There’s no better way to celebrate the day after Valentine’s Day than with a McClane or two as they blast scumbags and bad guys. If you haven’t guessed, DIE HARD is our top game of the week. We’ve also got a gruesome gladiator action game, hackey-sack with cats, a bizarre new runner, an elegant one-button game, plus a cool new bullet hell shooter.
DIE HARD ($0.99)
Yes, I am putting a movie tie-in game at the top of this week’s list. Why? Because it’s Valentine’s Day, and I love John McClane with all of my being. I have an unhealthy love of the first two Die Hard movies. Anyway, based on the underwhelming but still fairly awesome new movie, A Good Day to Die Hard, this shooter is a bit clunky, but surprisingly playable. The graphics aren’t too shabby, the gunplay could be far worse, and while it won’t be winning any awards, it’s a solid action game. Sadly, it focuses on Jack McClane more than John, which seems silly. Like the movie, it’s serviceable, but made better by sheer association. Yippie Ki-Yay!
I, Gladiator ($4.99)
Here we have a new gladiatorial arena combat game that manages to make the hit show Spartacus seem subdued. Hack, slash, bash, smash, burn, and spurn all sorts of enemies, from men, to beasts, and strange hybrids of each. The game makes use of that popular new Borderland-style cell shaded 3-D visuals, rendering wonderfully visceral and gloriously gory dismemberments and impalements all around. With plenty of weapons and fighting styles to choose from, plus all sorts of fun hazards littering the sands, this should satisfy the bloodlust of any action fan.
Hackycat ($0.99)
This is an awesome labor of love from game developer Ken Wong (what an appropriate release date, then!). It involves playing hackey sack using cats instead of a footbag, plus you also collect cheeseburgers and weird, random power-ups. The controls of this game are simple as can be, yet the game is still quite fun. The unique visual style looks like something inspired by a nineties Nickelodeon cartoon show. This is just one of those quirky and original games you’ll only find on iOS. Don’t kick this one to the curb.
Relic Rush ($0.99)
A new game from Jason Pickering and Forest Moon Games, this is a simple, elegant, and challenging one-button game. You play as an adventurer making his way through an ancient ruin looking for treasure and relics, all in a gorgeous and colorful pixel art world. You constantly move, and automatically climb, change directions,and jump. The only thing you control as a player is when he stops to avoid danger. Essentially it’s a game about timing, and you are indeed timed as you play, with the best rewards only being given to the fastest, most daring treasure hunters.
Jool ($0.99)
Jool is…weird. It is a very weird new runner, from developer Rostlaub. In it, you control a dopey blue bird as you run across a world seemingly made entirely of platforms, collecting Trips, the in-game currency, along with flowers, cups of coffee, and all sorts of other items with odd effects. If you fall to your death, you actually flip the device over and continue running as the bird’s evil alter ego, and continue this pattern until you run out of flips. This bizarre game is one of the most unique runners you’ll ever play, and it’s all punctuated by an underlying dark tone, that crops up from time to time. Especially in the thirty creative death animations.
Sela the Space Pirate ($1.99)
We end our lovely Valentine’s Day list together with the one game genre that encompasses compassion and caring more than any other. Bullet Hell shooters. But seriously, Sela the Space Pirate is solid, in which you fight your way through a massive nest of nasty extra terrestrials along with your robot sidekick. The entire game universe is really quite kooky, giving the game a lighthearted tone that other bullet hell shooters almost never have. With different weapons and upgrades, plus a fantastic retro themed soundtrack, this is a solid shooter for anyone.
