Braveheart HD might have high aspirations
to mimic some of the great “point and click” role-playing games on the market, but it’s ultimately a one-note game. Enemies charge blindly at you and you mow them down, moving around the screen from time to time to pick up experience, health, or cash. While the game boasts 10 different weapons, there’s very little discernible difference in how they’re used on screen. The interstitial cartoon panels between levels end up being the best part of the game — and that’s not something worth paying for.
Category Archives: Common Sense Media
App review: Infinity Blade
There’s nothing particularly deep about the 
gameplay of Infinity Blade, but the game is a lot of fun to play — and it’s nearly as fun to just look at. The graphics engine powering the app is an offshoot of the one used in Gears of War, making it one of the most advanced on Apple’s systems. Unfortunately, after you’ve played for a while the repetitive nature of the game becomes apparent. While you can choose different weapons and magic powers to battle opponents, you’re still using the same actions. That could prevent some people from finishing the game. That said, there’s something mesmerizing about the simplistic structure of the game that hooks you and fans of action games will likely find themselves playing regularly — even though they recognize the game’s faults. Infinity Blade, in some ways, is an action equivalent of classic quarter-gobbling arcade games. You’re repeating the same motions and actions a lot, but the game is still somehow entertaining enough that you may not mind.
App review: Game Party: In Motion
Family fun titles are the heart and soul 
of Kinect’s early lineup. Game Party in Motion, on the surface, seems to have the right elements to fit in with this, gathering some arcade and boardwalk favorites — but once you start playing, you’ll realize exactly how lousy it is. It has some of the worst controls of any Kinect title, making it impossible to fully enjoy the games. And rather than consistantly relying on people’s natural movements (such as with billiards, where virtually everyone knows how to mimic a shot), it requires an elaborate series of motions that don’t make sense. The menus give you no sense of where your hand is on screen, which can make it hard to navigate. This is one Kinect title you’ll want to avoid.
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App review: PopOut! The Night Before Christmas
Following its charming PopOut! The 
Tale of Peter Rabbit, Loud Crow Interactive turns its talents on this Christmas standard in terrific fashion. Besides being a good story, PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is also a good learning tool. And the pop-up elements are wonderful additions to the story, using sound and movement in terrific fashion. Each page has several interactive elements that encourage poking the screen or tilting the iPad. Finding them is half the fun. The narration and music are festively appropriate and calming (which isn’t a bad thing at this time of year). This is one of the best holiday apps this season.
App review: ROCK BAND Reloaded for iPad
The Rock Band franchise is one of the best in the music
genre and this mobile version keeps the quality level high. The game comes with a deep collection of music — 20 songs are available initially — and finally lets players actually sing the songs, rather than tap the screen along with the lyrics. This “vocal mode” makes the game more immersive (though for tone-deaf players, the tap along option is still available). The game is pretty forgiving with singers, though — not recognizing lyrics and being extremely generous with pitch. The differentiating features of the iPad version (versus the iPhone version) are minimal and don’t really justify the extra $5 in price. It’s a well-made and truly fun game, but you’re just as well off buying the less expensive iPhone version.
App review: Spirits for iPad
There’s something downright charming about 
Spirits for iPad that’s hard to describe. Maybe it’s the unique and gorgeous hand-painted levels. Maybe it’s the cute, whimsical spirits floating in the air. Or, maybe, it’s the soundtrack — that sticks with you long after you play. Whatever it is, this is an app that takes the Lemmings formula (guide a series of creatures who follow in each other’s footprints) and alters it just enough that it seems unique. The game won the Best Aesthetics award at IndieCade — an international juried festival of independent video games — and it’s sure to win your heart too.
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App review: Mad Chad
The first few levels of Mad Chad 
will probably make you smile — as a brief diversion from the day to day. By the time you get halfway through the game, though, you’ll likely be bored, as it hasn’t changed at all from what you started playing. The repetitive elements get old and you quickly realize there’s no real point in collecting the coins you encounter on virtually every level, as they don’t offer any real benefit. This is an average side-scrolling game app, but there are better options available.
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App review: Trucks and Skulls HD
It would be easy to write off Trucks and Skulls HD 
as a clone of Angry Birds, but that would be doing this app a disservice. While the physics-based puzzles are in the same vein — an enemy hides under wood, stone, and other obstacles that you destroy by flinging objects — there’s just enough of a difference that it remains enjoyable. The game is, quite simply, fun. Beating the puzzles gives players a rush, while losing only makes them want to try again (rather than frustrating them). The addition of a level creator is a nice touch that encourages creativity, but sharing the levels you create is a slightly difficult process. (You have to email them to friends, who then must upload them into the game.) Scores can be shared with friends via the iPad’s Game Center functionality.
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App review: Let’s Golf! HD
There aren’t a lot of golf 
gaming options on the iPhone or iPad yet — and Let’s Golf is one of the better ones. It’s good, but not great, and often seems to lift elements directly from Sony’s popular Hot Shots series, rather than taking any chances of its own. It offers plenty of options, though, and will keep casual fans of the greens happy. If you’ve got the iPod/iPhone version of the game, there’s no reason to upgrade, but if not, you won’t regret the $5 spent here.
App review: Rage HD
Rage HD is definitely not an app for children, but 
it is, hands down, the best looking app on the iPad (and iPhone — as a separate version of the same game is also available for other Apple iDevices). Id’s graphics engine was built for the current generation of consoles, and the fact it transitions so smoothly to Apple’s products is a technological achievement. The game itself is a standard “on rails” shooter — where the player only has to worry about aiming, not walking. That prevents you from exploring, which is a bit frustrating, but you’re so busy trying to stay alive that the point quickly becomes moot. While extraordinarily violent, the game also shows a sense of humor, with the Mutant Bash TV host interjecting comments from time to time. It’s not something you want your children to play, but adults who enjoy action games will likely have fun.
Chris Morris: Journalist 