Although this review was done on an Android device, the iOS version is very similar.

A lot has changed on the mobile market since the first Contract Killer was released, and with top notch games like Dead Trigger being available for free download, does the same style gameplay from Contract Killer 1 & 2 have a place on the market? Even with the very restrictive on-rails gameplay, Glu has done a lot of things right to make sure Contract Killer 2 plays more realistically whilst still being able to play on relatively outdated hardware.

Gameplay and Controls

Everyone should be familiar with a first-person shooter by now, and Contract Killer is just that. Controls are not too confusing and there are buttons on the screen for reloading, switching weapons and hiding behind cover. On top of the consistent button overlay, you’ll get different prompts on screen that allow you to run to different cover positions or take out enemies with melee attacks.

Contract Killer 2 has improved from the first game, and Glu have managed to make the player feel a lot more involved via the different gesture commands and controls.

The different contracts in the game vary from having to take out a certain person to defusing bombs, but when it comes down to it, Contract Killer 2 is very much about killing everyone on sight. When you first start a mission, enemies will not notice you, and in some occasions you can sneak from cover to cover and take out unsuspecting enemies using melee surprise attacks. However, most of the time you’ll be on a canopy or rooftop and will take out enemies with your weapons from a distance.

When you take your first shot, enemies will retaliate, and as you progress through the game, you’ll usually come across more waves and tougher enemies to fight against. An interesting feature Glu has added allows you to pinpoint your targets so that you can see them more clearly without having to zoom in on them, but in most missions you will have a timer, which if it reaches zero, you will fail the mission and have to start again, so for the most part the pinpoint feature is merely a gimmick.

Experience and Equipment

What Contract Killer has done well is the experience system. You’ll get rewarded exp for completing contracts and after levelling up new equipment and weapons may become available to you within the shop. The shop consists of a few varieties of weapons, although the snipers are the clear choice here, and with many weapons you can add different attachments and scopes, as well as being to upgrade the weapon stats with cash earnt from completing contracts.

When you level up, you’ll be given Glue coins which can be spent on a few items that would otherwise be unobtainable, and you can also purchase Glu coins with real money. Some items are quite expensive and are practically impossible to earn without buying in-game cash, however no item is particularly game-breaking, so it’s not too much of an issue.

Graphics and Audio

Although the 3D graphics aren’t of the highest standard, they’re acceptable, and like mentioned before, the lower quality graphics will most likely mean better compatibility with older devices which is always a bonus. The 2D artwork and cut scenes in the game are very-well illustrated though, and if you can cope with the not-so appealing 3D gameplay, you’re in for a treat. The audio is at a similar quality to the 2D images, and you’ll hear occasional talk and chatter between you and your contractors throughout the game. The story is not too well-detailed, but added dialogue definitely adds a sense of purpose to the game.

Summary

Pros:

• Varying mission objectives
• Great customization options and leveling system
• Freemium content isn’t too groundbreaking
• Gameplay is not too fast-paced or difficult

Cons:

• 3D graphics aren’t super impressive
• Gameplay is a very “on-rails” experience
• Contracts feel a little repetitive
• Leveling does become slow after a few hours’ worth of play

Download Contract Killer 2:

On iOS

On Google Play

The post Contract Killer 2 Game Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Death Dome is an Android action game developed by Griptonite Games, which is now wholly owned by Glu Mobile. Griptonite’s new game has a similar gameplay style to Blood and Glory or the Infinity Blade series, and features Glu’s in-app Glu coin currency.

Just a quick note, if you’re not too fond of gory content then be warned, this game contains a lot of it.

Gameplay and Controls

If you’ve played Blood and Glory, you’ll recognize the format of Death Dome instantly. You’ll be put through different battle instances where you’ll need to block, dodge, and parry your enemy until you find a decent window to attack it. All actions in-game are done with touch controls and gestures, for instance, swiping your screen will make your character perform an attack in the direction you’re swiping in, and holding the block button will make your character put his shield up to block an enemy’s attack.

There is also a dodge button on either side of the screen, allowing you to dodge left and right, and parrying can be done by taking a well-timed swipe in the opposite direction of your attacker. We’ve already seen the popular Infinity Blade series by Chair Entertainment with this kind of gameplay, as well as the two Blood and Glory titles, so I’m a little disappointed with Glu’s attempts to cash in on a another clone of their own games.

There are a few differences in gameplay though, and if you’re one for interesting graphic styles and regular changes of scene, you may prefer Death Dome over any other titles that it has been inspired by.

Story and Environment

So, here’s the basis of the story. A virus has run rampant through the city causing many to die within days, but there are some the lucky ones. Others have fallen victim to the ‘M’ virus, causing mutations to spread through their body. The infected were quarantined off in a bio-dome force field to keep the rest of the plague spreading further than the city. Ironically the no-named protagonist finds herself immune to the disease and trapped within the bio-dome along with the violent abominations.

You can tell straight away that Death Dome has been heavily influenced by many other games and has incorporated them into its own rather sparse story. There are cut scenes after each stage giving a little insight into the main character’s motives and the world she lives in, but for the most part, her identity remains a mystery. It’s hard to determine whether the developers left the story mysterious for a real purpose or if they had just ran out of imagination. Either way, the slightly empty story allows us to use our imagination, and there are certainly a lot of concepts in Death Dome to give us a solid feel for the game.

Although Death Dome is heavily-instanced, Griptonite have done a great job to make the game feel a lot less restricted than it truly is. There are plenty of different scenarios to encounter, as well as different background environments and a huge variety of enemies with a nice mix of attack styles.

The level select screen is also displayed on a city map, giving us the idea that our character is travelling to her next location whilst our device loads up the next battle. Most areas also have a small mini-game before an enemy appears, which usually involves tapping areas on the screen for loot and in-game currency.

Equipment and Glu Coins

Don’t get me wrong, Glu mobile has made some brilliant titles, but what always puts me off is their hugely freemium based play schemes, which usually require you to make a purchase of some kind, or download a load of promotional apps. Death Dome is no different here, and just like Blood and Glory, spending in-game cash doesn’t just improve your gameplay, it’s pretty much going to determine whether you win or lose at the game. Without it, gameplay becomes slow and boring, and even if you did manage to keep at 100% health throughout a battle, as the game progresses, enemies become too powerful for our weaker weapons. Buy a weapon from the marketplace, and you’ll suddenly be extremely over-powered and killing enemies becomes much too easy.

I totally understand Glu’s need to create a steady income, but I’d appreciate it a lot more if they balanced out their current system. I definitely have to applaud Glu for the cross-game currency though; if you buy Glu coins on one game, you’ll be able to spend it on any games within the Glu games list.

Aside from the in-app purchases, the items and equipment in Glu are very appealing, and there’s a good variety of weapons and gear to pick from, so you’re bound to find something you like in-game. Death Dome has some serious looking badass gear, as well as some comical items like over-powered bubble blowers and unearthed stop signs.

Graphics and Audio

Glu have always tried to aim for a professional finish to their games, and it’s no different with Death Dome. The sounds are on par and there is voice acting to accompany the cut scenes too. The character models have been produced to a high standard and the background scenes are beautifully grim and portray the apocalyptic feel of the game to a great extent. The user interface is intuitive and many options are easy to navigate to without going through an unnecessary amount of menus and splash screens.

Summary

Pros:

• Backgrounds and characters are nicely detailed
• Gameplay is easy to pick up
• Lots of equipment and varied enemies
• Different scenes and bosses
• Animated cut scenes

Cons:

• Freemium content is poorly balanced
• Concept has been done before
• The story is a little vague
• Gameplay remains very similar through start to finish

Download Death Dome on Google Play here.

The post Death Dome Game Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

My Dragon

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

Most of the controls involve simply tapping options on screen. Some of the time you are required to swipe to pet your dragon or to train it to do a new trick. Any time swiping is required, a guiding graphic appears on the screen to assist you.

My Dragon starts with a very short tutorial that still leaves much to be learned when it is completed. Coupled with an overcrowded interface, it can take awhile to learn all of the options and things you can do with the dragon pet.

The biggest components of My Dragon are the quests. In unique fashion, the quests are completed by random rolls for collection items. At the end of the quest you keep the items, which are added to critter collections (critters appear daily to give you bonuses after you complete their collection). You must meet certain pre-requisites to do quests, however, which would be your resources.

The resources needed to do quests are energy, happiness, and stash points (costume points). You feed your dragon to increase energy, play with him to increase happiness, and purchase costumes to increase stash points. That seems easy enough, but resources deplete rather quickly and currency runs out even faster.

Very early on in the game you are encouraged to buy currency and items with real money. The other currency, dragon scales, are earned regularly. You can also use hearts, which are earned by visiting friends’ dragons, to purchase costumes.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

My Dragon does provide nice visuals which is to be expected from Glu Mobile. The environment, dragons, and costumes are colorful and bright.

The sound of the game is most entertaining with the medieval style music and the cute sounds of the baby dragon.

PROS

• Unique questing style
• Dressing up a dragon in silly costumes

CONS

• Very limited game play time before the necessity to buy currency with real money kicks in
• Crowded and confusing interface

The fact that My Dragon is a free app, I understand the necessity of relying on micro transaction purchases to fund the developer. I cannot shake how early you are pressed into buying currency and items, though. My Dragon is clearly a game geared for children, and that makes me feel even more uncomfortable with how soon micro transactions are encouraged. The crowded and confusing interface, even after completing the tutorial, can make it difficult to understand, as well.

Overall, the game has many flaws. While you can play without purchasing anything, you really only get about ten minutes of game time before you run out of resources. That is OK, if you like that, but I would rather not have a game taking up space on my phone for just ten minutes a day.

Download My Dragon here for iOS

The post My Dragon Review for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The biggest difference between Legend and the first Blood and Glory game is the addition of a storyline. You are the gladiator, battling through the arena to reach and defeat the Emperor in battle. Follow the story with stylized comic strips between each tournament.

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

Defeat each enemy with swipes and taps using well-timed potions and attack combos. One of the keys to winning a battle is knowing when to block, parry or dodge attacks because you have a limited amount of blocks. The opponents are not target dummies; each has strategies of their own that you must learn to defeat them. Thankfully, the response time in-game of your taps and swipes is very accurate, so do not worry when you decide to block last minute rather than dodge.

At the end of each winning battle, you gain coins and experience that increases your level and your ability to purchase items from the store. Coins and rubies are used to purchase gear. Rubies are the hardest currency to obtain; you can only get them via daily bonuses, free offers or buying with real money. With each level you gain skill points which you use to increase your attack, block and health points.

The difficulty of the game increases exponentially around the fourth to fifth tournament. This is where I started to use up all of my resources and even used some of the free offers (such as “liking” Glu Mobile on Facebook) to get more rubies. Sadly, however, your opponents’ health is way higher and they are much stronger; you are no longer earning enough experience of currency to keep up. While it is possible to defeat the game without spending money, it would require daily dedication to acquire the daily bonuses and repeatedly defeating enemies you already defeated.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

One of the main draws to Blood  Glory Legend is the astounding graphics. The detailed textures are clearly seen in high resolution on an iPhone. The fluidity of movement in your gladiator and the opponent bring you closer to the battle. To top it all off, the battle music and cheers of the crowd makes you feel like you are in the center of the arena.

PROS

• Amazing high resolution graphics
• Encouraged to use all learned skills
• Encouraged balance attack, block and health point gains

CONS

• “Pay-to-win” is very apparent, almost forced unless you can dedicate a lot of time and patience

Overall, the game is great to look at and fun. I was tempted on more than one occasion to buy currency with real money, which is a testament to how drawn in you become in Blood and Glory Legend. I understand that the game is great for a free game, and the developer needs to finance the game and future games, the feeling like you have to use real money to progress cannot be ignored.

Download Blood and Glory Legend here for your iOS device.

The post Blood and Glory Legend Review for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.