The free iPhone game trawler report: we dive into a Lite pool with Rock Band, Call of Duty, and Labyrinth 2
26th January, 2010
Last week, we tried our best to supply you with as many full free games as possible, but we’ve gone completely the other way this week. The Lite brigade is back in force, but each one is a real winner.
We see the return of a couple of App Store originals with Labyrinth 2 and Heavy Mach 2 alongside some free slices of console gaming gold with Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies and Rock Band.
So before you start complaining that you want your full freebies, why not try downloading a couple of this week’s picks - a good demo is always better than a rubbish full game after all.
If you don’t believe us, try out Rage Game. It’s, erm, special. We love it when small indie developers come up with someone a little off-kilter, but that thing is something else. We’ll see you next week.
Labyrinth 2 Lite
By Illusion Labs
Type Demo
Wooden maze games have been around since the very early days of the App Store, but Labyrinth remains the one we remember the most. Its excellent, Gold Award-winning sequel has just got its own Lite version.
Labyrinth 2 Lite includes two sets of levels for you to try out, based around two different difficulty notches. If you’re not familiar with the series, you use the iPhone accelerometer to navigate a metal ball around a maze, complete with obstacles and holes.
It takes some practice and a very steady hand, but there are enough levels on offer here for you to get a taste of how Labyrinth 2 rolls.
By IndieApps
Type Demo When game sequels come out, we usually expect them to be little more than tarted-up versions of their predecessors. Heavy Mach 2 is very different from the original Heavy Mach, though - apart from the continued mechanised carnage, of course.
The original Heavy Mach was a side-scrolling blaster, but the sequel sees you looking onto the action from above, and with a slightly less direct command-based control method. However, our own Spanner Spencer thinks that the game is well worth a look.
This demo version gives you a side portion of twisted metal, while the full version is available for £1.79.
By Digital Chocolate
Type Demo 'Battleship' or 'Battleships'? That is the question. Most know the classic boardgame as the latter, but in truth the former is the official name - remember this and feel smug when you next get to correct someone when they call the game ‘Battleships’.
Pirate Ship Battles is roughly based on this classic game, but it’s neither smug nor stuffy.
You’re a pirate, left to sail the seas, taking over towns and plundering other ships. Each battle takes place as a game of Battleship - you and your opponent place your ships and then take it in turns to blast away at each other.
This Lite version lets you take part in a battle against a pirate or town. Moving your ship around the map is a bit tricky, but it may well grab you, hook, line, and sinker.
Space Invaders Infinity Gene Lite
By Taito
Type Demo
Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a bit like the dream you may have had after playing the original Space Invaders back in 1978.
It’s essentially an insane version of the arcade classic, pulled out of its retro constraints while remaining still very much like the original in many core respects.
This Lite version gives you a perilously brief glimpse into the full game, with just a couple of fast-paced stages included, but it’s enough to get your pupils dilated and make you check that no-one’s slipped something ‘funny’ in your tea.
Controlling it is perfectly simple, though. You just move your finger around the touchscreen to get your ship darting around the place.
By EA
Type Demo Raise those devil horns, rock fans - you can now rock out for free with Rock Band Free. The game needs no introduction, but just in case, you tap away to a song, playing either drums, guitar, bass or singing.
The one free song included is a good one, too - Foo Fighters’s 'Learn to Fly'. You can select between the instruments and difficulty levels, so as long as you’re a Foo Fighters fan this freebie will keep you rocking.
The full version features 26 well-known tracks, but will also set you back £3.99. Check out Tracy’s review for more on the game.
By Activision
Type Demo If the world was to end in a zombie apocalypse rather than through extreme climate change or nuclear war, it would be scary, but it’d be pretty cool. I mean, zombies! Activision’s second iPhone game was Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies, and now the publisher has released a free version. It’s essentially Call of Duty meets Resident Evil - you’re a solider battling against ever-increasing numbers of zombies.
It’s simple, but makes for one of the scariest iPhone games yet. This free version lets you play the first handful of zombie waves.
If this one doesn’t get you quaking in your booties, there’s a good chance that you’re a zombie yourself. Check your pulse.
By Rafael Pacheco
Type Full What on earth were they thinking? The word 'odd' doesn’t get close to touching on how weird Rage Game is. Words cannot describe the baffling experience this title offers, but here’s how we imagine the developer might describe it:
“You’re, like, a dude and then there are these other dudes that come on the screen and they’re like totally pissed with you. But you’re totally pissed too so that’s cool. You like bend your phone and then your guy turns, but it’s a bit slower because he’s like sooo pissed off.
"When the other pissed off guys get close you totally have to whack them with taps. He can punch pretty far, but not so far. Then there’s game B, which is a bit different, but we don’t know quite how yet LOL. “
