TheBigNerdShow

Oh yes, it’s Batman day here at The Big Nerd Show! I played and completed this before I started playing Arkham City on Onlive, in fact I started the game again in the vein of playing against harder enemies and it’s still all very fun but there is something sitting over Batman Arkham City Lockdown. It’s all a bit like Infinity Blade, isn’t it?

Now, there is nothing wrong with the combat in Lockdown but it does play a lot like Infinity Blade (first game) in the main combat. I personally would go one step more and say the main combat is a little watered down when compared to Infinity Blade and I’m sure the development team is fed up of hearing it but it’s what it is.

In the main combat there are gadgets, things like Smoke Bombs that stun the enemy, “Bat Mists” which stun for a brief second and cause some damage over time and I must say that it really adds to the game and the flow of the main bulk of the combat, but (in a shock horror monument) there is more to the game than just the main combat that plays just like Infinity Blade…

There are bosses and they play differently, well for the most part, from the main combat. Two Face uses guns that you have to knock with guided batarangs by tilting the machine and then also uses standard enemies as he isn’t a super villain, not just a mastermind villain. You also have that bastard Solomon Grundy, who is too big for Batman to fight one-on-one so there is a chase and a weird dodge-and-wait for an opening-battle.

The down side to the bosses and to the game overall is there are only 4 bosses. Two-Face, Solomon Grundy, Joker and Deathstroke, that’s it. So the game itself is short and the only issues you’ll have are down to some iffy controls more than the game being that hard. On the plus side the game is made in the Unreal Engine 3, which is the same game engine that powered Arkham City on the Consoles, PC and Onlive. They also have the same voice actors so the game sounds right.

What I don’t understand is why they had to make another Infinity Blade clone, why couldn’t they make a shorter, more compact version of the full game? In Arkham City the combat flows and it’s all about the great timed counters not swiping a screen Fruit Ninja style! I have played better games than this made with both the Unreal Engine 3 and Unity, to be fair that goes to ChAIR and Epic too.

If I’m being honest, the game plays well and it’s fun. I for one enjoy games where you can go forever but that’s not to everyone’s taste. It really does look the part, there is plenty to unlock and if you’re willing to pay a little extra (69p at time of writing) to can unlock and play as one of the many extra skins and some come with their own Game Centre achievement. There are also comics to view and more.

If you’re a massive Batman fan then this game is for you. Your everyday comic book or even DC fan may want to keep away from; the average gamer may also not enjoy the game for that long. When you’re playing it, it’s fun but forgettable.

Score: 72% “I’m Batman!”

(Please Note: There was meant to be screenshots but they have been lost)

First of all I must say this: Damn you Halfbrick! If you do not know, Halfbrick is the team behind the superb iOS game Fruit Ninja that has taken over everything from Android and Kinect. This game is another showing of what simple game design can be and also that Halfbrick isn’t just a one note studio like Angry Bird’s Revio, who also think that they are the new Disney. Yep, you guess it I’m now worried about them.

Jetpack Joyride is just another side scrolling never ending “runner” game, or at least that’s what I believed before I played the game. In fact because I got hooked to games of this type before I chose not to play this game until about a week before writing this review.  It is, but then at the same time it really isn’t and that’s why this game is hard to review and if I had of played this game back in 2011 then it may have had a show-in in the iOS Game of the Year.

The game seeing you stealing a jetpack and then your off on a “run” for the best distance (or high score) with thing’s like rockets and laser in your way and all you have to do is touch the screen to start your jetpack so you can fly up and down the screen to avoid the obstacles in your way and I know that on its own doesn’t sound too fun, however there is so much more to it than that.

First of all there is a level up like system based around missions and these missions range from “High Fiving” Scientists to “near-missing rockets”. These missions can give you between one to three star and each star improves your Rank and yes the ranking system works well until you see that the top rank is called “Barry”…

Next you have the different vehicles that can range from a Teleporter to a Dragon called “Mr Cuddles” and some of these vehicles are just cool. The vehicles play really well into the game’s achievements and can drive you crazy, they also have a habit of speeding up the game quicker than the normal flow, however if you hit an obstacles you don’t die, you just brake the vehicle. It’s a great mechanic and helps the flow of the game and keeps it feeling fresh.

Then you have the in game money, now I must point out that this game is free but you can buy the money. I have never paid for any of the in-game money and nor should you. However I do believe the “Counterfeit Machine” (69p) is worth the money as it does make all the money you make double so you can unlock the games extras like new jetpacks, clothing and upgrades to the vehicles (most of these act like a “hover” for the coins in game). There are some nice little add-ons like “750 meter head start”, which is just as it said but you don’t have to buy these.

The reason why you don’t have to buy these is simple, you can collect special coins that give up a spin on the games slot-machine or they can be turned into 50 coins. The slot machine is my choice every time and the reason why is that you can get some superb bonuses like the head starts, 1,000 coins, “Blasts” (blows your dead body further), 2^nd chances and so on.

So, as you can see this game has a lot going for it, tie that in with a great pixel style graphics and the catchy music, the game forms into a great little package at fewer than 20MB. The background artwork in gameplay, now while it does stay somewhat in the Laboratory setting you do get some changes like underwater scenes and travelling past underground vaults of mass wealth that for some reason may make you feel sick, thinking of how much that could buy you in the in game shop.

There was something that took me back, once I won all the ranks, Barry and all. I was asked by the game if I wanted to reset my rank to zero, nothing and in return I would get a medal, a collectable medal and a 30 point achievement. Of course, being an achievement whore, I went with that choice and netting another 30 points to my Game Centre score.  The achievements, for once, really add to the game. Often you can look at the list and try to work out what Halfbrick was thinking and others are just damn fun to do like Hippy!

I must say that it is hard to find faults with this game; there is some witty humour when you first play the game and sometimes when you click that a Scientist has run into a laser barrier. You also have the high score system based around Game Centre with both Worldwide and between your friends, in fact the start screen has your score and the better of your friends, or if you’re the best; the person closest to you.

The worse problem is that you can get too hooked, I killed 35 minutes of a 45 minute work break on this game and to be fair, I could have been doing other things like paying a bill in that break. Plus there’s the times my wife tries to slap me for spending time on the game than with her. I’m not sure if I can hold that against the game but what I can is that this format is a little played out and this is the best game of this type, so can people stop making this game now? It’s done, over with.

Score: 96% – One of the best games on iTunes for the iPod Touch or iPhone. I just hope that Halfbrick’s next game isn’t a lazy “Jetpack Joyride 2” and I’m sure we can all agree on that!

This is the first time I have written a review for the big nerd show but this isn’t the first game I have ever played.
I am a parent of two so I currently have my hands full and I don’t have much time between being a parent and a gamer, as a teenager and a child I loved playing Game Boy, and old school Nintendo with that I also remember I have to dust down my saga mega drive and play some sonic.
I currently play old school games on my Game Cube and on my iPhone, when the children go to bed.

So the game I am reviewing is called jet pack joyride for the iPhone, from the creators of fruit ninja, half brick.

 (showing some description from the app store)

It’s a side scrolling challenge and the controls are very simple you use one finger, tap it to hover in the game whilest avoiding the obstacles heading your way.

 (one of the more common obstacle in the game the electric fence)

 (collecting a spin token to use in slot machine, whiles in a vehicle upgrade called the stomper)

 (using the jet pack to collect coins)

 (above and below is the slot machine game that appear once you collect the spin token you can either Use them to get extra life or a boost at the start, or trade them in for coins)

You can collect various objects. Including coins, vehicle  upgrades and a slot machine coin that you can use to get bonus items (such as head start and second chance).
With the normal coins you collect you can buy up grades from the stash eg the bubble jet pack or upgrade the vehicles so they become a money magnet

(above shows the start page you can tap the missions button and it then give a list of what you can do during your play through, there’s the stash button which leads to another menu as shown Below)
(from the stashes sub-categories leads to upgrades and your own profile)

The further you travel the faster you get and this presents a challenge visually, as the obstacles seemingly spring up from no where.

 (above lasers appeared and got me, these appear once you get over 1000m)

In the game there isn’t a levelling system like you expect with Pokémon, you get rated stars based on how much you’ve collected in game and how far you’ve traveled etc, instead you get rewarded coins.

 (above: you’re own personal profile which lists the different interesting things done within the game, this reminds me of the grand theft auto lost of activities.)

 (above: these are the achievements you can earn through the game.)

The obstacles are electric barriers (stationary and rotating),  tracking missiles (you will be alerted one is coming via the speech bubble with an explanation mark that turns red on the right of the screen) and lasers that yo have to hover between and not touch.
Hit any of these with out a vehicle upgrade game over.

 (above: the profit bird vehicle upgrade whiles a tracking missile and electric gate appears)

Saving coins to get upgrades is the only down fall to this game there is an option to buy more coins, but I have already paid for this game I dislike in game purchasing for something in the game you can already collect.
As I’ve already said saving coins take a bit of time, I found I always seem to lose concentration and blow myself up or hit an electric line.

 (above: get coins leads people to buy coins for real money the CHEEK!)

This game is great for young and old alike, and I find its great fun all round not pleased with the In-game purchase feature of more coins so parents be aware when lending your phone to you children that this is there.

Other than that it’s a decent game that’ll take your mind off boredom on short trips or short sprees of time.

4 out of 5

Next review is going to be on to-fu &to-fu 2 on iPhone and any other idevice.

Leave your comments below and your impressions of the game too.

Yours inkytheobvious