Game Reviews
California Gold Rush Age of Empires III Developer: Sumea Publisher: Digital Chocolate
Developer: Glu Mobile Publisher: Glu Mobile
California Gold Rush, which essentially plays out like a solo game of battleships, is all about digging for gold, hunting out the bling with no more aid than a slight twinkle in your eye.
Realtime strategy that takes inspiration from the historical tribulations of a world at war – in this case the siege of Malta by the Ottoman Empire.
Taking on the role of Mandy, you grab your pitchfork, explosives and various other tools underground to dig for gold. This means digging yourself through a grid of earth and rock filled squares. But it’s this very hunt that proves to be full of riches. It might sound like a cliché, but Gold Rush really does shine.
Verdict: Part puzzler, part adventure… no need to dig deep to uncover its golden moments
Need for Speed Shift Developer: Ironmonkey Studios Publisher: Electronic Arts The visuals in this latest addition to EA’s prolific racing franchise are so stunning you could miss the exciting and excellent high-speed driving mechanics. As with most Need for Speed games, it’s not simply a matter of circling racetracks. You have a career to build, and that involves nailing first place as often as possible in order to shore up the cash and pimp out your (already gorgeous) ride. Tuning the aerodynamics, nitro boost and other factors help you to custom build a car ideally suited to your particular size of lead boot.
Verdict: Sterling visuals, super-slick gameplay and thumb-bendingly, unique controls
Malta is initially underpopulated and underprovisioned, so not only do you have the invading Empire to deal with, but basic survival needs also weigh on your leadership. This involves moulding your initial collective of villagers into soldiers by building up barracks and then following the individual objectives of each mission.
Verdict: Distilled to the genre’s basic requirements, this fits the mobile platform admirably
Tower Bloxx Deluxe Developer: Sumea Publisher: Digital Chocolate Like the original, 2D version of Tower Bloxx, Deluxe neatly combines action-orientated puzzling with a simple but fiendish strategy game. Explained most simply, dropping blocks builds tower blocks, which can then be placed carefully into a small model city that you have to fill with as many residents as possible. Carefully choosing when and where to place particular buildings is paramount, as the layout of your city drastically affects your population size. If you fancy a sprinkling of strategy with your block dropping, pick this one up without delay.
Verdict: A masterful mix of action-brainteaser and city building strategy game
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