iOS Game Time: The Undead Bro Train

Posted 11/02/2010 at 5:28pm | by Nic Vargus

17

Comments

Print

This week in iOS Game Time we take a look at some fantastic top-down iOS games, with protagonists ranging from trains, to bros, to Steakfries. But first!

HERE'S YOUR SECOND CHANCE TO WIN THIS:

SIMS THREE: Late Night Expansion

Congratulations to reader (and expert Pig Shooter) Dakoster, who beat last week’s Editor’s high score and won a copy of Sims 3: Late Night. To celebrate his victory, we’re giving away another copy of Sims 3: Late Night. But this time, we’re almost positive you won’t beat our score.

Editor’s High Score: RAT ON A SCOOTER XL*

Forgive me for bragging, but that's a darn fine score. Darn fine, indeed.

You may be asking yourself, “Why are they doing an Editor’s high score that they’ve already done? Well, MacLifers, because our score is totally and undeniably unbeatable (except by us [you’ll notice it went from 100 to 104, in a few short weeks]). Since we don't anticipate anyone beating our score, the highest reader score wins the game. So without further ado, we present you the lovely games of this week's Game Time.

Gun Bros
Glu Mobile
iPhone
Free

Gun Bros is a non-stop 3D top-down dual-stick freemium shooter (say that ten times fast). You try to survive wave after wave of TOOL enemies until you die, earning Xplodium that can be refined into money. You then take that money and buy new weapons and armor that will make it easier to clear more waves (and earn more Xplodium – to buy more weapons and armor).

Sure, it’s the same proverbial carrot on a string that makes all freemium and MMOs so addicting and frustrating, but when the price of entry is so low (free), its hard to hate it before trying it out. Specific design choices make Gun Bros even more addicting than your average shoot-em up or restaurant sim.

Take, for instance, the Xplodium chambers that you can unlock for additional coins, which you get from refining Xplodium, or real-world cash via in-app purchases. Does your brain hurt yet? Don't worry it makes more sense when you're playing.

These refining chambers allow you to yield a much greater coin to xplodium ratio, but you’ll have to wait anywhere from five minutes (yield 119%) to 24 hours (yield 500%). This clever design choice will have you picking up your game each day, but that’s only if you buy the ridiculously expensive in-app purchases. 65 War Bucks costs $10 and definitely won’t even buy everything you’ll want (the 24 hour refinery costs 130 War Bucks, so over $20).

We couldn’t get Gun Bros to realize we were Online during testing, but according to the developer, when it does you can invite friends (with all their actual armor and weapons) to assume the role of friendly NPC (non-playable character) and fight alongside you. 


Age of Zombies
Halfbrick Studios
Universal
$2.99

Age of Zombies is a loveably inappropriate top-down shooter (think Gun Bros but with sprites). Similar to Gun Bros, you gotta shoot wave after wave of bad guys. But in Age of Zombies, you must protect the universe from Zombies. The premise is awesome – the evil Dr. Brains has infected the entire world with Zombies by dropping them off in every time period, so it’s your job, as Barry Steakfries, to go to those time periods and save the world.

Be ready for some foul language in the process, Barry’s got quite a mouth on him. AoZ is a universal app with a ton of style and is worthwhile of your $2.99.

That’s seriously a line of dialogue. Also, we agree.

Trainyard
Matt Rix
Universal
$0.99

Trainyard is a simple puzzler that’s a bit like those hundreds of ooze-through-pipes games. You must lead a train (and in later levels, a bajillion trains) to its/their proper stations.

Unlike games like Pipe Dreams, however, you lay down all the tracks and then press go, with no race-against-the-clock gameplay. A slider on the bottom can speed up the cabooses, but if they crash--and they will--it’s back to the drawing board.

Switching tracks, boulders, and incoming trains keep Trainyard challenging. If you can finish the game you’ll be revered as an expert conductor.



That’s it for this week’s GameTime. Got a game you want reviewed? Sound off in the comments.  For quirky game news and more imgur links than you know what to do with, follow Nic Vargus on twitter.


*The rules: You have to be playing on the normal Super Cheese XL level. None of this “rainin’ cheese” (AKA Power Rider, AKA wussy) mode. To prove it, take a screenshot of the home screen high scores - like we did, if we ask for them.