Mobile Game Review: BloodLand

The Ingress

Zombies! Either you love them or hate them. They've been around for a while, but the zombie genre has really been growing in the last decade. So it was a real please to find a monetized zombie game called BloodLand popping up in the Google Play Store. Now this made my day! Nothing like blowing off a little steam by blasting the un out of the undead. So this free little gem gets its justice and time in the Triforce lime light.

A Tale to Be Told?

The game is basic in its story. You're the last person alive so far as you know. The undead are moaning for your flesh and you must survive. Armed with your boom sticks you must fend off the walking dead or die trying. Nothing much beyond that.

Graphics

The game play is a high third-person prospective. Much like Dungeon Siege or Diablo series, you see things from high up and at an angle. This can limit your viability on walkers that lurk behind items. That being said, the graphics aren't half bad. They aren't extremely detailed, but I'm not complaining. Based off of the credits this appears to be a game that wasn't designed by a big company but rather a few guys in a home office. And honestly, the graphics isn't really the reason to play the game. Those are just a bonus.

Controls

This game has the typical touch screen d-pad setup. Left for movement, right for aiming. The thing that makes the right d-pad different is it also controls firing. Rather than auto fire or a trigger button you have to drag the d-pad to an extreme direction to get your character to shoot. This makes for very quick finger fatigue. I hooked up my PS3 remote in hopes this would solve the problem but no joy. The game does not support controllers. Playing on the Transformer Prime wasn't so bad, but on a phone screen it was a bit cramped. Looking at reviews in the Google Play Store there were a lot of people who complained about the fire controls not being responsive. I think this has more to do with how it is set up more than anything. The d-pads are both static. Unlike other d-pads that are based on where you place your finger, either you place your finger on the required d-pad or not. If the developers were to ask how to solve this I would suggest making it so the movement d-pad is the left half of the screen and the aim/view d-pad is the right side with a fire button on that part of the screen. The d-pad setup in my mind is one of the biggest minuses to this game.

Game Play

Likes:

The zombies! There isn't just one type. You have shufflers, you have walkers, fast walkers, runners, jumpers and some sort that throws glowing ball things. The variety really does the game a lot of justice! 

The environments are varied as well. The buildings, barriers and cars can help and hinder both you and the undead alike. 

The weapons are varied as well. There is a 9mm, 7.62 (I can only assume they mean 7.62x39mm since it looks like an AK-47), a flame thrower, 12 gauge and .338. On top of this there is a melee attack you can use if you need to. I would suggest holding the melee for when you are swarmed and have no other choice though. All have their positives and negatives, but the balance of what each weapon can do is well though out. They all require reloading and that is done automatically. I actually like this feature because it adds a sense of realism to the game play.

The power up crates. It would be better to call them traps really, but these big crates unleash different types of destruction on zombies close to it. They are activated by moving your character into them. They are nice to have for when you are getting swarmed.

Dislikes: 

How I feel about the
character movement.

The character's movements seem sluggish. Almost like he is running in water. I think this may be due to the exaggerated movements of the character, but either way it throws me off even after playing it for a while.  

Stupid weapon box!

The weapons swapping system is the strangest I have ever seen. Rather than giving you the option to collect the weapons and swap between then when you want it works like this. If you walk over a weapons box you lose the previous weapon. But there is no way you can tell what is in the weapons box so if you would rather keep the 12 gauge but you get the flame thrower you are stuck with it until another box is dropped when you kill a zombie. It's annoying to the max. I wouldn't care if you only started with one weapon each level but at least let me switch to the weapon I feel I need. Even if they only allowed me to carry two weapons, it would be preferable to the current set up. Still, this does make game play more interesting, all be it frustrating.

Money? You earn it with kills and power up boxes. Why? You don't need money if your the last one alive and there is nothing I can use it for. There wasn't any store of option to spend it. I don't see the point of it. 

Game Modes

You have the option of playing Quests, Rush and Survive. You can play how you want when you want.

Maturity Rating:

This game is rated as PG-13 ( Parental Guidance for ages under 13). It contains gun use and violence. The level of gore is very minimal. There is no mature language or sexual content.

Egress

As previously mentioned, the Android version of the game is free through the Google Play Store. The iOS version of the game is free through iTunes. If dealing with the odd advertisement is something you just can't handle then you can spend $1.25 to remove the adds or spend $1.99 to remove the adds and unlock some other features. Both are in app purchases so you don't loose any of your progress by having to download a premium version. Either way you have the opportunity to try this game for free before you have to drop any of your hard earned cash on it.

Looking at the game as it exists at this moment I can't help but give it 1 2/3 our of 3 Triforce. The game is a great one, but there are some things that are lacking in it. When it is updated I may revisit it to see if these issues are resolved, but until then the rating stands. That being said, all you risk in playing the game is time so give it a shot. You may just enjoy putting the dead in their place. Until next time, this is Justice signing off.

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Mobile Game Review: Mass Effect Infiltrator for Android

Mass Effect Infiltrator for Android reviewed on the Transformer Prime.

Introduction

Mass Effect Infiltrator is a third person shooter which was released for Android and iOS. Despite the less than stellar ending of Mass Effect 3, this mobile game Prequel is well worth the $6.99 it cost to buy it, either for it's own sake, or as an addition to the aforementioned game. You have to hand it to the developers, they did a good job in the game play and a decent job on the story. I was a little disappointed to find the game did not have an option for me to use my PS3 controller, but the way they programmed the game to work with the touch screen interface assuaged me of my disappointment very quickly.

Background & Cross Platform Integration

In this prequel, you play the part of Randall Ezno, a Cerberus agent. You start by being dropped on a planet to retrieve intel. Intel is an important thing in this game because the intel you collect can be used for one of two things. You can either cash that intel in for credits that you can redeem for weapons and equipment upgrades or you can apply them towards your Galactic Readiness Rating in Mass Effect 3. The thing I liked about the game is it wasn't just one or the other. Each time you go to the store to redeem your intel you have a choice. What is more, once you have completed the main game for Infiltrator, you'll improve a War Asset in Mass Effect 3. How you connect the two games is through Origin Mobile, which EA games has recently created to replace the EA Master accounts. I got a registration email saying that EA is working to integrate Origin into more of their titles, so this means more fun for cross platform gaming!

Game Play

But on to the game play. Unlike with other mobile games I have played with the touch screen interface, Infiltrator was impressive. At no point did my fingers get tired from being pressed into an unyielding touchscreen surface. To the contrary, I had a hard time putting the game down once I got use to the control methods. Oh, and the best bit! You can play the game according to your own style. It isn't just a duck and fire from cover game. Granted, there were points where I had to do that to get to the next level, but the game was designed to allow you to choose your own style and feel. The upgrade options go nicely with that feel.

To control the game, the left hand side of the screen is for movement and the right is for view. The feel of the game is very zippy when I played it with the Transformer Prime. If you want the game to be more or less sensitive to your touch, you can customize that in the settings as well as add Inverted Y control and a few other goodies. I turned on the subtitles to I could play with low sound so as not to disturb my wife.

Sniper Rifle

The blue brackets tell you your target options.

The aiming and firing is automatic. At first I had misgivings about that. You tap the enemy and the aim tracks onto them. But they don't make it completely auto. You still have fine aiming control which you manage with your right hand. As the game play progressed, I couldn't help but appreciate that added feature since it meant I spent more time focusing on the game and less on trying to hit the stupid enemy like in other mobile games like Shadow Gun or Modern Combat 3. The auto fire is obnoxious when you get your weapons more upgraded because cancelling a shot before the clip is out involves having to switch weapons. Still, over all I would give the game play at least 4 stars because I didn't have to fumble (much) when I was learning the interface and during game play.


Switching weapons and using biotics was a breeze. The cloak function is in the lower right hand corner of the screen in easy reach. The other biotic controls are in the upper left hand corner accessible with an easy swipe down and to the right. The weapons selector was in the opposite right hand corner and accessible with a down and leftward swipe. You get bonuses called Style if you kill multiple enemies with one clip in combo like fashion. The other way to earn style points is to kill each opponent with a different weapon (aside of course for those killed in combos). If you repeatedly kill with the same weapon you loose style points which is a subliminal way of making you switch weapons often and makes the game play more dynamic. You start with a battle rifle and a shotgun. As you earn credits you can upgrade the weapons and add a sniper rifle and beam weapon as well as different biotics, abilities and armors.

Each combat sequence is rated in 3 parts with a potential for 3 stars each. The first is style, which was covered above. The second is Time. The quicker done, the better. The final is Health. A little self explanatory. If you get 3 stars in all 3 areas you are rated Veteran. Get 1 stars in any of the areas and you are rated Soldier. Get 1 star in any of those areas and you are rated Novice. Aside from credit bonuses, you get additional rewards for in Mass Effect 3 if you get the Veteran rating in all levels. You can go back an replay levels at any time and your upgrades are retroactive so you can use those sweet upgrades to kick some serious butt.

Like with Mass Effect 3, you have the option at key points to choose whether to be a Paragon (good) or a Renegade (bad). This influences the game play somewhat.

Bonus Game Play

Once the main game is over, you have the option to play bonus games as an escaped prisoner within the  Cerberus facility in which part of the game is based. Game play is the same as with the other except you don't have the biotics and you start with just a battle rifle and shotgun like the beginning of the main game. The absence of the biotics makes the game all the more interesting and fun.

Maturity Rating

This game is rated PG-13 (Parental Guidance for ages under 13) for gun violence and some mature language. There is not sexual content.

Final Judgement

I have to hand it to EA, they made a winner here. Over all, I give this game 2 2/3 out of 3 Triforce. As mentioned previously, there were some things that were clunky and I feel the story was a bit thrown together, but all in all I would highly recommend this game to anyone with a dual or quad core tablet or phone. I would not suggest trying to play this on anything less since it will not be as smooth. Purchase the game at the Google Play Store for $6.99. Until next time, this is Justice signing out.

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