Freaky Dragon - Quick Review (Android game)

The second game to be released by FreakoutGames, 'Freaky Dragon' offers players a much more substantial level of gameplay compared to their first game, 'Freaky Tup', yet immediately I felt a stab of déjà vu. The game plays suspiciously like an old Neopets game I used to be addicted to, yes I am ashamed to admit that, and playing Freaky Dragon feels like a shoddy remake of the game but adjusted for mobile phone gaming. 

Developer: Freakout Games
Genre: Arcade 
Release date: 29th July 2014
Platforms: Android
ESRB: E - Everyone

'Freaky Dragon' is an endless runner game where, essentially, you’ll be endlessly running, or flying, to the other end of the screen as you dodge obstacles, avoid the top and bottom layers of the screen and pick up golden eggs. The premise is very simple and, overall, the gameplay has some fun elements as you not only have to dip and dive your dragon about but fire at enemies and barriers that get in your way. The only way the game can end is when you die so in this sense the game becomes a test of endurance and stamina so the longer you play the harder it gets. In my case, 30 seconds was enoguh for me to fail at the game and simply playing the game long enough to acquire thees screenshots proved to be almost excsesively frustrating. No sooner had I flapped my way forward a few times was I being shot down by a ballista's arrow. As somebody used to playing 'Volcano Run' religiously (oh the shame), I found the controls to be jerky and difficult to use as making the micro-movements often required to get out of a tight spot seemed almost impossible. 

The general appearance of the game is pleasant with bright, bold colours though it’s not particularly well constructed. Whilst the facial expressions of your dragon are decent the animations can be off, for example when you breathe fire, letting out a short and sharp fireball, it continuously appears above you and more in line with your body than your mouth. The game is set with a repeatedly background of dark, dank blue caverns and the odd stalagmite or stalagmite break this up whilst doubling as obstacles. Other inanimate obstacles include spiked boulders that only try and pierce you when you get close, fat, golden cannons and ballistae that all want to knock you out of the sky though the latter do not actually move to track your progression. The enemies look brilliant however and, rather than just a repeat of one or two, there’s a decent mix of creatures and all of them are well designed and quite monstrous, in a good way. 

The soundtrack of the game is something the developers have got right and overall it’s all pretty pleasant and not too irritating which is important as this game may go on for a very long time, depending on how determined you are. An added feature that many players will enjoy is the ability to share your game score on Facebook as well as a leaderboard where you can compete for the top player scores. With all of this in mind, Freaky Dragon is a free game and with its reasonably challenging difficulty level and easy to use controls this is a game that you may as well play if you fancy an indie, endless runner game that looks and sounds ok.

The Good: 

• Decent soundtrack
• Looks reasonably good
• Bright, colourful graphics
• Escalating level of difficulty keeps it challenging
• Abiltiy to compete with friends and within a leaderboard
• It's free.
• Nicely designed enemies

The Bad:

• Very simplistic
• Nothing really stands out
• Some animations are off
• Dragon has a weird face.
• Eerily similar to 'Volcano Run'

The Score: 4/10

Final thoughts: “Whilst Freaky Dragon is nothing particularly special it’s clear that FreakoutGames are improving with every release and I’m kind of looking forward to see what’s on the horizon.”

You can download Freaky Dragon from the Android store, here.

Read More

Orbitum - Quick Review (iOS game)

Never has the very real threat of falling into a black hole felt so calming. Orbitum is a strangely hypnotic game where every second counts in your struggle to stay alive by hopping from one orbital line to another. 

Developer: Happymagenta Ltd.
Genre: Action arcade
Release date: 2nd July 2014
Platforms: iOS (Ipad and Iphone)
ESRB: E - Everyone. 

Essentially you’re playing as a very bright, white planet that is being steadily dragged into a black hole by its extremely strong gravitational pull and, though you can hop away from this fatal void and take refuge on orbits that are farther away, these quickly decay beneath you. Despite the inevitable decay of the line you’ve, in the very least, bought yourself some time to consider the nature of your existence and perhaps the overall meaning of all of this. Though it’s tempting to just flee from the danger entirely you’ll find yourself trapped in by an, equally deadly, red barrier. This barrier that switches between being an unearthly mist or a solid red line prevents you from venturing too far out and leaves you stuck between a rock and a hard place. Between this fatal barrier and the deadly black hole suctioning you in there’s not much you can do except move between lines with lightning fast reflexes. The increasingly strong gravitational forces and the ever-present blockade of doom aside there’s even more threats to contend with; red, triangular obstacles are continually thrown in your general direction to keep you from lolling about too long on any particular line. 

Ok so perhaps lolling about isn’t the right term as the game generally feels like you’re running on a treadmill with some sadist at the front of it, turning up the dial to make you run faster and faster. All the while, there’s a life threatening pit behind you that, some kind of lava filled, shark infested, spike laden ditch that you’re not too keen on falling into. So you keep running, helplessly and hopelessly because there’s nowhere to go except not in the death-pit whilst your sadist buddy laughs and throws knives at you. Why you’d choose to partake in this masochistic game of ‘stay alive and stay fit at the same time’ is questionable but, there’s no doubt about it, Orbitum is somehow very good stress-relief. On a much needed positive note you’re also thrown helpful items like a shield or extra points that revolve around on the orbital lines, tempting you into making a premature jump so you can grab them. Green hexagons are the items that give you additional points to boost your high score whilst blue cubes will reward you with some kind of helpful item, such as the shield or a hyper-jump powerup. 

Underpinning all of this is an electronic female voice updating you with what you’ve just picked up, the new level you’re on and things of that sort. A weird, hypnotic electronic music track plays continually in the background and generally I found it both distracting and helpful though it did grate a little after just a few minutes of play. Despite the grating, the rhythmic beat from the music actually gave me something to time my jumps against and, in this sense, it acted as some kind of celestial, auditory anchor in a sea of… death. The learning curve of the game is spot on as whilst you only start with one or two of those red triangles and plenty of helpful items the pressure quickly increases as you become more familiar with the game. By the time you’re a couple of minutes into he game you’re battling against multiple triangles and working within a much larger space when the game switches its background colour to pale rather than dark. Overall the game is fairly addictive and very challenging, with its low price tag and clean cut, simplistic graphics its worth playing if you enjoy reflex based arcade games.

The Good:

• The challenging nature of later levels keeps you playing
• Hypnotic and mesmerising game draws your attention 
• The game design is clean cut and rather tasteful 
• Shifts in the colour scheme and associated gameplay changes adds depth 
• Simple to understand and easy to get into

The Bad:

• Music can be grating and distracting
• Not particularly original and brings nothing new to the table 
• Not the most addictive or fun of survival games

The Score: 5/10

Final thoughts: “That was weird, I have a headache, I don’t think lava filled shark spike pits are a thing, but they should be.”

Read More