First one I'm going to cover is Mirror's Edge for the iOS. I haven't played it for console, so I went into the game entirely blind. What I encountered within the first couple levels was what I felt was an amazing port. I had heard the game ported well to touch screens, but after the first couple levels, it felt like the game was designed with tablets in mind. The controls were very intuitive - swipe up to jump, down to slide - and I doubt I really needed a tutorial to pick them up. When enemies first appeared, they gave a quick tutorial about how to fight them, and again, the controls felt perfect.
I'm only a couple levels into the game thus far, but the game feels solid. I'm looking forward to learning more about the world in the game, and I hope the difficulty ramps up in the end. Still, it's a great level-based game that is easily continued in short bursts - perfect for on-the-go gamers who have an iPad.
Next up is Dead Space for iOS. This one I'm on the fence about. The graphics look phenomenal, and the ambient sound - headphones are recommended, and for good reason as the sound truly becomes 3D - is magnificent. As I ran through the halls after the necromorphs appear for the first time, I could hear their growls from right behind me, and I certainly wasn't going to turn and take them out.
The controls, however, seem to stutter slightly. There wasn't much they could do with them, to be fair, but the big screen seems to work against the iPad in this regard. My thumbs were confined to the corners of the screen, and some inputs required me to move them strangely - opening a door, for instance, has me tap the door (and, generally, the door input was right in the center of my screen.
Still, looking at it not as a port but as a stand-alone IP, the controls add to the suspense and horror of the game, so I can overlook the issues with moving my hands around the large iPad screen - I've also heard it plays remarkably well on the iPhone, so maybe I'll try that later.
Finally, Bioshock Infinite. Right from the get-go, the game throws you into the idyllic Columbia. After a short introduction, you begin to see that Columbia was built on religious fanaticism - you enter a lighthouse with poster boards about sin and Sodom all over the place. Soon enough, hell breaks loose and you begin the game proper.
The graphics are superb, the vigors add varied ways to approach each fight, and the suspense is right in line with the previous games in the series. Despite being in a bright, above-the-clouds city, the ambience is very dark and dreary. Further, you can see all is not well in this 1912 city. There appear to be radicals within the city, and racism appears to abound among the residents of this city - they even appear to idolize John Wilkes Booth in one of the areas you go through on your journey to find the girl you were sent to retrieve, Elizabeth.
That's about as far as I was able to get in the two hours I had to play today, but from what I've seen, it easily lives up to the hype of the game. Still, combat seems fairly on-rails - you fight a group of enemies, you go through to the next group of enemies, rinse, repeat - so I'm hoping things begin to open up as I progress through the game.
Stay tuned for future updates on the game. See you again soon!
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