Entries for December 2009

In order to clean house at the end of the year I’ve decided to give quick reviews on two noteworthy games that were released in the last month amid the Christmas rush: Labyrinth 2 by Illusion Labs and Jet Car Stunts by True Axis.   Sometimes a quick play is just what you need to get you through the day and Labyrinth 2 fills that need perfectly.  Jet Car Stunts is a unique racer that pits you against some colorful block tracks in time trials and a stunt mode without making you contend with other racers, upgrades or involving you in a long career.

If you played Driver when  it came out for the Playstation and PC in 1999, your memories are probably bittersweet.  While the physics, pre-GTA open world driving and crazy cops-on-crank made for some fond memories, the difficulty was legendary and sent many a frustrated gamer in search of the latest cheat codes.  Gameloft has ported a complete version of this gaming classic to the Iphone with decreased difficulty and upgraded graphics to give mobile gamers the most fun you can have driving without getting busted.

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. by Gameloft let’s Iphone flight jockeys take to the skies in an exciting high altitude thrill ride through 13 long and involving air/ground combat missions that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.  You’ll get to fly 26 advanced aircraft over real world GeoEye imaged locations from Rio to Washington while being challenged to use all the high-tech weaponry, targeting and flying skills at your disposal to succeed.  You won’t want to eject from this cockpit.

Call of Duty World at War - Zombies by Activision and Treyarch packs more intensity, gore, tension and body parts into one level than I’d ever thought I’d see on a mobile phone.  COD Zombies traps you in a thoroughly convincing 2-story Nazi bunker called Nacht der Untoten lifted directly from the zombie mode of the console blockbuster Call of Duty - World at War and lets you have at it with an onslaught of zombies on your handheld whenever and wherever the mood strikes.

2009 was a watershed year for 3D gaming on the Iphone.  After hinting at its capabilities in 2008, the Iphone exploded with brilliant and immersive 3D games in every category to establish itself as a legitimate gaming platform for on the go entertainment.  The Iphone demonstrated a remarkable ability to handle everything the best developers in the world could throw at it in terms of gorgeous 3D graphics, animation, open game worlds, multiplayer connectivity, tilt and touch controls and fast paced action.  Although I expect some huge releases in the final weeks of the year, these are my choices for the games that have set the bar for 3D gaming on the Iphone as we head into 2010.