"If there is an app for that"

Question Everything in ICEY, an Intense Hack-n-Slash Action Game

October 24, 2017 by RSS Feed

ICEY ($2.99) by X.D. Network is a side-scrolling action game that's rather meta in and of itself. This is a mobile port of the ICEY game that was released on Steam in November 2016. If you enjoy other hack-n-slash titles like Super Samurai Rampage and Severed, then you'll like what ICEY brings to the table, but it's not without some flaws.

When I'm feeling a bit stressed, I enjoy getting my pent up frustrations out through video games. There's nothing better feeling than just unleashing a flurry of attacks on some digital enemies and watching them fall, you know? While I haven't heard of ICEY until now, I knew that this was a game I had to check out after seeing screenshots and video of the gameplay. And while I'm liking it so far, it definitely isn't without some flaws.

$1.99

Super Samurai Rampage

Brackish Games

$6.99

Severed

DRINKBOX STUDIOS INC.

Visually, ICEY is gorgeous. The game features a heavily anime-inspired aesthetic to it, especially with ICEY's character design. ICEY is rendered in 2D, but the backgrounds are rather detailed and provide a bit of depth to everything, so it's almost like pseudo-3d. Environments are fairly detailed and textured, along with enemy robots. If you're an anime fan, you'll feel right at home. ICEY has smooth and fluid animations, so there was no issue with lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The atmospheric and ambient soundtrack is soothing to listen to, and the sound effects are done well. On top of that, the unique narration that you hear as you play is incredibly human-like and sounds natural, but will make you question everything. As you may have guessed, this is where the meta part of the game comes into play.

Since ICEY is a side-scrolling action game, players must go through everything in linear fashion. You'll navigate through a series of connected rooms in order, and the only way to proceed is to clear out all enemies in the room you're in. There are also some tough boss fights that you'll be put up against. The game starts you off with a tutorial that explains all of the controls and basic actions to you, which I recommend paying attention to because things can get a bit tricky. The story is a bit generic and cliché, involving the typical hero who awakens from a deep slumber and must set out to defeat an evil villain trope that's been overdone.

The narrator will narrate everything that occurs on the screen, and even point you in the right direction to make progress, but you may not always want to listen. The meta part of the game involves breaking free of an omnipresent force and forging your own path. After all, can you really trust a mysterious omnipresent force like that without questioning its true motives?

Controls in ICEY are simple, but take a bit of time and practice to fully master. In the bottom left corner is your virtual joystick for horizontal movement. The bottom right corner has four buttons placed in a diamond formation, and each one is labeled with a number and a symbol. With the "01" button, you perform a basic attack. The "02" performs a heavy attack, which is capable of breaking through enemy defenses. The "03" allows you to jump (double tap for double jump) and "04" does a dash forward. Eventually you get a "05" button in the very bottom corner that lets you do special attacks once you've unlocked them.

While the game does a good job of explaining the controls, I wish that there was the option to change key bindings. I often found myself pressing the wrong button because I'm used to controls from other games, and end up dashing instead of attacking, or attacking rather than jumping. Hopefully the developers consider giving players the option to customize the button positions or bindings for a bit more freedom and streamlining in with the controls in the future.

ICEY's health bar is shown in the top left corner. Underneath the blue health bar is the yellow shield gauge (looks like arrows pointing right). The shield protects her from some damage but has to recharge after it's depleted. Performing a dash uses one charge, and you only have three available at a time. However, dash charges refill quickly enough, so you shouldn't have an issue with being completely out.

The key behind ICEY are combos...a lot of combos. The damage that ICEY does is increased for each consecutive hit that she's able to land. She's also capable of executing crazy combos from the ground and air alike, so it's best to experiment. And make sure to break through enemy defenses with her heavy attack so then you can unleash your fury.

For those of you who care about trophies and achievements, there are plenty to discover and unlock in ICEY. You'll also come across floating panels that can be activated with a hit from ICEY. These allow you to get upgrades for ICEY's moves and abilities by spending the cash you acquire from defeated foes. It's important to take advantage of these when you come across them, because they'll make battles easier.

ICEY is an intense side-scrolling action hack-n-slash style game that is rather meta.

The Good

ICEY is a great little side-scrolling action game that is sure to delight fans of the genre. The anime style art is polished and appealing, while the music and sound effects are a nice touch. The controls work well enough but require time and practice to master. The game's story is the typical fare, but the meta part with the narration and questioning of the omnipresent force is a nice element to the game. Battles are fun and intense, and should appeal to fans of hack-n-slash action.

The Bad

While ICEY is pretty good for the most part, it's not without flaws. I mentioned earlier that the controls should be customizable with the bindings, as it would streamline the process for players who are used to other key bindings for similar games. Also, the difficulty level, even on Easy, can be a bit hard because of the controls. Hopefully the developer can fix that.

The verdict

Overall, ICEY is definitely a game that fans of the side-scrolling hack-n-slash action genre should check out. The game features amazing visual style, great sound, and the narration can be rather humorous and serious at the same time. Controls are okay, but should be fixed in the future. The key to victory in battles is dependent on your combos, so make sure to mash on those buttons and land as many hits as you can. The game says "don't think, just fight," and that's exactly what you'll want to do when robots are trying to get you.

I recommend giving ICEY a try if you're looking for a fun and frantic hack-n-slash game. You can find ICEY on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

8.1

OVERALL

Graphics 9

Replayability 8

Sound/Music 8.5

Gameplay 8

Game Controls 7

$2.99

ICEY

X.D. Network Inc.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 10/24/2017

October 24, 2017 by RSS Feed

Smart PDF Scanner: Scan Documents and Receipts , RoomScan Pro , Guest List Organizer Pro and more

iPhone:

RadioApp - A simple radio for iPhone and iPod touch ( $1.99 → Free ) Tal Shrestha RadioApp operates like a classic radio, analog tuner and all. Just swipe across the tuner to change stations. RadioApp will display the name of the station and song as long as they’re available. You’re also able to favorite stations, search for something specific, and set a sleep timer. The app includes an AM tuner and international stations as well.

Universal:

Smart PDF Scanner: Scan Documents and Receipts ( $4.99 → Free ) Qrayon, LLC Smart PDF Scanner is perfect for all your scanning needs. Its powerful capturing and rendering engine ensures you’ll come out with crystal clear scans every time. It’s able to automatically detect the edges of your document, and you can manually change the parameters afterward if need be. Smart PDF Scanner utilizes a simple tagging system, allowing you to color code categories and properly sort your scans. Scans can be shared via email or AirDrop, or you can upload them to the cloud.

RoomScan Pro ( $0.99 → Free ) Locometric RoomScan works like magic. It allows you to get the floor plan for a property three different ways: augmented reality scanning, touching an iPhone against walls, or drawing manually. Each room of the property can be named, identified by level, and include a height and a color. After scanning all of the rooms of a property, RoomScan allows you to print or save the floor plan as an image.

Guest List Organizer Pro ( $2.99 → Free ) Denys Yevenko Guest List Organizer takes the guesswork out of throwing an event. You’re able to import contact information from your address book or create new entries for guests manually. Pre-defined fields help track information like contact info, table number, job position, and more. You’re able to record if a guest has been invited, if they’ve confirmed their attendance, and if they’ve attended an event. After the event is over, Guest List Organizer can generate a PDF report. Gust List Organizer also allows you to sync data across devices, sort guests, and manage relationships between guests.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 10/23/2017

October 23, 2017 by RSS Feed

Rudoku , Mathematical Run , Jigsaw Wonder Polar Bears for Kids and more

Universal:

Rudoku ( $1.99 → Free ) Cerebral Gardens Rudoku will keep your brain sharp. It consists of a game board with hexagonal tiles. Core tiles have outer tiles with randomly assigned values between one and nine. The core tiles themselves have a pair of numbers, with the top being the sum of all of the outer tiles and the bottom being the target number. It’s up to you to move the outer tiles around until all of the target numbers for the core tiles are achieved. Rudoku features an endless amount of levels, multiple game modes and board sizes, stat tracking, and dark and light themes.

Mathematical Run ( $0.99 → Free ) EagleTap Mathematical Run is an endless high score game with a mathematical twist. You control an arrow that rides on three different rails. Tap on the screen to jump from rail to rail in order to collect stars and avoid obstacles. You’ll also be presented with equations, and you must travel through the correct answer to keep the game going. Mathematical Run includes seven game modes.

Jigsaw Wonder Polar Bears for Kids ( $1.99 → Free ) Eggroll Games LLC You won’t be able to resist the charm of this jigsaw puzzle game. Each of the 33 jigsaw puzzles features a polar bear photo to reconstruct. The jigsaw puzzles can be broken up into as few as four pieces and as many as 24. You’re also able to choose whether or not you want a colored background and outline hints. What more could you ask for?

Busymind Mindfulness Meditation ( $0.99 → Free ) Kevin Lamping Busymind allows you to fit mindful meditation in no matter where you are. You’re able to choose from one-minute and a five-minute sessions. The sessions are entirely prompt-based, allowing you to perform them regardless of how distracting the world around you has become. The included exercises require you to take a deeper and more detailed look at the world around you, and reset your brain to help focus on the task at hand.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 10/22/2017

October 22, 2017 by RSS Feed

Finn in 1989 - Choice of a Lifeline - Episode One , Starborn Anarkist , Levitagram and more

iPhone:

Loud ( $2.99 → Free ) Shad Deen Loud automatically syncs to your Apple Music, iTunes, and iTunes Match libraries, so no matter how you listen to your music, you’re covered. Just tap and hold to add songs to your queue. Loud also includes Last.fm integration and caching. You’re able to “love” tracks and sync them with your “now playing” status with a tap.

Universal:

Finn in 1989 - Choice of a Lifeline - Episode One ( $1.99 → Free ) David Cordis Finn in 1989 will leave you feeling nostalgic with all of its pop-culture references. Finn is a young boy who is lost in time with only his backpack and walkie-talkie. Being the only person who can pick up his signal, it’s up to you to help guide him to safety. The choices you make determine where this story goes.

Starborn Anarkist ( $2.99 → Free ) ZeMind Game Studio Ltd Play as a disgruntled waste collector, and transform your humble space garbage truck into a powerful spaceship by salvaging debris from your fallen enemies. You’re able to control your ship’s movements via the left joystick and fire its weapons in any direction with the right. Your ship won’t be easy to control at first or have that much firepower, but you can upgrade it after every round using collected debris. Upgrades can be applied by dragging and dropping new pieces into place, allowing you to completely reshape your ship.

Levitagram ( $1.99 → Free ) LOCQL, Inc. To make it seem as if your subject is levitating, start off by taking two separate photos. The first photo should be of your subject in its environment, and the second should be the environment without your subject. Make sure to keep the camera steady between photos in order to get the best results. Levitagram will automatically align and stitch together the two photos, so all that’s left for you to do is cut out the parts you don’t want. When you’re finished creating your magical photo, you’re able to save it or share it via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Messages, or email.

Blox 3D ( $2.99 → Free ) Arjun Gupte Blox 3D’s intuitive control scheme allows anyone to create. You start off with a single block, and you can build from there by tapping and pulling to create new blocks. Make sure to create your base and move upwards first, otherwise it can be difficult to navigate the blocks. The blocks can be rotated with a swipe and zoomed in on with a pinch. Double tap to delete any blocks you’ve created. Your creations can be played out within the app or saved to your photo library.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 10/21/2017

October 21, 2017 by RSS Feed

Tayasui Blocks , Pronto — Timer App , Tadaa SLR and more

iPhone:

Pronto — Timer App ( $8.99 → Free ) Jan Bolz Pronto doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just makes it easier to use. To set a countdown timer, simply turn the dial to adjust the minutes and slide your finger across the bottom to adjust the seconds. Hit start and wait for the alert tone. The app is able to run in the background along with a countdown timer that’s conveniently displayed as an icon badge. Pronto also includes timer history, allowing you to reuse them.

Tadaa SLR ( $3.99 → Free ) menschmaschine Publishing GmbH Tadaa SLR does most of the heavy lifting for you, but it includes a handful of powerful editing features that will please even the most seasoned iPhoneographers. After taking your photo you’re able to apply a mask to your subject manually or have Tadaa SLR detect the edges automatically. The aperture, highlight and gloss levels, and range of your blur effect can be adjusted via sliders. Circular, linear, and complete blur options are available as well. With your subject fully in focus and background blurred out, go ahead and add some filters before sharing it.

Universal:

Tayasui Blocks ( $1.99 → Free ) Tayasui.com Tayasui Blocks allows you to craft just about anything you can imagine. The building process is as easy as tapping to place blocks and tapping some more to paint them. Common gestures allow you to pan around the 3-D environment and zoom in. Whatever you have built can be shared with the community or destroyed using a wide variety of zany weapons. You’re also able to explore the models that other members of the community have created.

BlackCam - Black&White Camera ( $1.99 → Free ) pierre gougelet BlackCam does one thing and does it well. It provides you with dozens of lens filters to choose from, all of which are shown live on your feed. You can also add simulated grain and vignette, and adjust the contrast, brightness, and exposure at will. The app outputs at full resolution, providing you with the best possible results.

Fitness and Bodybuilding by VGFIT ( $0.99 → Free ) XSALGOLD UNIVERSAL LP Fitness and Bodybuilding is your own personal weight room coach. It includes nine exercise categories, allowing you to focus on specific muscle groups. Each exercise comes with a detailed description, training video, and illustration showing what muscles are being worked. You’re able to save and track data regarding weights used and number of repetitions. The app also includes workout plans, the ability to create custom workout plans, a built-in timer, and a built-in calendar.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free