Tag Archives: ipad

Spellsword App Review

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Nerdr| 2 Comments

Spellsword app review. Spell sword, developed by FireFruitForge and published by Everplay intersctive Games, on the iPad and iPhone, is a fun and addictive little game. An easy five out of five stars.

Graphics

Could be better. Spellsword has the pixel look we’ve all seen before and it looks nice enough but is lacking in detail and readability. Spellsword almost looks like Everplay took the games detailed photoshop images and ran them through a pixel filter rather than pixellating the graphics from step 1. They do grow on you eventually, but imagine blurry huge pixel graphics and you get the idea. Not pleasant, but acceptable for a platformer like this. For reference I was playing on an iPad 3 with retina graphics. Spellsword might look better visually on a lower end device like the iPhone.

Gameplay

Few games are as amazingly fun as this one. Spellsword has that “one more go” element nailed just right. I couldn’t put it down. Deliciously addictive and just plain fun, with no grinding and a 5 hour start to finish. This is where Spell sword earns those five stars and in the end it’s the gameplay that matters most. Perfect.

There are power ups to pick up, upgrades to your character and money to buy. In-app purchases are not necessary at all, except to support the developers who are small time indies Everplay. The game is based on card power ups you find on each level. Touch the cards and events happen on screen from them and another power up appears in a different location. Things like fireballs, a black hole that sucks enemies in and ice shards blasting out. It’s fun.

Spellswords upgrade system is just right, you never feel the levels are too easy or too hard. You get the feeling the guys at Everplay really took their time with play-testing every level for difficulty and sorting them perfectly.

Spellsword comes with 3 mission packs of 20 levels each, with more “coming soon”. No grinding or in-app purchases required to finish all missions.

Sound

The sound effects in spellsword are simply stunning, perfect and with oomph. I love the music too. Some of the best pixel bit tunes i’ve heard in a game app to date. They never get tiring or repetitive. The sound in Spellsword really is something special and worth the buck just to hear it alone. If I was making a pixel app or game and needed music and fx, i’d hunt Duncan McPherson down and hire him.

Spellsword costs $0.99 on the Apple app store.

Speelswords core missions take about 5 hours or less to complete, and there is an endless mode for those wanting more. Although once you’ve finished the main missions available (about 60) it’s ripe for deletion as the leader boards are owned by guys with 5,000+ points.

Definitely a great price and well worth the cost. I’d buy Spellsword again knowing what I now know.

Review scores:
Graphics 3.5/10.
Sound 10/10.
Gameplay 13/10. Deal.

Overall: Spellsword gets a five out of five stars for just plain blasting that gameplay right out the park.

Recommended.

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Microsoft surface tablet

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Nerdr| Leave a comment

My quick review of the Microsoft surface table announcement.

Reasons I want a Microsoft surface tablet

  • looks cool!
  • I like the kickstand.

reasons I don’t want a Microsoft surface tablet:

  • That horrible UI. Not just the dated 80’s faux retro bland monocolor boxes, or the must be different from Apple iPad swipe system, but also the general xbox 360 feel of it all. i just find myself consistently hating that UI and now that’s what they’ve chosen to use for their entire world of technology? At this point that UI is a sunk cost and I understand their reluctance to letting it go after working on it for so long, but they need to make a fresh design. I find glow neon effects are always nice and pretty, how about that?
  • Smart cover keyboard on the surface tablet from Microsoft is pretty cool to look at but to use will be dreadful. For those that remember the Sinclair spectrum zx81 with it’s 80’s microwave touchscreen controls, the bluetooth keyboard on the surface tablet will be the same. Cute, but not useable at all.
  • Continuing with the bad keyboard theme, what about motion? How sturdy is that thing while typing? Will the Microsoft smart pad keyboard be slipping while you type up that master thesis?

The Microsoft tablet computer is also confused as to what it is trying to be. It’s too flimsy and unworkable a keyboard for laptop work, and not very useful as a tablet either without apps. Useless really. And for that reason, it will do poorly in sales. Microsoft no doubt knows this and will repeat the xbox 360 strategy once again, which was to make an average product followed by regular and consistent iteration. That strategy works, in general, but it lacks impact like with Apple products.

Microsofts marketing strategy has been interesting in the buildup to the surface tablet announcement. Last week a future Microsoft strategy document was “leaked” which lead to sizeable discussion and hype building up. Then today we have the announcement. Perfect marketing and PR. I want one, but where to I go to buy one? Sorry. It will be released some time in the future. Well my credit card is going back into my wallet and I’ll have forgotten all about the Microsoft surface tablet by the time its gets its official release.

Apple release the products for purchase the SAME DAY as the announcement. Get them while they’re hot, and it works. Thats why Apple is sitting on $100 billion in cash right now. What they do works. Microsoft need to just copy it.

The question everyone will have is “what can I do with it?” this is something Apple answered on day 1. Get apps, make music, movies, create, do stuff. What can I do with the Microsoft surface tablet? Internet…okay. Anything else? No idea.

Congratulations to Microsoft for trying with the surface tablet concept, but this is not how to do it. They should have copied the iPad hardware exactly, one upping them in the areas that matter like screen resolution and speed. Created some awesome UI and software to go with it to make the Microsoft surface tablet truly an amazing, game changing, work or art.

But they didn’t and now they lose again. Flop.

Typed from my iPad.

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Perfect escape walkthrough

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Nerdr| 30 Comments

A quick walkthrough of perfect escape on the iPad. Perfect escape is created by Flyhill games and available from the app store. Go here for my perfect escape 2 walkthrough.

Quick clue: check the map to see hidden items on top of shelves.

There are two rooms, the shopping room and the bathroom. This walkthrough for perfect escape on ipad is not in order because I was typing quickly. Sorry!

Use items in perfect escape by clicking on them and if you are in a place you can use them it will show option to “use”.

The shopping area items are most difficult to get, and the tags for the till. You need two tags and two bottles. use scissors on some of the screens to cut tags from items. The game will not tell you when an item has a tag, so keep tapping all the shelves and items, then open scissors. If it says use then that item has a tag and can be cut.

The perfume near the shopping till is used on the tv screen and the big mirror in the bathroom.

Use map view to find scissors on top shelf and spanner for rust in toilet room.

Use scissors to cut labels off some handbags. Cleanser and dior are in bathroom. One on window near vase, the other near the sink. You need to scan four designer items in total to open till. The order you scan them is found by using perfume on the fashion poster in tv screen.

Make wooden doll and use on small bicycle to get key to power. Switch on power using switch in the green box. You can now use the TV and shopping till.

Set time on clock the same as the big clock tower in the window.

Play tv game to get key. You don’t need to finish the second level!

Use Perfume on tv screen to show brand names on poster. Find these 4 tags/bottles and use on till in order as on the right side of the poster to unlock drawer under till and get key to exit.

Gun on bottom side of toilet.

Bullet in bath, will need to turn power off first. The spanner for the rust is on top of the door, use map to see where it is. Use spanner on tap and this will drain the water.

Use perfume on big mirror in bathroom to see poorly translated clue!

Shoot mirror in shopping room with gun using bullet, then use key to go through and exit. Well done!

The shopping area needs lots of tapping to find hidden things, just keep trying. Perfect escape can be finished, so don’t give up.

Thats the end of the perfect escape walkthrough! I hope you found it helpful. It’s a very short game and for a review it is good if it is free, but I would not pay because it is too short. I got perfect escape free on a free download day.

Update 2 main questions from the comments that you guys are stuck on. Where is the bathroom? And location of all doll pieces…so here goes!

1. Where is the bathroom in perfect escape?

The bathroom is behind the door between the TV and the mirror screens. You will need the key. Make the doll, put doll on bike, get key for power, switch on power, play TV game (you don’t need to finish the second level!!) then key appears under the TV. Use this key to open the bathroom door.

2. Doll piece locations in perfect escape:

Left leg: on power switch screen (green box on wall screen). It is near the white handbag.

Right leg: top shelf under clock. Check map to see location.

Left arm: under middle.helmet in screen with lots of shelves (go 1 left from tv screen).

Right arm: under seat in tv screen.

Head: set clock time to match clock in window. Head appears.

Torso/main body: On helmet screen with lots of shelves, same screen as left arm. It is near the vases on the far right of the screen.

Hope that helps you guys complete perfect escape.

Extra update: anonymous asked in the comments: how to turn off bath in perfect escape and drain water?

First you turn the power off, this stops the shock you get when you touch the bath. Then check the map while you are in the bathroom. You will see the spanner, I think it was above the door. Use this to stop the water, this will automatically drain the water and you can get the bullet.

Anonymous asked: where is the YSL tag?

The YSL handbag tag is on one of the handbags in the main shop area. Click the handbag, then tap on the scissors you’ve already collected and choose “use” to cut the tag. I think the handbag is on the TV screen, bottom left. Difficult to click in the right area, aim for the left side of the bag slightly to zoom it in. For the other tag, try all the items in the shop area until you find the right one. It’s difficult to click in the right place for this part, but keep trying!

Where is the LV tag?

DA from the comments provides these details: The LV tag is on the green power switch screen. Click the white handbag to zoom in, then use the scissors to clip the tag. Done!

Myles asks: where are all the tags/bottles in perfect escape?

Two bottles in the bathroom, one near the sink and the other is near the vase near the window. The two tags are in the shopping room. Click around to zoom in on items, then try to use scissors. i think one is on the power switch wall side and the other on the bathroom door screen under the boat, bottom left handbag. You cannot see the tags, so you have to just try the scissors on every item once zoomed in.

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