App of My Eye » Pirates

WarShip

Art — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:57:51 +0000

It was just a couple of years back that pirates were all the rage, right? There was The Pirates of the Carribean trilogy, which consequently got worse with each installment in my opinion outside of the sexy Naomie Harris, who played the character of Tia Dalma as well as the strong willed Selena in Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later… What else was there? Oh yeah, Russell Crowe in Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the updated Sid Meier’s Pirates, and then came casual games, such as Sandlot Games’ Tradewinds franchise, and mobile games from Nokia in High Seize and High Seize: Sea of Fortune. But this was about 5-6 years ago. Now, all we have left is Disney’s Pirates of the Carribean Online and ultra-Christian Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. What’s a fan of pirates to do? First, check out Famous Pirates and the History of Pirates and Piracy at www.piratesinfo.com. Next, after getting into a daring mood, check out Goorusoft’s WarShip for the iPhone and prepare to lose hours out of the day. Quite possibly, you may even lose sleep since the game is really well-made with crisp epic-themed graphics, easy tilt and tap controls, ship upgrades, power-ups, and a simple overall objective: survive and conquer. For gamers of all levels, this is one to keep archived for any occasion. Price: $1.99.

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Aera

Art — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:37:27 +0000

It’s been six years since the release of one of my favorite games on the original Microsoft Xbox. Developed by Microsoft’s FASA Studio, Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge had everything that you would want in a game at the time: highly stylized graphics, an epic setting, a sandbox gameplay environment, easy pick-up and play controls, and online gameplay through Xbox Live, which was still relatively novel for consoles at the time. However, since then, we haven’t heard anything in regards to a sequel and while FASA Studio has closed its doors, the original creators are working on the next Mechwarrior installment as Smith & Tinker in conjunction with Piranha Games. They’ve said they will turn their attention to a Crimson Skies sequel next, but c’mon, really? I mean it’s almost the end of the current generation’s console lifecycle. Therefore, it sounds like we won’t see a sequel until the next generation systems come out. So what should we do until then? I recommend checking out iChrome’s Aera, a simplified flight simulator that features a hybrid 3D/2D side-scrolling gameplay in exceptional retro 1950′s style graphics much like Crimson Skies. Supplemented with 3 types of game modes, such as Aerobatic/Solo, Dog Fight, and Racing, expand your repetoire of moves as you master more advanced controls. Most impressive is the ‘Time Back’ feature which allows you to return to the spot before a crash rather than restarting. Highly recommended as a brief respite from your desire for a Crimson Skies sequel. Price: $2.99.

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Sea Captain

Art — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:14:02 +0000

I’ve always had this fascination with cruises. Perhaps it was because I used to watch The Love Boat and deeply wondered over the years which middle-aged perv would I turn into: That drunkard Doc? Pornstache Isaac The Bartender? Perhaps Gopher, who had puppy dog eyes for any woman that greeted him on the show? Talk about desperate, but not serious! Ah, I may never know and anyway, it’s probably best for others to judge. In any case, at least I can be a pimp like Captain Stubing and pretend to navigate cruise ships to dock in Sea Captain. Created by Curious Toys, the game is a slightly different take on line-drawing time management games like Firemint’s Flight Control, but instead of being set in airspace, it is set in a tricky and congested harbor. As boats enter the harbor, draw lines from their current locations to their designated docks based on color. However, you have to be aware of other ships, which come at different speeds and sizes, as well as the angle you draw their navigation lines so the ships do not hit anything else. Furthermore, as an added wrinkle, with clouds rolling into and out of the environment, using the lighthouse as a guide becomes very important, especially at night. Throw into the mix a dash of icebergs and a pinch of pirates (yes, I said it – PIRATES!), and what you’ll have left is a good visual game with equally good gameplay to back it up. Check it out! Price: 99¢.

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