GAME REVIEW – ASPHALT 7: HEAT

Overall: 8 out of 10

Introduction

Asphalt 7 is a racing game from the Asphalt series which was published and devolved by Gameloft. This game is for both IOS and android platform users. It was released in 2012 and it is one of the best and newest racing games in the market.

Story

The story of the game is similar to the previous games in the Asphalt series. The player races each other in real world cities such as London and Paris and there are up to 15 tracks. The story of the game is laid out well and it will be easy to relate to the protagonist properly as it has simple ideology. The game has some cut scenes and missions which is good as it allows the player to get into the game. The game has 60 cars from real manufactures such as Ferrari and rest of them are add-ons. It has 6 different game modes and 150 races which includes multiplayer mode.

Gameplay

The game play is works good and it has different play styles to make player not to get bored such as career event, special events and quick player. The career event is more like a challenge where you have to earn stars and cash by completing the specific goals. This allows you to unlock events and more. In the quick play option, you can customize your own track, car and so on to win the race. The levels will unlock depends on their how many stars, reputation and cash you’ve earned.

The controls are not complicated, and all you have to do is tilt or touch the side of the screen to steer with the gas on and you have to touch other side of the screen to get a nitro boost or slow down the car. There is always a lot of power - ups around the track which you can boost up your cash and speed. This means you don’t need to worry about using too much speed boost. Once, you get to use to the controls then it became easy.

The game provides range of events such as normal race, elimination, Paint job, drift, beat ‘em all and King of the hill. Each event has difference personality and also you can buy upgrades that last for one event as it is very useful when you play the time tier events.As you earn more cash and stars then you will able to unlock new cars and upgrade performance of the car. You can also buy stars and cash by using In-app purchase option.

Graphics

Game UI (User Interface) is brilliant and it has detailed graphics where you can find difference between the tracks and other landscapes. The graphic is stunning and texture of the game is awesome. During the close up, it looks good such as effects they have used for tracks, buildings etc. The graphic allows you to look the objects clearly even though in long distance. The cut scenes look good and the cutting edge graphics is beautiful. The retina display makes the graphics more beautiful like the cars, cities etc. There are lots of graphics have been used however, they are bit repetitive such as rocks, water, sky in some areas. This game offers a real time graphics as it compares to other games in the same market.

Sound

The soundtrack of the game is awesome and it helps the user to play the game more energetic and gives the feel of racing in real world. It helps the success of the game and some of the sounds help the player to engage in the gaming experience. The techno music can also be a huge encouraging when playing a game and in some cases, it can be a bit deterrent.

Multiplayer

The game provides multiplayer option which allows the user to play against up to 5 – 6 players through both local and global via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and online. The game may takes time to buffer and also to find track to play. It may lead the user get annoyed and bored of finding a multiplayer game. You can create new or find tracks to compete with other players however the multiplayer option is not effective as it compared to the previous version of the series and it has few issues when sharing the scores and playing on the multiplayer mode. You can compare stats, show off achievements and challenge with other users. Also it allows you to keep track on leaderboard stats. The ‘Asphalt Tracker’ feature allows you to connect to Facebook or Gameloft Live to play against with your friends.

Trophies

This game offers range of rewards which allows the user to gain level, reputation, money and stars depends on their mission. The rewards and graphics are awesome and it would good for user who wants to play real time racing game. This makes the user more addicts into the game. The more the level, the more difficult it can be and also the can get higher rewards depending on their difficulty of the goal and events. To earn cash and gain level, you can play a normal race.

Conclusion

Overall, Asphalt 7 is a good arcade game which gives you a real time racing experience. It has fantastic graphics and offers range of options. However, the game doesn't offer any new innovation which is an improved version of previous version. It is not worth to buy for asphalt 6 users but, if you want to try a real gaming experience, Asphalt 7 is the best choice to go for. The gameplay and soundtrack is excellent.

Summary

Pros: It provides detailed and stunning graphics and also it allows user to play with other players both online and offline. The soundtrack is awesome and energetic. It offers varies collection of legendary cars, various tiers, career events tracks and rewards make you more into the game.

Cons:  It is very similar to the previous version of Asphalt series (Asphalt 6). The multiplayer mode is not effective and it takes to time to share your achievements online. The In app purchasing can be bit annoying. In some devices such as Google nexus, the game is not that good; the blurry graphics and low frame rates disappoint the Google nexus user.  

Temple Run iOS Review

Introduction

Developed by Imangi Studios, Temple Run is a third person, 3D endless running game first released for iOS in April 2011. It is compatible with all iOS devices. I will be reviewing the iPhone 3GS version. It is similar to games like Gravity Guy and Canabalt.

Story

There isn’t really much of a story to Temple Run. There are a group of characters that the player can choose from. Whoever is chosen takes the idol from the temple. They are then chased by monkeys. This then initiates the game. The story is really there just to set up the game. There’s no narrative at all. There’s only a little description of each character. Overall, what little narrative there is, is only there to set the game up.

Gameplay

In Temple Run, the goal is to run, jump, duck and turn left and right to avoid randomly placed obstacles to get a high score. There is no victory condition as such; you just keep playing until you die. You can’t win in the game. The only goal is to get a high score. Running is done automatically, jumping is done by swiping up, ducking is done by swiping down, to turn left and right, you just swipe in the respective directions. The player can also tilt the iPhone to move left or right to collect coins. All of these actions work great on the iPhone 3GS most of the time, though there is some slowdown at times. This is made worse if more apps are open in the background. The slowdown at times has caused me to die because the phone wasn’t responsive enough, especially when the speed of the runner increases later in the game.

There are also power-ups to unlock which can aid the player, such as, invisibility, which means the player can just run through obstacles, speed boost, which boosts the player through ahead and coin magnet, which lets players automatically collect coins for a certain period. These power-ups can also be upgraded to further aid the player. There are also utilities which can be bought to help the player. These include resurrection wings, which allow the player to respawn after death and boost which can be used at the start of the game to boost the player ahead 1000 metres. These abilities add progression to the game as they can be upgraded. They also make it a little easier to get a higher score, though the game is still challenging.

There are also objectives to complete, such as “play X amount of games” or “collect X amount of coins”. While these objectives also add more to strive for, they also increase the score multiplier, thus allowing the player to get a higher score in a shorter amount of time. I felt the objectives were great. Some of them are challenging and time-consuming, but they’re worth the reward.

Overall the gameplay is great. Despite the lag, the game is still addictive. I still keep coming back to beat my high score.

Graphics

The graphics in Temple Run are good. Characters models are good, though they lack any proper definition, much like the environments. Textures on objects like trees and walkways don’t look that great. There are a lot of jagged edges. A lot of the obstacles are also clearly used over throughout the game. Overall, though, the graphics are good for an iPhone game.

Sound

The sound in Temple Run is good. The music is good. I think it goes well with the game. It helps to immerse the player in the game. The sound effects are also good. There’s a nasty thud when you walk into a tree, the water splashes when you fall in. There are really any bad sound effects, so overall, I think the sound is good but it’s not incredible.

Conclusion

Temple Run is a great game. It’s got addicting gameplay. It’ll keep you coming back. The sound and graphics are ok. They’re not great but they won’t hinder the experience at all. So if you have an iOS device, I recommend you download Temple Run, though if you have an older device it might be slow, so I would close all other apps first.

Summary

Good points: addicting gameplay, lots to unlock

Bad points: slowdown