Robot Alliance

Robot Alliance

Simulator robot games for mobile are rare. Very few java games, are capable of putting gamers into a realistic feel of a cockpit, commanding a robot and firing at other mechs. PC games such Mechwarrior and Heavy Gear, have proved that futuristic robotic warfare can be extremely successful. But those are computer games, equipped with high end graphic cards, processor speed and memory. How on earth will such a game ever debut on mobile? It was every gamer’s dream. And it’s now a reality! Come in Robot Alliance, another game developed by Fishlabs and powered by the Abyss engine. Robot Alliance brings cockpit command from the console direct to your mobile!

Basically, it would seem there’s two rival robot factions fighting over control of the planet. The game features two types of gameplay, single player, and multiplayer. Missions in single player puts you in command of a robot, first person view, and your objectives include destroying certain targets, protecting targets, and even the simple ‘destroy anything that moves’ mission. You’re also given a variety of weapons to wield, though these weapons will have to be acquired from the field of battle itself. The multiplayer feature puts you on a planet that is being contested for control. You can choose to join either factions. What was disappointing here, was this reviewer expected to be battling other players, which would be really really cool. Instead, it’s the single player missions all over again! The only difference, is that winning or losing the same missions will have an impact of the sectors that are being fought for. For example, fighting for a certain sector, is a mission of ‘destroy all enemy units’. Winning the mission, will help your faction gain more control of that sector, while losing will give the enemy faction bigger influence there. Hence, players never really come into contact with other players. Each player is simply trying to help the faction gain influence.

For graphics and sound effects, Robot Alliance stands out by a mile, compared to all the futuristic first robot shooters out there. With great laser effects, animation and detail, one can’t help but say, “wow, I never knew java games could do this”. Especially interesting is the way robots fall when they are destroyed, as well as the way they move. It’s obvious that much detail has been put into it to make it seem realistic. As for sound effects and music, Robot Alliance does well here too. With qualities that rival even the best console games, Robot Alliance certainly impresses.

However, the replayability of Robot Alliance suffers badly. There isn’t any clear storyline during the missions, and the multiplayer is mode is simply playing the single player missions again and again. It gets old, and boring very, very fast. Robot Alliance could have been so much better, if players could duel with each other over Bluetooth, or there should be an area mode for instant action. Controls are complicated and gets some getting used to, so the game wouldn’t be simply a game of attrition if there was a duel, but a game of piloting skills as well, as players struggle to strafe and at the same time keep a bead on the opponent. Unfortunately, Robot Alliance lacks all this, and hence, keeping it from totally stealing the throne for ‘best robotic futuristic first person shooter’

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Splinter Cell - Double Agent

Splinter Cell - Double Agent

Has Sam Fisher gone bad? Or was he bad already?

Splinter Cell - Double Agent is the latest instalment of Sam Fisher's campaign to be the next Steven Seagal. Of course there can only be one Steven Seagal which is probably a good thing.

The game has a plot about Sam infilitrating a terrorist crew but first you have to break the leader out of prison to gain his trust. The plot advances a bit but probably not as much as the console version I would imagine. The graphics are very slick for a mobile and even though the game is 2D it has a lot of lighting effects and some very cool moves in there. There are quite a few different areas as well so the backgrounds look nice. Sound is ok with a nice tune when you load the game and some small sound effects in the game which is surprising for a Gameloft game. I was playing on a K600 which is a mid range handset and I know there are some decent sounds in the higher range handsets like some speech thrown in there.

The controls are pretty simple but the in game hints will help you out if you need it. Pressing 5 will strangle people and shoot, down is crouch and up will jump and hide in places. You can press zero to aim and then fire a gun and when you're hanging from a platform, pressing 5 will grab the person and drop them to the ground. Easy peasy and you're basically told what to do.

The game plays well with quite a few different levels. You have the prison levels which involve opening doors and sticking to the shadows, but there's not that many doorways or chances for silent kills. The action changes later on and on some levels you are swimming around with scuba gear and shooting mini harpoons. Very James Bond and a welcome change even if the levels are a little simple (not as much sneaking equals not as much fun). In addition you have some mines to avoid and a bloody great big shark. All well and good, but what's not so good? Well, the game has different difficulty settings which is great, but at times it can feel a little paint by numbers. What I mean is that there's not a lot of freedom and you often get the feel that this is a side scrolling platform game, dressed as a stealth game. The stealth mode is good, but it will only add to your score and not change the progress of the game or the plot / ending. There are medals to collect, but again I think these just influence the score. If you want to spend ages on a level without being seen at all then that's great, but if you don't mind too much, once you're spotted you just have to hide in the shadows until the alarm goes off.

There are some really nice cut scenes which look pretty decent so the whole game has the feel of a movie. They are suspenseful at first, although don't change regardless of level so it's the same on easy and normal. The levels allow you to restart from where you left off and after you complete a level you can play it again if you like. The other levels are suitably different but again, there doesn't appear to be that much change between difficulty levels, apart from the fact that you can't get caught as many times on normal mode. The variety of moves is very well done, but the levels lead you through the game far to easily.

I know that on the high end handsets, the game really does look and play great so definitely worth a look if you have one of these. Otherwise, the game is good and slick in style but not as much substance as you may expect.

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Ghost Recon 2: Advanced Warfighter

Ghost Recon 2: Advanced Warfighter

The year is 2014 and elite soldiers are more important than ever before. The U.S. border is being threatened by Mexican rebels and a large-scale attack could endanger millions of civilians. As Captain Mitchell, leader of the U.S. Military Special Forces Ghost Unit, you have 72 hours to lead your team to victory and stop the rebels in their tracks.

Upon first booting up G.R.A.W. 2 and jumping into the game, it may evoke memories of the 8-bit Metal Gears of yesteryear. This is good. Upon actually playing the game, though, it will start channeling memories of Tomb Raider. This is not so good.

You play as Captain Mitchell, charged with quelling a Mexican terrorist insurgency. The plot details are largely nominal and don't really alter the objectives of the core gameplay, namely, wasting as many terrorists as you can. This is where the "strategy" comes in; instead of running through the level frenetically shooting everything that moves, you are required to utilize shadows and cover to protect yourself and achieve your objectives in the most efficient way possible. Granted, 90% of the time, this involves ducking under a barricade, waiting until your enemy wastes his entire clip shooting over you, and then popping out and killing him while he reloads. Nobody said they were particularly smart terrorists.

My biggest grievance (and comparison to Tomb Raider) lies in the trial-and-error gameplay. It is this mechanic that lengthens the game, and though the checkpoint system makes it a little more palatable, it's still exceedingly cheap to walk through an open space only to be abruptly run over by a tank. Of course, you'll know to avoid it next time, but the constant two-steps-forward-one-step-back pacing is frustrating.

The game does look sharp and the sound is competent (the music in the menus is excellent, but gives way to pretty spartan gun effects in the game). It controls just about as well as you could expect a mobile game to control, but it's definitely a two-handed affair, so don't expect to be too effective if you're in a pull out and play mood while standing and holding on to the support on the train.

It can be genuinely entertaining for a while, and it does try to vary gameplay from time to time. All in all, it is a good diversion, but it's a little too ambitious without the matter to flesh it out.

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