Top New Android Games This Fall
The fall is not over, yet, but it has been a very intense and generous for Android gamers, so without any further ado, here is our list of new Android games worth your attention.
The Silent Age: Episode Two Free, $5
I want to begin the list with my favorite genre - adventure. Silent Age Episode 1 was released a year ago, without much fuss and publicity. Being a free title, it drew thousands of players, and they immediately appreciated the authenticity and genuine talent of the game. This fall, the second episode became available as an in-app purchase worth of $5, and it is well worth the price. The mustachioed protagonist has become a celebrity while the compelling story makes the game an appeal even though it has zero replay value. Joe is a janitor in a governmental building. A boring and somewhat dumb guy becomes a time traveler thanks to sheer coincidence of meeting a time traveler from the future. The fancy gizmo lets Joe travel back and forth in time, but the perk comes at a hefty price - Joe now has to save the humanity from doom. He is limited in time, and in order to unravel what has brought us to doom, and try to prevent it, Joe has to solve intricate puzzles, many of which are time-travel dependent.
Heavy Metal Thunder – Gamebook $2.99
This is my personal favorite - a heavily loaded gamebook for sci-fi aficionados. Before you proceed with the purchase, though, keep in mind that this is a book, which means the gameplay is 90% reading. If you don't mind that, you are in a for a real space adventure - gripping, thrilling, sinister and intense. The interactivity of reading is stellar, and provided the five chapters contain more than 100+ scenes each, with multiple choice scenarios, I am lost calculating how many adventures one can have playing them all. The story is set in some distant future when humanity expanded all over the Universe colonizing planets, but eventually faced the threat it couldn't cope with. Aliens did not seek contact, but definitive extermination of humans, and their technological superiority allowed them to wipe out human empire. The last of us created a special squad of spec ops capable of fighting alien units, and our protagonist is one such human killing machine... with amnesia. He's a real freak and it gives the story an emotional side we can relate to. When it comes to mobile gaming, Heavy Metal Thunder is what I call quality and substance.
Hail to the King: Deathbat $4.99 By Avenged Sevenfold / Subscience Studios
To sweeten the list for the fans of action RPG, we recommend Hail to the King: Deathbat, a mix of Zelda and Gauntlet RPG and dungeon crawler. The game comes loaded with awesome new content, elaborating on the good old system, and the unlikely hero is Andronikos, the King of the Underworld, on his fight against the Dark Androinikos, the tyrant ravaging his lands. Fierce melee combat, mind-boggling puzzles, mysteries, characters, awe-inspiring hell landscapes wrapped into an awesome atmospheric soundtrack create a truly engrossing gaming experience.
Botanicula $4.99
Another adventure from the creators of Machinarium, but if the Machinarium was about a charming robot in a high-tech city, Botanicula is all about organic life. An emotional journey of five tree seeds that try to save the last seed of their home tree from a parasite that is destroying the tree. The adventure is both relaxed and heartfelt, touching and inspiring, with amazing locations to explore and a great soundtrack. There are over 150 locations while the gameplay is spiced with cute animations and an engrossing story. Perfect for family play, Botanicula is also great for casual and core players who enjoy click to play games that make your grey cells move - a perfect adventure.
République by Camouflaj, LLC $2.99
When République launched last year, it set the benchmark for mobile gaming in visuals. Unity engine based game looks and plays like a real stealth adventure, a survival story and a dystopian drama at the same time. There is not much reading here, unlike Heavy Metal Thunder, but an intense stealth action and spectacular visuals. Hope is an object of some sinister experiments, locked in a secret governmental facility. You are trying to help her escape the facility, unravel the international conspiracy and unmask the state surveillance and mind control techniques. The story is huge and divided into five episodes, the third of which has become available a few weeks ago for $2.99 through in-app purchase. The third episode adds new characters and new stealth technology that lets you monitor the patrols and slow them down. pay attention to system requirements before you proceed, though, it's a big game.
Legion of Heroes By NEXON M Inc. free, offers IAPs
Legion of Heroes is an ambitious role playing MMPORG that aspires to set a new benchmark for mobile MMPORGs. Awesome 3D Unity-based visuals, gripping story, huge world full of exploration, battles, foes and friends, Legion of Heroes sports incredible 45v45 PvP events, guilds, sides to join and evolve throughout the story, fighting with or against evil forces.
RETRY By Rovio Mobile Ltd. Free
If there is one game by Rovio that I want to put on the list it's Retry. Addictive as hell, it won't suck money out of you on micro transactions. Instead, it will make you screech your teeth, bite your lips, sweat, swear and weep. A Flappy Bird clone, Retry is better in many ways. The control system makes a lot more sense and is easier to handle while the environments make it pretty tough to advance. There is no cap on the amount of time you can play, so you will be steaming with aggravation as long as you can take it. Addictive personalities are advised to stay away from this game, as well as from Angry Birds Star Wars II Free.
Laserbreak Laser Puzzle Free, IAPs by errorsevendev
I was impressed with this new puzzler. Everything about it is both traditional and fresh at the same time - awesome visuals, and geometry-based challenges. You have to direct the laser ray to a specific X point in a room, but there are a lot of objects on your way, and some of them can reflect the laser beam, so you have to interact with different geometric bodies to twist and turn them and path the way for the laser. It’s atmospheric, mind-boiling, hard and engrossing, and I would recommend it to both kids and grown-ups - it's great for educational purposes because it relies on natural qualities of objects and laws of nature, but most importantly - geometry.
Haegemonia – Legions of Iron $3.99 by Anuman
Once a stellar PC game, Haegemonia comes to mobile, and it is still relevant and equally stellar. A space strategy game, Haegemonia is so huge and beautiful, the fans of strategy games might as well take a vacation. The game looks spectacular in every aspect, especially the battle close-ups, while the control system is so huge and complex, it took me a few days to get the knack of it. The map is what annoys me most of all, especially the long-tap with two fingers gesture that is supposed to let you move the map, but aside from that, Haegemonia is an immense world, where you get two campaigns - Earth and Mars, fighting, colonizing, terraforming and exploring the galaxy and building up your empire. It's a long-lasting toy for space strategy hardcore gamers.
Star Wars: Commander Free, IAPs, by Disney
Even though it's not my personal favorite, I have to give credit to SW Commander by Disney, especially considering how generic and void most movie tie-in games tend to be these days. Commander, on the other hand, takes full advantage of the Star Wars franchise content, and let you play at your heart's content building your Tattoine base and battling the empire. That is, if you join the rebellion, because you can join the empire forces, too. The visuals are great; the performance is smooth; the voiceover is amazing. You get to interact with your favorite heroes, build bases, fight the enemy, advance and participate in global events, and Disney seems to be dedicated to release new content in frequent updates. The one nag that I hate is how you lose all your army in every battle, which I think is not fair. Other than that, it's an engrossing tower defense in the best traditions of Star Wars.
Wayward Souls $1.99
If there are fans of the 16-bit games out there, Wayward Souls has made a spectacular entry last month. This successful mix of arcade and dungeon crawler takes you to the darkest of dungeons, where you get to play as one of the six characters making your way from one zombie-filled chamber to another ghost-filled. The game is unapologetically hard, and chances are you will die more often than you'd expect. It is also very atmospheric and engrossing, but what surprised me was the genuine beauty of a 16-bit design, which is not my favorite, but here I must admit it truly shines. Even for a no-fan of retro games, I admit Wayward Souls is one of the best in its genre.
BombSquad Free
This one is a really wow entry and I recommend it both to groups of friends looking to have a blast during their sleepovers and parties, as well as individual players appreciating fun gaming. BombSquad lets up to 8 players play simultaneously from their Android devices via Android Connect, or on their OUYA. There is a library of hilarious games, some sports, some kicking, pushing and bomb throwing. It looks beautiful, and I loved the matching classical sound score, but you can set your own playlist to accompany the gameplay. The game features a responsive and customizable control system, and if you have OUYA you can download another app by the same developer that lets you use your Android device as a controller for Bombsquad games you play on your OUYA. Besides the awesome multiplayer, the game has a neat single player mode with several mini-games that are fresh, fun and addictive.
Interstellar Free
Even though I have my complaints here, Interstellar is an impressive movie tie-in. You get to build your own solar system and practice jumping from one gravitational field to another until you find a black hole that will take you to another galaxy. A spectacle and a marvel, Interstellar has a nice planet forming control panel, but it's the black hole jumps with impressive close-ups that are the best part of the gameplay. Another feature I loved was that you get to explore solar systems created by other players, so take your time to construct something spectacular because you will have visits, too. The physics is hard to master, though, so the challenge is serious. Somehow, folks at Universal forgot about the music. It's not an A, but an impressive game with huge potential.
Anomaly Defenders $3.99/$4.99
The list would not be full without one of the best tower defense games that closes the Anomaly series. Defenders looks gorgeous, and the gameplay is nothing short of brilliant for those familiar with the previous installments, featuring awe-inspiring and intense action. The humans launch a decisive counter-attack against the aliens, and you have to confront them.
Bonus
I would also recommend Unmechanical, $2.99, to those who enjoyed Machinarium, and DaWindci Deluxe, $1.99, if you are looking for a relaxed and aesthetically pleasing gameplay. Those who once enjoyed Solaris may want to check out XON Episode 2, $1.29; it nearly drove me crazy being locked in an alien facility with nobody to keep me company.
