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Platformers are ubiquitous among video games, and many new games of this genre riding on the coattails of the classic games of yesteryear. For a modern platformer to stand out, there has to be a new angle to hook players that are bored with an oversaturated market of generic Mario lookalikes.
Gunman Clive, an iOS game that has recently made the move to Mac, combines tight, challenging gameplay with gorgeous, stylish graphics, elevating it above copycat platformers. But are cool graphics and smooth moves enough to make a good game or is Gunman Clive just shooting his mouth off? (more…)
Puzzle games are everywhere, and it can be hard to find something new that you love and can connect with. Fortunately Fractal: Make Blooms Not War burst onto the scene and gave us an engaging puzzler with a new spin on matching and board-clearing games. An attractive interface and inventive gameplay make this one not to be missed.
What sets Fractal apart from other matching games like Bejeweled, though? We’ll answer that, look at what makes Fractal such a special game, and go over a few tips for getting started. (more…)
Half-Life. To this day the series stands as an iconic and fairly revolutionary gaming release that’s legacy commands all the attention of the industry press whenever there’s a whisper of its third iteration. The original Half-Life was released to much critical acclaim and remains a classic in the eyes of gaming history, albeit not one that was ever released for OS X.
While the 1998 game was indeed never introduced on the Mac, the 2004 sequel, Half-Life 2, was released alongside Steam’s debut on the platform. Half-Life 2 and its subsequent episode takes a familiar gameplay setup and key characters while throwing them into a significantly developed storyline and new environment. As we begin to wrap up our coverage of the state of OS X gaming, its time to dedicate some time to one of gaming’s most iconic products and take a history lesson in the Half-Life universe. (more…)
Ever get nostalgic for 8-bit gaming, but don’t want to play an old game in Dosbox? Shaun Imman‘s critically acclaimed The Last Rocket was a hit on the iPhone when it launched last year, earning 10 stars in our own review.
The Last Rocket has just recently been released for the Mac, and I was eager to try it out as soon as I saw it in the App Store. Spoiler: it was every bit as good as I expected.
Sports games have always been rare on the Mac, owing largely to the economics of development — such games are expensive to make, so you need a big audience to justify it, and the Mac install base has never reached the critical mass for sports titles. Golf games are something of an exception, however, with several Tiger Woods, Links, and Jack Nicklaus releases for the Mac on the commercial end, coupled with a dozen or so shareware titles in the past 15 years.
Nova Golf fits more in the spirit of the low-budget shareware games of old, and it comes at a time when the only other real options for a golf simulation on a Mac are the latest Tiger Woods Cider port, World Challenge Golf 2011, or GL Golf — Nova Golf’s award-winning predecessor. It’s a solid game, but it’s also disappointing in its current state. (more…)
Here at AppStorm, we review many games throughout our various networks. From Mac games to iPhone and Android games, we can’t help but to give some love to the gaming culture. With the recent addition of Game Dev to the Tuts+ network and our own Gaming Month here at Mac.AppStorm, we decided to review an app that isn’t a game, rather, a game creator: GameSalad.
GameSalad is an application that allows you to create games for a variety of platforms. So in essence, this app can help you create your first game in no time. If you are an indie game developer or someone interested in creating a soon-to-be iOS smash-hit, GameSalad is probably the best and easiest way to get your hands dirty and let your creativity run wild.
Spore is far from a new game. It was released almost four years ago to a tremendous amount of hype, in part due to it’s lead designer having a history of simulation games including the blockbuster SimCity and The Sims franchises. It received some criticism due to that hype, but it still turned out to be a fantastic game even if it hasn’t been awarded the same legacy and future that The Sims holds.
Spore is a simulation game based around evolution where you take a species from being a mere cell in an ocean to a galactic, space-bourn empire. Through the game you are slowly introduced to more civilised concepts of unity and, through hostile or friendly measures, eventually achieve world and galactic domination. As part of our look back on some of our favourite Mac games as part of Gaming Month, let’s take a look at this ambitious game. (more…)
The Sims series is an undeniable icon of PC gaming, selling more than 150 million units and earning a place amongst the best-selling video game franchises of all time. Controlling the lives of virtual people (the “sims”) has become somewhat of a phenomenon and, while hardcore gamers might laugh it off, The Sims has introduced gaming to whole new demographics.
The Sims 3 was released in 2009 as the latest base game of the franchise and the first to be simultaneously released on both Mac and PC. In this review, we’re going to take a look at a game that remains immensely popular on the platform and that’s role in it’s franchise makes it an icon of Mac gaming.
A good video game keeps you on the edge of your seat while you play. A great video game does that and more, with a powerful story and immersive gameplay environment sticking with you far past the time that you set your controller down. It’s games like these that cause nightmares, forcing you to carefully look behind doors and peer into dark corners for fear of the approaching enemy, even in real life.
Lone Survivor is a great Mac game which fits solidly into the second category. It’s a psychological thriller set in a chilling, virtual environment. While the length of each play through the game lasts only a few hours, Lone Survivor definitely continues to stick with you. It definitely caused me at least one nightmare! Read on to learn more about the story, the game and what I thought of it.
Minecraft is a phenomenon. The game that was born from one man’s mind has sold nearly 7 million copies and generated an immensely devoted community of fans. It’s been heralded as one of the best games of all time, and it’s not at all difficult to see why.
When we reviewed it last, Minecraft was still in beta, version 1.9, and has since been officially released, taken out of beta and received a wealth of significant updates. With Minecraft 1.3 hot off the presses and hitting as a free update, it’s time to take another luck at why this game is so successful and offer some update views. (more…)
