Ascension Games

So last week, I ranted about how I wanted to get back into the social aspect of playing games. This week I wanted to write about something I’m still trying to understand, iPhone games.

My involvement with casual games happens through my iPhone, like millions of other people. My wife, who avoids games because she doesn’t need another time sink, I guess running two businesses keeps her busy enough. But she plays games on her iPhone, and has about three times as many apps / games on her device, than I do, mine.

But thats not too surprising. I use my iPhone as communications via email one, and second as an iPod. My commute is about two hours everyday, and having music adds alot of pleasure to riding the bus. The phone aspect of the iPhone is kinda “meh”. Its hard to get excited about a phone these days. So Im starting to check out a few games for the iPhone, and much to my surprise, theres a ton of gaming going on outside of my little eco-system. I didnt have the heart to count them all, but 26 of the top 30 (out of a hundred) apps on the App Store are entertainment. That’s sorta surprising.

Ok, I’ll take a dip. I bought iDracula. For $0.99 , if it wasn’t interesting, I would have only wasted a dollar. Which the concept of which is a discussion to be had in itself, but I’ll have to marinate on that.

iDracula. I’m of two minds here. I’ll cover the positive first, because the negative is only a nit pick really.

First, the games really fun. I’m still in the noob level of playing, but I can see myself pulling out 5 mins for a game of slaughtering were-wolf things, little ghoulish dudes, and eventually dracula. You start the game in either survival mode or “rush” mode. Controlling your character’s movement with the lower left area of the iPhone , the lower right controls your aim and firing your weapon.

Survival mode is exactly what it sounds like, you start with a pistol, and kill waves of baddies. If you kill a group of baddies usually a powerup drops. Not much new here. Rush mode is where Im currently having the most fun currently. They start with you unlimited ammo, minigun, and swarm the hell out of you with were-wolves. Its pretty fun, and I havent found much wrong with either mode, and the bite sized 5 minutes of gameplay works in this games favor.

For $0.99, its worth it. But my nitpicks, the meat of which, is basically a demo that I’ve paid for. Its small, fast and for the most part shallow. Theres 1 level, and not much to the mechanics of the core game, stay away from bad things. Shoot till dead. Im not asking for any other features from this game, I’m fairly satisfied with it. And thinking a bit more on it, I’ve probably already had my monies worth of playing it. I which it had different levels, and maybe in time it will.

So, here I am playing casual quick games. I still think it would be a better game multi player though.

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