New releases round-up: Dead Ahead, Quell Memento, Bam fu, and more
Hands-on impressions of this week's noteworthy new iOS games
Every Thursday, we take time out to look at the week's new and noteworthy iOS games in both words and video.
In terms of standout games this week, I think we should look to Squids developer The Game Bakers for its touch-friendly brawler Combo Crew, and Ripstone for the rampantly childish Men's Room Mayhem.
But there are also stylish puzzlers, a local multiplayer game that will end friendships, a poker game with robots, and about 17,000 games with zombies in them. New ideas, please, Mr Video Games Industry.
Anyway. Enough talk. Watch the video, then read on for prices, pictures, and App Store links.
Dead Ahead
By Mobirate - iPhone, iPad (Free)
Dead Ahead ticks almost every box on the 'generic iOS game' checklist.
Zombies? Yep. Endless-runner? Definitely. In-app purchases? Of course. Published by Chillingo? Who else.
But what Mobirate lacks in ambition, it makes up for in style. Dead Ahead has excellent pixel-art and juicy retro-style effects. Sadly, the actual game gets a bit rote and repetitive after just a few goes.
Quell Memento
By Fallen Tree Games - iPhone, iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)
Quell Memento is a smart and sophisticated little puzzle game. You slide these bubbles about the level with the aim of collecting all the pearls or turning on all the lights. We've seen it all before, sure, but there are enough fresh twists to keep you occupied.
What's really noteworthy about this game, however, is the way in which the dev has tied in an affecting story about love, loss, and regret. You're effectively sorting through the jumbled memories of an old man as you play, unearthing subtle hints about his life story. Interesting stuff.
The Tapping Dead
By Crazy Cricket - iPhone, iPad (Free)
The Tapping Dead is a lot like Relic Rush from earlier this year. So, once again, your little pixel-art hero dashes through the level of his own volition, and you can tap the screen to make him stop.
It's nowhere near as endearing as Jason Pickering's cute stop-and-start adventure, though. Enemies disappear off-screen, for example, which makes it hard to time your movements. And the in-app purchases are just plain wretched.
Zombie Fish Tank
By aideMMedia - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
More zombie nonsense from Chillingo now...
Zombie Fish Tank is Xbox Live Arcade's Feeding Frenzy with an undead makeover. In each level, you have to eat critters lower down the food chain so you can bulk up and munch on larger fish.
I found this one more frustrating than fun. The noisy background images make it tough to see what's going on, and the giant foreground art conceals the action even further.
Couple that with unforgiving one-hit deaths and you'll be dunking your iPhone in an aquarium in no time.
Combo Crew
By The Game Bakers - iPhone, iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)
Combo Crew is an old skool arcade brawler, but with fresh controls that suit the touchscreen. You swipe to attack, hold to break an opponent's dodge, use two fingers to unleash combos, and the like.
This control setup feels good and kicks the crap out of a virtual D-pad. But it does lose some sophistication in the process. To launch a counter-attack, for example, you just tap the screen. Anywhere on the screen.
Still, it looks lovely and is packed with content. It really opens up when you go multiplayer and invite some pals to swap scores and help you out when you're knocked out. It even works across iOS and Android, which is a nice touch.
Poker Night 2
By Telltale - iPhone, iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)
In Poker Night 2, you become the fifth player in a Texas hold 'em poker game. Your opponents are the likes of Evil Dead hero Ash, Borderlands robot Claptrap, and detective dog, Sam. Oh, and GLaDOS from Portal is your dealer.
The poker isn't great - the AI is endlessly buffoonish. The real entertainment is supposed to be derived from the quips and anecdotes of your opponents. Sadly, Telltale has never been a top-class comedian, and Ash without Bruce Campbell is sort of missing the point.
Men's Room Mayhem
By Sawfly Studios - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
This feels like a game that could only be made in Britain. Or possibly Japan.
Men's Room Mayhem is a line-drawing time-management game in the vein of Flight Control. Instead of guiding a jumbo jet onto an airstrip, though, you're guiding a drunk man into a toilet cubicle.
You'll have to sort out your pee-ers from your poo-ers, make sure every single one of them washes his hands, ensure no one gets caught short, maintain bathroom etiquette, and get the toilets cleaned between waves.
It's good fun, and wondrously silly. A great buy for a buck.
Call of Mini: DinoHunter
By Triniti Interactive - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
In the latest Call of Mini game, you fight your way through waves of extinct lizards. All told, it's a simple and rather tepid third-person shooter. DinoHunter is all about the grind, as you work your way through better gear and skills.
It's got a lot of stuff - including 24 boss fights, 32 types of dinosaur, and 50 quests - but not a whole lot of heart. Nice graphics, though.
Bam fu
By Game Oven - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)
Bam fu is another local multiplayer game from Game Oven, a.k.a. the team that dreamt up the uncomfortably cosy Fingle on iPad.
This time around, though, all players (two, three, or four) are trying to makes all pebbles their colour by tapping.
The game is as simple as you could possibly imagine. It's down to you and your pals to make your own fun by wrestling over the device, shoving fingers out of the way, covering up contested spots with your palm, and getting into all-out fist fights.
Blip Blup
By ustwo - iPhone, iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)
Blip Blup is an achingly cool puzzler from hip Shoreditch design firm ustwo (upper-case letters are for nerds).
The idea is simple: each tap spills out paint in eight directions. You've got to fill in every grid space with as few taps as possible.
It's well made, bursting with content, and contains new ideas at every turn. But I found the underlying game to be a bit dull, and no swish Letterpress-like art is going to fix that.
