you to get to the exit - you have three controls to complete
this task, moving left/right and going up ladders.
Being set in what is essentially a platform-based world, these restrictions bring complications
of their own, even before you have to navigate simple hazards such as pits or magnets.
Thankfully Ocarbot can push around blocks to move past them, Sokaban-style, and with
50 levels to conquer it's not an easy game to complete.
The retro style of the game feels more like a shortcut, rather than a serious artistic
choice, but the chip tune soundtrack can be catchy.
It would have helped if the game included more user-friendly options such as the ability
to 'undo' moves, as having a single mistake ruin a puzzle at the last moment can be a
serious chore.
It's not perfect, but Ocarbot scratches that brain-tickling itch if you have it.
As much as I'd like to pretend that there's another game that can pip the first-place
post for this week, Modern Combat 3 is just too strong a contender, knocking out its opponents
left-and-right.
Although there are a lot of obvious shortcomings in the game's singleplayer campaign, the multiplayer
is where this title truly shines and as the servers start to stabilize and players start
to unlock more weaponry, the game's true colors are beginning to shine.
Many attempts have been made to bring a competitive FPS scene to the iOS and many have fallen
to the wayside - Modern Combat 3 improves on its predecessor by only a margin, but it's
enough to make it worthwhile for any action fan after a fast-paced online shooter.
As always you can keep track of our updates at AppSpy via Twitter, Facebook or RSS and
we'll be back after the weekend to bring you a whole bunch of juicy reviews.
Until then, enjoy the weekend!