Prince of Persia / iPad Review

Jordan Mechner's well known classic ported to iOS? What..?! It's a must-buy for oldschool gamers! If Your'e one of them - don't even look at the score below, just go to the AppStore and get it!

But if You've never played it before, You probably won't understand what's so great about it. The action is slow-paced, fights are boring, our 'Prince' has got only one weapon to choose from.. And it's not a laser, not a gun, and before we find it - we can't fight at all! Even the default controls are a bit irritating, becouse there's only a slight difference between walking and running, and this difference often means a brutal death. So before You start - I recommend You go to the options, and change the controls to 'buttons', it will be a lot easier to control our character.

So, what's fun about this game? It's a classic! And it's idea was based on another all-time classic: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of The Lost Ark. Proof? Take a look at the video below! From 2:20 to 3:20 You've got it all: the jump, the pull, the closing doors, the spikes..

New Prince of Persia still has this special feeling, which made hundreds of thousands of players play, die, restart, play, die - and in effect spend several hours on a game, which was to be finished in less than an hour! That was absurdly awesome :)
Just becouse sometimes I try to be objective - I'll give this remake a solid 3/5. It still has everything it takes to be a solid arcade game, but comparing to other AppStore games.. well, the market has changed since 1989 :)

By the way - You should see some videos on YouTube, about how mr. Jordan created those smooth animations. I'll just say, that the video camera was borrowed, the 'Prince' was acted by mr. Jordans younger brother, and then they had to shot pictures of single frames displayed on the TV... And that was just the beginning. Also, the only way to defeat the Dark Prince was also the same way to successfuly end mr. Jordans previous game - Karateka.

By the way #2 - Karateka and The Last Express (another Jordan Mechner's game) will also by shipped to AppStore sometime soon. At least according to what mr. Jordan said last week in Warsaw, during onGameStart conference.

Neuroshima Hex / iPad Review

Neuroshima Hex - an addictive tactic board game - isn't for everyone.
If you like to think a lot on your next move trying to go with the best scenario possible, or you were a school chessmaster - then for sure you should try it. If you liked playing any of the panzer-general-like turn-based strategies, and sci-fi background won't annoy you - you should also go try it :)

If you don't like thinking and planning your next move, or if you prefer running and gunning - then try the board version at your friends house first.

If you don't belong to any of the groups - continue reading :)

There is a story in the background, but all you should know is you're in a post-apocalyptic world, in which humans, machines, and mutants fight for territory. There are four armies (in the standard version): Moloch (red) - cruel machines, Borgo (blue) - mutants created by machines, which gone their own way, Hegemony (yellow) - human gangs, and the Outpost - the last real army of humankind.

Each of these armies has different set of units and special tiles, and needs a different playing style.
Moloch units can shoot pretty well, or attack in several direction, but most of them can't move or rotate.
Borgo has units with high initiave, so they attack fast. Hegemony units can do massive damage at close range, and Outpost units move a lot and shoot a lot (like a reall guerillas).

At the start of the game each of players places his HeadQuarters tile - HQ have uniqe buffs for their tiles surrounding them, increasing initiavie (Borgo), shooting damage (Moloch), hand-to-hand damage (Hegemony) and adding an extra attack (Outpost). Additionally, HQs attack all enemies surrounding them in the last phase of a battle. After you place your HQs, in every turn you get 3 random tiles. One of them you have to dispose of, and the remaining two you can place in any free hex on the map. If you get a 'battle' tile - then you can play it to call a battle. If anyone plays the battle - it starts automatically after placing a tile on the last free hex.

..ok, so it looks really complicated, but it's not. After one or two rounds You will hate it or love it. After my first session with NH - I ended up in my bed thinking 'what could i do better next time?'.

AppStore version of NH has a really helpful tutorial, a wiki - which describes all the armies, their story and thier units. You can even learn by heart all the tiles counts, so you could be more prepared during the battle :)

Graphics aren't nothing special - they're just the way they should be. There's no cool blast effects or nothing - the game is really focused only on tactics. But if you are looking for a good strategy, which won't let you forget about it for a long time - Neuroshima Hex will be a good choice.

BTW - you can also play multiplayer with up to four friends sitting next to you ;)

Graphics - 3

Sound - 3

Gameplay - 5

Overall - 5 for strategy lovers, 3 for everyone else.