Game Review: Level 22 Restores My Faith In Stealth Classics

I’m just going to say this first, I am not a fan of the “Zelda” style of gaming. Those long, drawn out follow the map and complete the level styles of games just drove me to boredom too quickly. Even as a kid, Zelda barely held my interest. That makes reviewing Level 22: Gary’s Misadventures a bit of a chore for me as that is exactly what this game reminded me of.

As game play began, the controls were simple enough to figure out. You simply tap the screen where you want to go and  your little man made a run for it. Now, that seems simple enough, but then something strange happened and I realized why they bill this out as “the first stealth game set in the merciless and frenetic world of work!”

After a few short moments, it became apparent that there was a large amount of trickery involved in getting pas certain levels and obstacles. The little sleeping security guards, the cameras and a plethora of other traps were waiting for me inside the game. Instantaneously, this became a bit more fun than my old Zelda comparisons.

As I began to find my way around, my little Gary man told me that there might be some stuff to find, or how to sneak past certain areas. After about 10 minutes, Level 22 sucked me in for the long haul.

Of course, all good things have to come to an end, and Level 22 eventually killed the battery on my Lumia 925. While I was a skeptic at first, Noego completely won me over in the end and made me a very happy camper. With a $1.99 price tag, Level 22 isn’t an easy – just download me title – but if you are a fan of stealth games, it is, in my opinion, the best game for you on Windows Phone today.

So, take it for what it’s worth, and give Level 22 a try. You might enjoy steal games a bit more than you thought you would. I know I did.

Level 22

Meet The Amazon Fire Phone

Today was the day that Amazon unveiled the newest member of their digital devices family, the Fire Phone. While the device itself is quite neat, there are very few features that the Fire possess that aren’t already main stream in most mobile devices. The 4.7” display is clear and bright. The 2GB of RAM should power a few Apps on top of their customized Kindle-esque OS. The 32 and 64GB of storage should be enough for most people and the 13MP camera should be capable of capturing those family memories nicely. Those aren’t the interesting parts to the Fire in my mind though, and I hope most Windows Phone users agree with me.

The first feature that peaked my interest was the Home Carousel. It offers one glance access to your data. Emails, appointments, photos and websites right on your home screen. Sound a bit familiar? Sure, the look is a bit different, but it’s awfully similar to the Hub system that Microsoft is slowly moving away from in Windows Phone. The first version of Windows Phone 7 was designed to give uses a one peek access to all their data – a phone to save you from your phone. Remember? Sounds like Home Carousel is a step back in that direction for Amazon.

Their X-Ray service is awfully close to the original Bing button in Windows Phone. I know that Microsoft has moved on to Cortana now, but a long press of the X-Ray button on the device will allow you to listen to music and get lyrics, look up products online and get prices, and even view IMDB information. Again, a striking similarity to where another OS just created a void.

Whispersync is the craziest feature yet, because when you combine this with the new Second Screen feature, you have someone beating Microsoft to the 3 screen concept. Yes, I said it. If this works as well as the demonstration did, Amazon just beat Microsoft at their own game. Your Fire TV is hooked to you big screen. Your Fire HDX is your new portable computer. Now the Fire Phone is the portable handheld that completes the circle. When you have all three working in harmony, you have the dream that was the Three Screen concept that Windows Phone originally was.

Overall, I think this device will be somewhat of a flop, though the concept is the best I’ve seen on the market today. Linking your shopping and personal lifestyles over 3 separate items is brilliant. Now, if they had skipped out on the exclusive AT&T deal, lowered the price to $299 and $399 for the 32GB and 64GB respectively, I think Amazon would have hit a home run. Perhaps they will learn a thing or two from this, though they obviously didn’t learn from the Facebook Phone debacle, and come back with something stronger and more palatable for the next generation device. Until then, We are just left with a fine example of a concept that Microsoft should have completed years ago and should own right now, but due to mismanagement and poor decision making, is still struggling to make work.

Back To Android: A Month Later – What Android Got Right

My usage of the Android operating system is entering the end of the first month. I now have spend adequate time with the OS to really compare where Windows Phone 8.1 is at and what it is missing to truly compete with the most popular OS in the world. There are areas where Windows Phone completely destroys Android, but there are far too many basics where Android simply has better functionality than WP does, and to be very honest, a few of these would push devices like the Lumia 1020 to the front of most people’s shopping lists.

1) The HTC One features direct DLNA playback from the stock music and gallery Apps.

The HTC One has streaming DLNA playback available right from the stock music and video players. The Lumia series requires PlayTo to use this feature – and PlayTo only works when running in the primary App position. This means if you leave PlayTo running in the background and switch over to check your email, PlayTo will stop playing at the next song. Android allows the App to continue to play regardless of what is going on in the foreground.

2) The HTC One allows for connecting external USB Flash Drives.

With a $2 cable from Amazon, you can expand the storage of your HTC One in seconds. Any external drive that does not require power can be hooked right in to the MicroUSB charging port and be used for storage. This means you are no longer limited to the on device storage for photos and videos. This feature would make a device like the Lumia 1020 the ultimate device on the planet. Can you imagine having unlimited storage in your pocket to go with the Lumia 1020 and the camera grip? It would be pure magic.

3) The HTC One offers true VPN setups and usage.

While the average smartphone user probably doesn’t even know what a VPN is, corporate and educational users sure do. With full VPN support baked into the system, Android has a leg up on the suffering Windows Phone version. Will Microsoft get there, of course, but will they get there fast enough to make an Android user skip the Galaxy S5 or the HTC One M8 before next year? Probably not.

4) Microsoft gives better Apps to Android than Windows Phone users.

This one really bugs me to no end. I can honestly say that the OneDrive, Outlook and OneNote Apps in Android gave me a better overall experience than their counterparts in Windows Phone. I know that the Outlook App is technically baked in to the system, but seriously, the Android App is quite amazing. All three of the services simply shine on the HTC One. It actually made “switching over” easier than the HTC program that does all the work for you.

I have to admit at the moment to being torn between my beloved Nokia Lumia 925 and the HTC One. HTC has done a superb job of crafting the One into the best feeling hardware I have ever owned. The metal chassis reminds me of my two favorite Windows Phones so far, the Titan and the Radar. I honestly have to admit, that if HTC releases that rumored W8, which is the HTC One M8 body loaded up with Windows Phone 8.1, I might be tempted to let my 925 go. Of course, if they would just build in support to write to a USB flash drive to my 925, I probably wouldn’t have to look at another device until the 2015 Windows Phones are released.

Game Review: Traffic Racer

Remember those top down view “racer” games like Spy Hunter and well, yeah, that was the only one I came up with also, If you were a fan of that style of play, Traffic Racer by Soner Kara is the next App you need to download to your Windows Phone. While the style of game play is similar though, I am sorry to tell you that I didn’t find the oil slick or the machine gun option anywhere in the game – but I am going to keep playing until I do.

The game starts off easily enough with picking your vehicle type and color. When you play, you earn money to buy more vehicles, colors and options. Starting out, select the color of your truck and press play.

 

Choosing your gaming mode is next. For learning the controls and how they play with your device, I would recommend a free ride to start with. This is just a continuous game mode that resets your vehicle if you crash. There are two endless modes where you drive until you crash. The first features traffic only driving the same direction as you, where as the second has the traffic on the left coming towards you. Time trial is basically a race to see how far you can get in a limited time. All three of the competition options bring something different to the table.

Driving is quite simple with Traffic Racer. Tilt your device left and you turn left. Tilt it right and you move to the right. The lower right hand side of the screen is your gas pedal and the lower left is the brake. If you keep your fingers low enough, they don’t interfere with game play at all with these controls.

 

Playing Traffic Racer is almost as easy as using the controls. Simply move left or right to avoid the traffic and keep going for as long as you can. When you hit another vehicle, your game ends. The graphics on Traffic Racer are great, and the play was smooth on my Nokia Lumia 925. I did find myself wanting to buy new cars faster than I was winning cash, but that’s probably my issue, not one with the game.

Traffic Racer is a great old fashion driving classic. It also give the feel of the modern day runner style games, so if you are a fan of those, it’s worth a look as well. I think the only negative to the game is the 91.65 MB storage size that Storage Sense reported it using on my device. That said, 100MB for a great graphics game like Traffic Racer isn’t that bad in my head.

If you want to give Traffic Racer a look, it is available for free in the Windows Phone Store. I think it would be a great fit if you fall into the category of loving driving games or like those new style runner games. Either way, you should be thrilled with the play from Traffic Racer.

Store Link: Traffic Racer

Game Review: Tappy Dog Is Not Your Average Flappy Game

When the developer of Tappy Dog reached out to me to take a peek at his work, I cringed at the thought of Flappy Bird clone number 1,987,243… Thankfully, Jason Thomas Carter didn’t produce yet another Flappy Bird, but what I like to consider as the most unique concept I’ve seen in a basic game in a long time. Tappy Dog is half reaction time and half state fair gaming fun.

 

Developed for the //publish/ NYC event, Tappy Dog is a simplistic, yet completely addictive multiplayer dog racing game. The controls are as basic as they come. Touching the green makes you go fast, yellow not so much and red just not at all. As the rectangles at the bottom of the screen change colors, you tap the green ones as fast as you can, and your dog begins its race to the finish.

It took me a few tries to really get the hang of it, but this //publish/ NYC winner for Design and Innovation, just isn’t a tough one to figure out. Until you start racing against really good competitors online. That’s correct, there’s an online mode where you can race against other Tappy Dog users.

 

As you become a bit more agile fingered, you may find the challenge of this game a bit too easy. If that’s the case, start adding a bit of fun to it again by playing multi-fingered or even with your non-dominant hand. Tappy Dog isn’t just fun to play, it’s also a great game for hand eye coordination and reaction time practice. If I wasn’t having so much fun with it, my almost 5 year old would have had a blast with it.

With all the good things going for it, I completely recommend a download of Tappy Dog. I do have a bit of concern for those with lower device storage, as Storage Sense shows an install size of 84.19 MB. A further look shows that that App size installed is using 84.12 MB and the data is 69 KB. This seems a bit heavy for such a simple game, but it is probably due to the requirements of going online to play. We also know that Storage Sense is not always 100% accurate, but it is the only real way I have to compare installed App sizes consistently. Even with the larger install size, if you are running the 8.1 preview and have an SD slot or just have a 32GB device, grab yourself a download of Tappy Dog right now and give it a whirl. You can thank me later for the recommendation.

It is also available for Windows 8.1 as well for those with tablets and laptops that just can’t get enough Tappy Dog action!

Store Link: Tappy Dog for Windows Phone

Windows Phone: Leading The Way In Finding Your Way

As most of the readers here know, I am in the middle of using an HTC One Android powered handset right now. As I use the device day to day, it makes me appreciate the solid package that Microsoft has with Windows Phone 8.1 and how much “extra” is needed to get Android to do the same basic features. While I have missed a few of the Apps that I use daily, like Nokia Mix Radio and the weekly view calendar, there are also a few gaping holes that Android has left to fill before it catches up with Windows Phone. Yes, I said that, before it catches up to Windows Phone.

I know what people say about the accuracy of Here Maps and Here Drive+, but I don’t get it. About 99.9% of the time, Here gets me where I need to go, and does it without data. Sure, sometimes I need to hit a Wi-Fi connection or pop in to cellular data to look up a location for mapping, but the map itself is completely off line. They have also done an amazing job of keeping the map sizes to a minimum while keeping as much detail as possible. For example, my Washington Map in Here is about 120MB. The same map in Navigon is 650MB.

Recently, Google allowed map caching again, which allows you to “save” a map in the area where you are going for offline use. While this is a great function, what isn’t covered is that you only get 6 maps, and the area is very limited as to what you can save. While the smaller areas are great for when you reach your destination, most of the ‘navigation’ must be done online unless you want to pull over and stop at a few Starbucks along your route for the free Wi-Fi to update your saved maps.

Now there are few noteworthy Apps in Android to help bridge the gap between Here and Google. The first is NavFree USA. This program uses OSM mapping data that is completed by users. The more people that use it, the better the mapping system gets. NavFree is free to use, but offers paid premium features as well.

Navigon is probably the most complete offline navigation system for Android. The problem with Navigon is that it runs $39.95 for the US version. This isn’t cheap, but it really appears to be the strongest offline system available for Android. The irony of Navigon is the fact that it is powered by none other then, Here Maps.

It appears that Windows Phone, thanks to Nokia, has such a clear cut lead in navigation over the competition that if you are considering using your device as a GPS regularly, Here Maps should be a very strong reason to grab that new Nokia Lumia. Of course, Here is available for other devices, but why not just snag the new Lumia with its superior camera, brilliant display and amazing construction. Your cell bill will thank you for it with the ability save playlists offline with Nokia Mix Radio, save maps for offline use with Here Maps and of course, the data compression savings of Data Sense. Overall, it will save you a ton in possible overages while still giving you a first class navigation and entertainment experience.

Game Review: Catch A Hex

When a came like Catch A Hex comes along, it is really hard to review it. You need to look at the entire package and not just the individual games. Sometimes there are areas of a title that the programmers just nail, while there are other areas that just seem like an after thought. Fortunately, Turboshroom nails it with Catch A Hex and I don’t need to tell you about a ‘bad’ part of the game. With 4 gaming modes, Catch A Hex will keep even the most avid gamer glued to their Windows Phones for quite some time.

The first mode to take a peek at is “Buffet” mode. This is a rather simple mode where the tiles light up and you have to tap them before they go out. It starts out easy enough, but when you start getting above 20, the speed picks up and the game gets more and more difficult.

Hero mode is next up in Catch A Hex. Hero mode emulates the popular “guitar hero” style of play. The hexes fall from the top of the screen and you have to tap them in the safe zone at the bottom of the screen. For guitar hero fans that want a light weight version of the game, Catch A Hex is the perfect companion for you.

Hole mode brought a hole new level of crazy to the game. The goal of this setup is to not allow your hexes to fall into the black hex at the center of the screen. Seems easy enough to do, but for some reason, this level gets hard fast. I can only imagine how much harder it gets after you’ve gotten really good at the game.

Finally, there is Rain mode. Rain mode is simply the Hero level on steroids. Pieces fall from the top and you have to tap the out before they touch the bottom. All in all, it wasn’t hitting the falling hexes that was a serious problem, but it was more often than not hitting the white space that killed me on this level. Rain mode was definitely my favorite of the 4 levels on Catch A Hex.

Catch A Hex clocks in at a paltry 9.2 MB in Storage Sense, which makes this an amazingly easy recommendation. Grab Catch A Hex now from the store and give it a play. Between the gaming options, the challenging levels and an overall smooth experience, Catch A Hex is a must download for every Windows Phone user.

Market Link: Catch A Hex