Zombie Infection HD tries to follow the path 
set by classic zombie survival games like Resident Evil 4, but it falls far short. The graphics are middling, at best. The story is ridiculous. And the zombies really aren’t that scary. The game also features some sloppy programming — like when zombies crawl through the middle of a roof, instead of up the side of a building. The controls aren’t intuitive and don’t react fast enough for a game in this genre. For 99 cents, it might be worth it for fans of zombie films. For anything more, though, it’s not worth it for anyone.
Tag Archives: iPad
App review: Face2Face
Face2Face does a good job of compiling a user’s varied 
social networking sites, but it goes a step too far by allowing friends of friends to know users’ general location. A privacy setting in the app’s upper right hand corner can make users invisible to people they’re not already connected with, but it’s not blatantly obvious and will likely be overlooked by many users. It’s reassuring that the app only gives general proximity, but that could still hit a little too close to some people’s comfort zones. While you can make yourself invisible to the world at large or specific individuals, you’ll have to regularly check the app to know if that’s necessary.
Power users of social networks might love the chance to meet friends and make new ones, but parents might want teens to sit this one out.
App review: ABC Maze
Learning how to string together letters to form 
words is tricky — and ABC Maze is a good tool to help kids learn to do so. The biggest challenge for some players will be having the motor skills to use the internal gyroscope to make the ball go where they want it to. While none of the mazes is punishing, some are harder than others. The game offers visual and audible rewards when a puzzle is solved, which encourages kids to keep playing. $1.99 is a bit steep for the app, though. It’s definitely wise to download the lite version and see if your child will enjoy it first.
Read more at Common Sense Media
App review: Josh & Emma Go to the Beach
Josh & Emma Go to the Beach means well, but when
judged on its educational aspects, it falls a bit short. There are plenty of less expensive (and free) apps that teach just as much or more. The graphics that accompany the story are nice, but children aren’t likely to be engaged more than one or two times. At a lower price, Josh & Emma might be worth a look, but if you’re searching for an app that will keep your children’s attention and teach them something more than the most rudimentary skills, you can do better.
App review: Medieval HD
Tower defense games — titles that have you defend 
a position against a seemingly never-ending stream of enemies — have been around for a while and they’re often very similar. Medieval HD adds a few new bells and whistles to the genre. The addition of ground troops is a welcome one, but they’re not particularly well integrated into the game. It’s easier and cheaper to buy powerful, infinite weapons and deal with the marauders from atop the castle. There are also a variety of ways to earn bonuses, ranging from the method you choose to shoot your weapon (i.e. pull the bow back vs. simply tapping the screen). Ultimately, this is a fun game, but one that’s best played in short doses.
App review: Flashcards Puzzles – ABC & Numbers
Flashcards Puzzles – ABC & Numbers makes learning 
fun for toddlers and has remedied the biggest flaw in the app’s initial release. (The first version didn’t read the letters aloud, so kids playing alone didn’t get the full educational effect of the game.) With that corrected, it’s a terrific learning tool that blends problem-solving with an introduction to letters and numbers that’s fun for kids to use themselves — or with a parent. On the easy level, kids rearrange 3-4 rectangular pieces to complete the flashcard, and on the harder level, they work with 5-6 pieces.
App review: Jaws
As a film, Jaws was a masterpiece of its time. As an app, it’s a bit 
toothless and, frankly, boring. Playing Roy Scheider’s character of Chief Brody is not particularly exciting — and it’s hard to work up any sympathy for the dozens of swimmers who stay in the water after the shark attacks. Less than perfect onscreen controls make the game even more exasperating.
The fun of Jaws is Bruce the shark. And you never get to play as him. While there is plenty of diversity in the levels, none are particularly engaging. The developers did do one thing perfectly, though: They made certain that the classic Jaws music plays heavily into the game — acting as an audible clue for players.
App review: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD
While Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars HD is absolutely not 
a game you want children to play, it’s a very good game for adult action fans. The world is lush and filled with interesting characters and has over 50 challenging missions. Like most GTA games, it’s filled with sidequests that extend the amount of playable hours considerably. An iPhone version of the game has been available for a while – but the graphics are notably better on the iPad version. This is, arguably, the best looking version of the game to date. (It has also been published for the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.) Players can also use any iTunes music they have on the iPad as one of the in-game radio stations whenever they’re driving in the game. Even better, the iPad version does not charge extra for these features.
App review: InCrowd
InCrowd is a useful social media tool that hopes to make use of 
Facebook’s new Places functionality, but it faces an uphill climb. Foursquare is the reigning king of the location-based app hill and users of that platform don’t have a lot of reason to make a change. On its own merits, though, InCrowd is a different enough take that it will likely find a substantial audience. Its clever use of rewarding players who constantly check in and penalizing people who don’t (you lose popularity points if you don’t check in at least once per day) makes it a compelling game. Also, users can have fun customizing their avatars. Figuring out how to post your location is incredibly easy and user reviews and comments about those venues can act as a good filter. For example, if you’re unsure about a restaurant, you can quickly access the thoughts and experiences of people who have been there — both friends and strangers (though there are more established ways to do that, as well).
Apple Declares War on Nintendo, Sony Over Video Games
Apple might have shined its spotlight 
Wednesday on Apple TV and the new iPods, but at the same time, it had a clear message for the video game industry: We’re coming for you—and it’s going to be an ugly fight.
Over the course of the past three years, Apple has stumbled into a powerful position in the gaming world. The iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad were never designed as gaming platforms, but the app explosion that followed opened up the world of mobile gaming —and now the Cupertino-based company seems ready to capitalize on that.
Chris Morris: Journalist 