The iPad launched in the UK last week, and along with it a pile of games ranging from utterly indispensable to complete rubbish. The problem with the App Store is, featured box aside, there’s not really any way to find out what’s worth buying and what should be avoided, so in a selfless display of goodwill, here’s what we think of some of the games available right now.
Plants vs Zombies HD
Online engine: none
Price: £5.99
Probably the best game on the system right now, Popcap’s casual game come good is the perfect example of how to create a game for the iPad, with super sharp, fluid graphics and multitouch the PC versions can only dream of. As a result, Plants vs Zombies HD is pretty much a perfect fit, flawless in its port and, regardless, a fantastic game to boot.
In reality, Plants vs Zombies should never really have worked – it’s tower defense at its most basic, most stripped down and completely linear in scope with the encroaching zombies relentless in their unidirectional assault. But for some reason, about half way through the game’s lengthy campaign, everything just clicks into place and the strategies and tactics come to the forefront.
If you only buy one game for your brand new device, make sure it’s this one. Sure, it’s a wee bit more expensive than the iPhone version but on paper it’s still cheaper than the Windows/Mac versions. Worth buying an iPad for? Of course not, but 100% worth buying once you’ve got one. Score: 10/10.
Angry Birds HD
Online engine: Crystal
Price: £2.99
Angry Birds was one of those games that just ‘worked’ on the iPhone, attracting a serious amount of attention for what is essentially a rather basic game: catapult the eponymous creatures towards some egg-stealing pigs, using a variety of birds for various purposes. It’s a simple game of physics dressed up in glorious colour and cute humour.
The iPad version, then, doesn’t even try to be anything more than a HD version of the original, and it’s not. Sure, the big screen and increased resolution are lovely, but there’s nothing really new in this version that hardcore fans of the original won’t have played through already (and indeed, doesn’t contain any of the iPhone version’s extra levels) but if this is your first Angry Birds game it doesn’t really matter.
So, for your three quid you’re getting an insanely addictive (but rather trial and error based) puzzler, with loads of fun to be had trying to three-star each of the rounds. It’s prized just at the wrong side of being an impulse buy but you can purchase safe in the knowledge that this is a lovely little game. Score: 7/10.
Minigore HD
Online engine: Crystal
Price: £2.99
Mountain Sheep’s twin stick zombie shooter is a shining example of how to boost up an iPhone game for the iPad. Better graphics, lots of added content (that was previously paid for on the iPhone) and another, iPad friendly control method round off the differences.
The game is simple enough, dodge the hordes, blast back with an array of increasingly powerful weapons, and collect the four leaf clovers to go into super mode. Packed with good natured humour and a nicely pitched difficulty curve, Minigore HD is a well paced diversion for when you want something a little bit easier to digest. There’s a lack of variety, but what’s there is fine. Score: 6/10.
N.O.V.A.
Online engine: Gameloft Live
Price: £3.99
N.O.V.A. HD is the perfect big brother to the iPhone equivalent. Improved graphics and revamped control schemes sum up the list of changes, but that’s all it required. The iPhone suffered from the small screen but thanks to the iPad, an FPS has never played so well on a touchscreen before and the multitouch controls add an extra layer of gameplay to the experience.
The Sci-Fi shooter follows a vague storyline in which you must defend mankind from the Judges, an aggressive alien army, in various, well-rendered environments. It’s not something we haven’t seen before but a nice selection of weapons are at your disposal and the enemies can challenge your skills at times.
Like most other ‘HD remakes,’ the iPhone and iPad versions are very similar, with only the aforementioned upgrades altering the core game. No extra features or add-ons were noticeable enough to mention, however the thirteen campaign levels easily warrant the £3.99 price tag, and the online and offline multiplayer capabilities (allowing 2-4 players to participate in a deathmatch) provide an excellent pick-up-and-play shooter. This is one of the best FPS games on the store right now. Score: 8/10.
Flight Control HD
Online engine: None
Price: £2.99
Flight Control, Firemint’s interim project whilst they were working on Real Racing, is the stuff of legend. An incredibly simple idea – guide incoming planes into their respective runways – has become something of a darling on the iPhone scene and this HD remake takes everything that made the original so good and ramps up the graphics and playability.
So, yes, it’s considerably more expensive on the iPad, but the differences are well worth it. For starters, you can now play multiplayer on the same device (both co-operatively and competitively) and you can link up to other iPads and iPhones (and iPod touches) too, which is a nice move.
But it’s in game where Flight Control HD comes alive – the graphics are great. Retaining the same substance over style aesthetic from the iPhone version, the iPad remix benefits hugely from the increased screen space whilst keeping the same physical sizes for the planes and runways. Managing the traffic, then, is less chaotic and more skill based, and thus this version of Flight Control is the one to get. Score: 8/10.
Touchgrind HD
Online engine: None
Price: £4.99
I’ll be honest, I don’t really ‘get’ Touchgrind HD. I liked the original because it was original, but the novelty’s worn off a little now. The game, which attempts to emulate the old ‘finger deck’ skateboards works well enough as a tech demo, but as an enjoyable game it falls a little short.
For example, whilst you can pull off the odd impressive trick, lining up several of them is still trial and error despite the iPad’s zoomed out display which shows much more of the skate park. So, yes, you can do all manner of fancy flips with your fingers, but chaining them together is out of the question unless you can memorise the entire course.
The iPad version apps a multiplayer mode (split screen) but retains the single competition mode and adds little else to justify the increased price tag. I’d stick with the iPhone version unless you’re already great at the game and want to improve your scores further (the iPad version shares the same score table as the iPhone one). Score: 5/10.
Depict HD
Online engine: OpenFeint
Price: £1.19
Addiction itself. Essentially an online version of Pictionary, Depict HD sees you competing across the web with unknowns and friends in a rather grand version of ‘can you guess what it is yet?’. Five players take their turns at drawing a given word and the other players must try to guess what they’ve drawn from the options below, slowly building up score as they go along.
So far, the community has been solid and knob-gag free, but players can be banned if they repeated spoil the fun, so don’t worry. I’m genuinely impressed with Depict HD, it’s actually really well done and a complete surprise. It’s also ridiculously cheap for the amount of fun you get. Yes, the number of words isn’t infinite, but updates down the line will fix all that. Score: 9/10.
Scrabble
Online engine: None
Price: £5.99
This is brilliant. I’m a big fan of the board game, but it’s often less than practical to wheel around the wee plastic tiles and the ability to ‘cheat’ with the scoring can spoil many a good game of Scrabble.
On the iPad, Scrabble is utterly fab, and offers not just a single player mode but also a full rack (pun intended) of multiplayer options – either pass and play (where the iPad hides your tiles as the other players take their turns) or, and this is really clever, by using associated iPod Touches or iPhones as virtual tile racks.
Whichever way, the game features standard and duplicate rules, a solid dictionary, a pop-up list of those all-important two letter words, shuffle and best word options. It’s good looking, responsive and perfectly laid out – it’s a little big expensive, but it’s not overpriced at roughly half the price of the board game version. Not for everyone, but it’s the game I’ve played most on Apple’s new device. Score: 10/10.
Real Racing HD
Online engine: none
Price: £5.99
Real Racing is probably the most visually impressive iPad title, resembling a mid-level Xbox game in terms of scope and graphics. Over a variety of tracks and vehicles (with the Golf GTi the single licensed model) Real Racing HD offers improved aesthetics over the iPhone version – it’s smoother and fancier, and is much better for it.
There’s also a decent enough handling model here too, across a few different control methods, so sim fans will take some delight at least in the driving mechanics. The cleverest feature is the way the game counterbalances your steering onscreen, magically keeping the horizon level as you steer, but the game’s comprehensive career mode and rack of multiplayer options make this game a highly worthwhile buy for any petrolheads.
Finally, the iPad version allows users to ‘skin’ their cars using any image you’ve got saved on the device, a neat feature. Score: 9/10.
Piyo Blocks 2 HD
Online engine: Crystal
Price: £1.79
It’s visually and mechanically Zoo Keeper, but it’s also a brilliant, brilliant game. Piyo Blocks 2 HD is a ‘match 3’ puzzler with little birds making up most of the things to match, but the graphical style and stunning production and presentation values really set this one apart from the rest.
Right from the off, with the game’s menu (and Crystal Achievements) based on the current time of day, Piyo Blocks screams professionalism. Everything’s big and chunky, the menus bounce nicely off the in-game visuals and the chirpy, quirky music fits perfectly.
Better still, there’s a single iPad two player mode and stacks of Crystal powered challenges and score tables to keep you playing for weeks. The fact that we’ve seen much of this before on the aforementioned DS puzzler it doesn’t really matter, Piyo Blocks 2 HD is probably the best £1.79 you can possibly spend on an iPad. Score: 9/10.
Fieldrunners
Online engine: none
Price: £4.99
Fieldrunners – the game everyone with an iPhone will have already played, is now better than ever, but again (you might have noticed a theme here) it’s really just the visuals that have seen the step up. A cracking example of the Tower Defense genre, Fieldrunners is super slick and deeply addictive, with perfectly balanced towers offering up all kinds of strategic options.
The increased resolution means you can see more of the grid at a manageable level (all of it, in fact, if required) and close up the animation really comes alive. Sadly, there’s no iPad specific content yet, and although it’s promised it’s worth pointing out that this really is just the iPhone version with a graphical boost. Still, it’s a bloody brilliant game and for a fiver it’s essential. Score: 9/10.
Thanks to CaptainMurdo for his help with this article.
