Fresh Pick – Warp Shift

 

Release Date: May 26, 2016

Spend Cap: $17.99

Monetization Model: Premium. $2.99 for all in-game content. Solutions can be purchased for all 75 puzzles, which would add an additional $15.00 if you bought the cheapest currency bundle fifteen times for every solution.

Are there Ads? No.

Is an Online Connection Required? No! Provided you keep your phone, Warp Shift will be available for you to play for the rest of your life.

Who made it? Fish Labs, also known for Galaxy on Fire 2.

Genre: Puzzle.

Content: Five worlds, fifteen stages.

Awesome Innovation: You’ll fall in love with Pi, the flying heroine that you’re helping guide through puzzles highly reminiscent of Pipedreams. Her idle animations are charming, as are the cut scenes that book end the experience.

For core gamers who love: Pipedreams, Where’s My Water?, Crush

Thoughts: Superb production values induce a zen state, mixing a gently pulsing electric score with pleasingly tactile 3D boxes to manipulate. The hollow boxes hide Pi the fairy, who is trapped until you create an escape route for her by setting the cubes in a specific order. There are multiple solutions to any board, but only one will solution will reward you with three stars. The puzzles increase in difficulty at a reasonable pace; the developers ensure that players never hit brick walls in the early and middle portions of the game. Warp Shift doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s been ages since I’ve played Pipeworks, and this modern variant looks luscious.

Grade: B

Legendary Pick – Implosion: Never Lose Hope

Release Date: April 08, 2015

Spend Cap: $9.99

Monetization Model: Premium. Pay Once and Play. No IAPs.

Are there Ads? No.

Is an online connection required? Nope. This game cannot be sunset, thank goodness!

Who made it? Rayark, who just released another impressive game this week: VOEZ.

Genre: Action.

Content: Four multi-stage Chapters.

Awesome Innovation: Mixing the up-close brawling mechanics of God of War with the twin-stick shooting action of Dead Nation. Like peanut butter and jelly.

For core gamers who love: God of War, Geometry Wars, Dead Nation

Thoughts: This feels like the best Vita game never made. Never Lose Hope is the most impressive core action game on iOS. The game’s hero fights off space demons in a frosty futuristic environment, decked out in a slick looking mech suit. There’s more to the story, but… who cares? Mechs, blasters, and laser swords. That’s all you really need to know. Understanding when to charge, when to hang back and fire off projectiles, and when to roll becomes second nature after a few minutes of play. There is just enough challenge here to keep core players engaged without scaring off consumers less versed in action gameplay.

Never Lose Hope plays like a dream with an MFI controller (I use the GameVice), and the touch controls are surprisingly elegant.

Is it worth $10? Yes, ya cheap git. If you’re reading this, you are the type of person who knows that games are worth paying for, and that $10 is a steal for the prettiest mobile game since Infinity Blade III.

Grade: A- (with MFI controller), B+ (wihout MFI controller)