If you like shooters, you should just get this game.
It’s funny how we frequently get more excited about the simple games than the high profile efforts. In the end, however, it’s all about the gameplay.
John Kooistra’s Defend! [App Store] is a $0.99 iPhone shooter with relatively simple graphics and no sound. The controls of the game, however, are remarkably well suited to the platform and already feels like a “classic” iPhone game.
You are defender of a planet with a population of 6.7 billion people. You job is to fight off an oncoming barrage of enemies. Each enemy that gets past you takes out millions of lives.
Controls are dead simple. You continuously fire straight up, and tilting the iPhone left and right adjusts your aim. The game also cleverly shifts orientation between levels, requiring you to turn your iPhone around or into landscape position. The video shows it best:
Progressive levels are increasingly challenging and provides a good amount of gameplay. Normally, we frown upon games without sound, but for $0.99 and an otherwise fun game, we can overlook it.
App Store Link: Defend!, $0.99
Apple is continuing to recognize the gaming potential of the iPhone and iPod Touch and seems to be increasingly positioning it as a mobile gaming alternative.
Apple’s Vice President of Hardware Product Marketing Greg Joswiak was recently interviewed by Stuff.tv and suggested that there is a lot of potential for iPhone and iPod Touch gaming:
I think you’re going to see a wide variety (of games on the App Store). And they range all the way from casual to big time action games. This is where we are, less than four months into it. Squint your eyes and imagine where we will be in six months time, or a year. The graphics capablity is greater than the DS, we have multitouch, the screen is larger and there’s an accelerometer. And we have the App Store. I think it’s the future of gaming.
Even more significantly, a Wall Street Journal article quotes Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs about the mobile gaming market:
“I think the iPhone and iPod touch may emerge as really viable devices in the mobile games market this holiday season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive and co-founder, in an interview.
The WSJ article reports that over a quarter of the App Store’s 200 million apps distributed were games. A few notable iPhone developers are quoted, but the most revealing quote comes from id Software’s John Carmack who reports that they are working on two iPhone games at this time.
Carmack had previously revealed in July that they were working on one exclusive title for the iPhone, but little has since been heard about the project. id Software is the developer who has been responsible for the Doom and Quake franchises.
Developed by rmbrME - the leading provider of mobile-to-mobile contact exchange, beamME is the first application that enables the iPhone to “beam” vCard contact information to any device, including Blackberries, Treos, Android Phones and non-smartphones. beamME does not require recipients to download any software to get your card when you send it. beamME takes a little over 1 minute to create an account, if you don’t already have one. beamME has a nice, slick User Interface. beamME makes full use of the iPhone’s 3.5 inch touch screen. beamME allows you to send thousands of vCards for free. They never charge. With beamME, it’s easy to advertise to your contacts. beamME is available in the App Store for free, and is definitely not a worthless download. Overall, HawtApps has rated beamME a great 8/10!
We at HawtApps hope to give you guys the best insight on new applications. We have compiled a list of the application reviews that we hope to have up soon, so be sure to stay tuned!
Bootant, who brought us BiiBall, CubeRise and others made a post on TouchArcade pointing out a preview video of their upcoming iPhone application, BiiPlane, an airplane flying game that’s currently under development. You can view the video below, obviously.
Are you looking for a great way to waste some time and have fun with it? Or maybe a Tetris replacement? Or maybe you’re just into having all the latest, coolest iPhone games. Well, whatever the reason, Topple is the choice to go with. Topple is probably one of the most well-designed iPhone / iPod Touch application out there. Topple makes great use of the iPhone / iPod Touch’s gorgeous 3.5 inch touch screen, and uses the accelerometer. The object of Topple is to stack the blocks up to the Goal Line, and then to the Bonus Line if you have enough time. The blocks are very funny, having upset or angry faces until they are placed down. Topple is pretty much like Tetris, in my opinion, but a revamped version.
Using the iPhone / iPod Touch’s accelerometer you can tilt the screen to keep blocks from toppling. The user (you) can drag, rotate and stack the blocks by touching them. Topple has amazing graphics and sound effects. And let’s not forget about the great music Topple has. Topple gives you 10 awesome levels of fun and challenges.
Pros:
Amazing graphics
Good sound FX
Great game-play
Very cheap
Keeps track of your highest stacked block
Very polishedÂ
Uses the iPhone / iPod Touch’s accelerometer
Uses the iPhone / iPod Touch’s touch screen
Cons:
Needs an online high score feature
Needs more levels
Despite those concerns, Topple is still an amazing game. ngmoco, Inc. did an outstanding job and should be patting themselves on the back. Topple is available in the App Store for a measly $0.99, which is underpriced if you ask me. Overall, HawtApps has rated ngmoco’s Topple an outstanding 10/10!
Even though details are scarce right now, CobraMobile’s Low Grav Racer game looks like it’s going to be a huge it when it is released on the App Store!
If you like shooters, you should just get this game.
It’s funny how we frequently get more excited about the simple games than the high profile efforts. In the end, however, it’s all about the gameplay.
John Kooistra’s Defend! [App Store] is a $0.99 iPhone shooter with relatively simple graphics and no sound. The controls of the game, however, are remarkably well suited to the platform and already feels like a “classic” iPhone game.
You are defender of a planet with a population of 6.7 billion people. You job is to fight off an oncoming barrage of enemies. Each enemy that gets past you takes out millions of lives.
Controls are dead simple. You continuously fire straight up, and tilting the iPhone left and right adjusts your aim. The game also cleverly shifts orientation between levels, requiring you to turn your iPhone around or into landscape position. The video shows it best:
Progressive levels are increasingly challenging and provides a good amount of gameplay. Normally, we frown upon games without sound, but for $0.99 and an otherwise fun game, we can overlook it.
App Store Link: Defend!, $0.99 