At the start of each game you choose your team, of which currently only two are available, though more should be coming soon for download.  Each team is made up of five different classes along with an assortment of items that are doled out at random as the game progresses.     The classes are essentially your standard fantasy fair of warrior, mage, healer, hunter, and then an elite unit that has a mix of the rest.  Each team has one or two crystals to defend on a 4×9 grid.  Each turn consists of five actions, and you can try as many variations as you like before hitting submit.  This is thankful considering both how important those few moves are to the games tactics, and also since with the small screen of the iPhone it is very easy to miss click and send your units to the wrong space.

Now it must be noted that this is an online game only.  There is no option to play against computer opponents, and since it is turn based it is possible to go anywhere from a few minutes to several hours between turns if your opponent doesn’t make a move.  You also have the problem in that there is no ranking system, so when you click random match you never know if you will end up with a first time player or an expert.  However as you can match games by name and essentially build a friends list it’s easy to form a roster of players to match your abilities.

Hero Academy is a great looking game with a very unique style.  The graphics are cartoony with a interesting mix of cute and menace.  The animation is very smooth and all of the attacks and special effects look amazing.  I especially like the look of the area of effect spells, which are unique for each team.

The game is free for download but with plenty of micro transaction items available to customize your team or get new ones.  Most things are a dollar or two to purchase and other then the teams nothing is game changing.  The one new team currently available, the Dark Elves, is well worth the money however as they play dramatically different from the base Human team.

I highly recommend this one to everyone.  It’s a great looking game with surprisingly deep tactics.  Though I wish there was at least a tutorial mode that let you play against some bots the game is a blast.  Its free which is hard to be as well.

At its core the game is a classic run and jump style side scrolling romp where the protagonist must continually head left avoiding obstacles and collecting loot and temporary power-ups.  Of course in this case your jumping involves a variety of jetpacks, the first one made of machine guns.  And your power-ups run the gamut from a suped-up Harley to a flying mechanical dragon.  Which you use to avoid electrical zapper walls and random missiles and laser beams.

Beyond the trailer there is no plot to speak of, but really when you have a game as quirky and fun as this plot kind of steps aside anyways.  It’s a fast paced romp where each run is likely to last no more than a minute or two and where they often last no more than a few seconds.  Barry dies in a single hit unless he’s riding a power-up, and assuming you’ve obtained some tokens for the Slot Machine of Death you do have a chance at a 1-up.  Otherwise once you’ve been zapped, fried, or blown up its game over and another chance to see Barry explode through the wall, scoop up his jetpack, and cause another round of chaos through the lab.

The controls are likely the simplest you will ever see, touch the screen to fire the jetpack, let go to drop to the ground.  One finger controls the whole game, so the learning curve is pretty damn simple.  To make up for this simplistic gameplay and keep you from getting bored you constantly have a trio of mini missions to tackle that range from reaching a certain distance, to tagging a number of scientists, or simply collecting coins.  As you go along the missions get tougher and the runs can get pretty intense as you try to accomplish them.  You also get a chance to spend all your hard earned coins in a place called The Stash, which is loaded with new costumes for Barry, new bizarre jetpacks like the fruit launcher and the rainbow.  You can also 1-ups or other one time use boosts to aid you.

This is a truly great game, and one I recommend to anyone with a apple device without reservation.  It is currently $0.99 so it’s not going to break the bank, and I promise you will get your money’s worth.  Just make sure you don’t have anything important to do for awhile, because the game will suck you in.

This one is more of an Indian Jones style adventure, or if you prefer, one of the old Universal Serials from the 30s.  Lots of international globetrotting, plenty of adventure and danger, and on occasion a shootout with Nazis.  Jungle Temples, Pygmies, and plenty of dart traps abound as you wander the world in search of Fortune and Glory.  Being the pulp fan that I am, I had to pick it up, the cover alone grabbed me.  Zeppelins, Nazis, Femme Fatales, and of course Dashing Heroes grace it in a massive splash scene reminiscent of a movie poster.

This one is likely their most complicated game, and it is certainly their most expensive so far.  If I have one bad thing to say it’s about the over complicated rules.  There are actually three game types included, a basic game that consists of a small quick start guide, and then two more advanced options that share a thirty odd page rule book.  It’s a game that takes two to three hours to play, and will take some study of the rules to really get a hang of.  Personally though I think it’s worth it.  I have only been able to play the basic competitive version however, looking forward to some Nazi fighting cooperative play at some point in the near future though.

In the box, along with the fore mentioned rule books, are a nicely illustrated world map game board, a dozen or so decks of cards, dozens of highly detailed miniatures, a massive pile of plastic coins, and bag of small d6 dice.  Just setting up the game will take you ten minutes or so as you place the board and then all the decks of cards.  Then you have to place your character figures at their starting cities and off you go.  Oh and don’t forget the Zeppelin, you have to have the Zeppelin.

The game is actually pretty simple at its heart, each player moves towards the location of an ancient artifact, and then upon reaching it draws danger cards and strives to overcome them and secure their bounty to earn fortune and glory (the afore mentioned plastic coins), 15 of which wins you the game.  Of course failure while facing a danger leaves you in a cliffhanger, and half the fun of the game is telling the story of your hero as they face and overcome these dangers and survive these dramatic cliffhangers, well that and throwing the other players curveballs just as they thing they’ve jumped into the lead.  In the advanced scenarios you will also have Nazi hoards fighting you for the treasure along with your fellow adventures, making for a free for all battle of wits and skill.

The card decks are one of my favorite parts, I’ve already come up with some great ways to use them in coming up with story hooks for the role playing games I run when not using them to play the game.  The various dangers, artifacts, and the random events contained in them make crafting a story for your hero a natural and seamless part of the game experience.  You never know if your next turn will bring a plane crash, a pit of quick sand, or maybe an attempt to sneak onto a Nazi Sub.  Whatever if brings however you know that it will be exciting and full of adventure.

I can’t recommend this game for everyone, it is a complicated game focused on something of a niche market.  However, if you have enjoyed previous titles from Flying Frog, or if you love the Pulps as I do, then it’s great game.  The retails price of  ninety-nine dollars is a tad steep, but you can find it on Amazon and from other online retailers for thirty to forty dollars cheaper if you look around a bit.  For me it was worth every penny, your mileage may vary, but give it a go the game is a blast.

Bethesda has made a name for themselves by creating epic massive open world games where the player can do nearly anything they want.  You can be hero or villain, play any way you like, the game adjusting to your actions and your play style.  Be a werewolf or a vampire, a brave warrior, a lethal assassin, or simply a thief stealing everyone blind.  You can even buy a house, get married, and become something of an adventuring merchant if you prefer.  They give you the sandbox, you decide how you’ll play it in.  However for all that, Skyrim does a better job than any of the previous games at reminding the player about the main quest and no matter where you go there are references and reminders about the events effecting the world as a whole.

The skill system is a dramatic departure from the previous games.  Since the begging character creation involved choosing your primary and secondary skills.  This allowed you to tailor exactly how you wanted to play the game.  Skyrim on the other hand doesn’t have you choose any skills.  Instead all skills are essentially equal at the start and as you use them they level up.  Like previous games as you level up skills they give points towards raising your overall level.  Unlike previous games you have no actual stats to boost now, instead each level gives the ability to boost you Health, Stamina, or Magika, as well as points you can spend on perk boosts to your skills.  It’s a much more organic leveling system that literally tailors your character to how you are actually playing as opposed to how you think you’re going to play.

A few other changes, and ones I really like, are that equipment no longer wears out, and the lock picking minigame has been made vastly more fun.  Weapons now won’t break, however magical weapons due have charges that can run out and must be recharged by using filled soul gems.  This fills the resource sink that the repair tools held in Oblivion.  The lock pick mini game in the last game was frustrating as hell and led me to simply use the auto function which made it pointless.  This time around it’s a much more intuitive system that actually looks and feels like your picking an actual lock.

Combat has also had an upgrade, taking a few cues from Fallout.  Now on occasion you will crit and get some very cool first person and third person animations where you brutalize your enemies.  One for instance happens when fighting dragons where you leap on their backs and start hacking at their heads.  Another when you have dual swords has you shove both in their chest and then hurl them away.  These little moments help alleviate the boredom that tended to result from the simple combat of Oblivion.

Graphically Skyrim takes the engine from Oblivion and gives the character models a much needed face lift.   The muddy mess that were most faces in Skyrim are for the most part replaced with much more attractive looks.  They also added some very cool environmental effects like rain and snow that give the world alot more life.  Though I’ve seen some debate on line the overall detail of the game seems sharper to me.  The engine’s core may be old but It’s still one of, if not the, best looking RPGs out there.

If you liked Oblivion, or any of the other Elder Scrolls games then you’ll love this one, it is by far the best in the series.  Otherwise its a great RPG and I highly recommend this one.  Just be prepared, the world is huge, and you will lose days of your life just wandering around, enjoying the beauty of it.

That is the basic premise behind Robot Entertainment’s new game.  A downloadable title for Xbox and Steam with a wicked sense of humor and brutal cartoony style.

At its heart it’s a tower defense game, however instead of the standard towers the player’s defensive weapons of choice are dozens of lethal traps.  Like any game of this type the player collects points for every kill and then uses those to buy the dozens of death dealing contraptions used to slaughter your enemies.  Meanwhile the player also access to a variety of ranged and melee weapons to take care of those beasts that make it through the gauntlet.  Each level is a fast paced mix of quick reflexes with complex tactics and strategy.  Which traps to use and where to put them brings a great depth to each level, while the frantic fun of shooting and bashing down each wave of the green brutes brings the adrenaline.

Story wise the game is a little light as these tend to be.  A great War Mage has recently died in a tragic accident and our protagonist is his cocky meathead of an apprentice.  The voice acting for whom is quite amusing as he happily mocks his late master and the Orcs he’s tasked to slaughter, and then does a little dance at the end of each level.

The game is unfortunately single player only, the addition of multiplayer to the recent Trenched having spoiled all us tower defense fans.  But it is a very slick single player experience.  If your fans of the genre I highly recommend this one.  Just keep in mind, that the humor and the cartoony look hide a game that can be frustratingly difficult at times.

Naughty Dog has once again proven just how powerful the PS3 hardware is and how beautiful the graphics in a game can be.  It is without a doubt the prettiest game of this generation.  The outdoor areas are dripping with detail, sometimes literally as water is prevalent throughout the game.  The water animation in this game continues to be some of the best I’ve seen.  As does the character animation.  L.A. Noir might have set a new bar for facial animation, but Uncharted still has some of the best looking and moving characters I’ve seen.

Along with the graphical beauty these games have always had an amazing use of sound and excellent voice acting.  They’ve brought back the cast from the previous games and these guys have their characters down.  All the dialogue sounds natural and you can tell these guys are just as comfortable with each other as their characters are.

Gameplay hasn’t changed much since the previous games.  Puzzles and platforming sections are punctuated by fire fights.  The puzzles are are interesting but not particularly complicated, and the game starts handing out hints automatically which for me at least takes some of the fun out of them.  The platforming on the other had is as fun as ever, the animations are smooth and add to the tension as you watch Drake jump and scramble from spot to spot.  Combat is generally the same cover and shoot from the previous games, and it by far my least favorite aspect.  However they have tweaked the hand to hand combat significantly.  Taking a cue from the Batman games  they have added the ability to take on more than one target at a time, and the ability to counter attacks has become very important.  In fact certain fights with larger opponents hinge on the counter mechanics.  You don’t have the depth of some other games but these changes have made the combat more enjoyable for me.

The real draw of the Uncharted games for me are the stories, and Drake’s Deception has an amazing story.  The actual format of the story won’t be all that surprising to fans of the series, Drake discovers a link between his namesake Sir Francis Drake and a lost city of vast wealth.  As he embarks on this journey of discovery he and his pals are hunted by a wealthy and powerful evil that also wants the city though perhaps not for the same reasons.  Conspiracies abound and more of Drake’s history is revealed.  One nice little twist this time is that you get to play as a teenage Drake in a flashback and learn how he met Sully.

Uncharted 3 is a great game, however like its predecessors it has some flaws for me at least.  The amazing story, fun puzzles, and great plaforming is pulled down by what I feel is a frustrating combat system.  Some on the other hand love it, which is evidenced by the popularity of the multiplayer fire fight mode, for me though the combat it what keeps it from being a masterpiece.  That being said I recommend anyone with a PS3 buy this game.  It’s one of the best games on the system and well worth a playthrough.

Captain America is far from the greatest game ever made, but it is enjoyable.   The gameplay elements are all lifted for the most part form A list games like the ground breaking Uncharted and Batman Arkham Asylum, and though there is no real innovation involved the styles work just as well here.  Graphically the game looks a little drab, though I think that was on purpose.  The graphics are just as good as any other game of this generation, but they gave everything a very washed out look to it to evoke that WWII vibe.  Unfortunately this drains a little of the energy out of things.

Now combat is where the game really shines,  the same free flowing combo centric form that made Batman so fun has been copied over almost whole cloth and is just as much fun here as it was with the Caped Crusader.  And though he lacks Batman’s gadgets Cap has his mighty shield that you can throw around with brutal results.  Caps acrobatic skills are put on full display as you leap, slide, and fling yourself around the battlefield taking on hoards of enemies at a time.

In between fights you’ll encounter platforming puzzles very reminiscent of Uncharterd.  Again Cap’s acrobatic skills are showcased as he leaps along the walls and summersaults between flagpoles and window ledges.  These sections are varied enough to keep things interesting, however they are also very easy, the next jump spot can be highlighted with the tap of a button and as long as you’re facing it your make the jump.  And in most cases the only penalty for jumping the wrong way is having to climb back up and try again.

As fight and jump your way through the game various items are scattered about to grant you additional experience and back story much like the riddler trophies from Batman.  Artifacts of the Zemo family reveal diaries telling the story of how Zemo lost the castle to the Skull, while film reels give more information on the various enemies, and schematics give you bonus against the same enemies.

The storyline is nestled neatly into the movie universe during the little montage that played right after Cap pulled the prison break.  One of the Skulls factories has been located in the mountain fortress of Baron Zemo and Cap and his team have been sent in to destroy it.  During your travels through the Barons castle and its environs you face off against countless Hydra troops and have some fairly interesting boss battles with the likes of Madam Hydra, Baron Strucker, and even Arnim Zola in his classic head in a robot’s chest incarnation.

It’s an enjoyable little romp, but honestly even for someone of my limited skills the game was far to easy.  I beat the game with all but one collectible the first time through in a single sitting of about six hours.  There are challenge maps you can play but they aren’t all that interesting to be honest.  And though I had fun playing through the campaign it’s not interesting or exciting enough to warrant a second play through.  As a rental or a pickup from the bargain bin its recommend, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it.

Like the first game this one follows a story of conspiracy and the moral implications of human experimentation and cybernetics in the near future.  It’s a prequel of sorts to the original game, and thus knowledge of the previous entries in the series are unneeded.  The story is told through a mix of cut scenes and hundreds of emails, digital journals, and various overheard and discovered bits of information.  It’s a very reading heavy type of game if you really want to get the whole story.  This might annoy some FPS players, but it’s part of the fun for me.

Like its predecessor the game mixes RPG elements with FPS combat.  The player gains experience from various actions and can then use those point to buy and upgrade the augmentations that make their characters more than human.  Also like an RPG almost every encounter or situation can be accomplished via multiple methods.  When entering a room full of armed guards you could run and gun, or just sneak past them all without notice.  Or perhaps you want to mix it up, sneaking around to get the drop on your enemies and picking them off one by one in silence.  There is no one way to move through the game, it’s up to the player to determine how they want to progress.

That being said Deus Ex is a game that tends to reward stealth and exploration over direct combat.  In fact the optimum way to obtain experience is to silently take down your opponents rather than getting into fire fights.  So far I’ve made it through half the game without firing a single shot outside the boss fights.

And that is where my first big gripe comes in.  For all the options the game gives you, for all the ability to choose how you’ll make it through each situation, when you encounter the bosses you are forced to fight.  The game becomes a traditional first person shooter, and if you’ve spent all your points and time on making yourself a silent stealth ninja you’ll get eaten up the moment those combats begin.  All your choices are for naught and you end up forced to play in a way that may be completely opposite of how you’ve been enjoying the game up to then.  Honestly if the rest of the game wasn’t so good this problem wouldn’t be so glaring, but finding that all those paths they made available, all those options end up bottle necking at these little locked rooms with the big bad bosses is a real letdown.

Speaking of all those choices, one way you can make it through most of the game is by hacking every computer and security console you see.  You can take control of cameras, turrets, and even sentry robots.  And while seeing the end results of a guard vs Gatling gun turret is fun, the hacking mini game to get their isn’t.  Its personnel opinion of course, but the hacking mini game is annoying at best for me, and an impossible frustration at best.  It may work better on the PC version, but the Xbox version is just a pain in the ass.

All that being said I’ve got to recommend this one.  The boss battles and annoying mini game aside the story alone is worth the price of admission.  As long as you keep those boss fights in mind and adjust a few of your augmentations towards the inevitable fights they entail you can still playing the game anyway you want.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get back to sneaking through air vents and knocking out bad guys.

Now you’re asking what the hell is the game?  At its core the Gamebook Adventures are classic Choose Your Own Adventure books in e-book format.  However not wanting to stop there Tin Man Games added some actual game elements in a simple yet elegant little system.  Including basic stats along with skill challenges and combat.  As you progress through the game you find/steal/earn money that can be spent an various items.  Of course pretty much every item you can buy can also be found around the various areas you’ll explore as you read the book.  They’ve also included achievements and collectable pictures for those who need an extra reason to replay.

Each game starts with the player rolling some basic stats with a nifty 3D dice roller.  These dice and stats are also used later for basic skill challenge where you have to roll under a number, and in combat where you’re going for the highest number.   Different weapons and armor give you more dice to better your odds.  As you go along the player reads a few pages and then makes a choice which leads them to another section of the book and a continuation of their story.  Also like those classic books the player can place a bookmark so that if they don’t like where they ended up they can hop back and try another path.  They’ve included a level system that basically dictates how many of these bookmarks (or lives really) you get during a play through.

I grew up reading plenty of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books and loved them, so I might be a little biased on these.  But I found the book I’ve played so far to be very well written, with plenty of action, a few brain teasers, and lots and lots of horrible death scenes ( a must for the genre).  At  $4.99 a book the price might be a little steep for some, but the games are high quality and for me well worth it.  There is a demo version of the first game that lets you experience most of the mechanics, so if you’re on the fence grab it and give it a try.  These are great little gem.