Author: Dexter Johnson

App Name: A Thug in Time

Developer: Destructamobile

Cost: Free

Market: Google Play

Review:

Here’s the story: A man from the past who resembles an Aztec warrior, suddenly confronts Kai, a man who grew up on the rough streets of the city. This mysterious figure has traveled to the present time to inform Kai of the powers and dangers of a device called the “time dial”. The time dial is the powerful device ever conceived with infinite power the capability to control minds and thoughts of anyone. Kai has been chosen to gather crystals that control the time dial, which have been scattered throughout various time periods and heavily guarded by time protectors to prevent certain destruction to the world, as we know it. However, each time period Kai travels through is not its original, but an alternate version of it skewed from the original time path thanks to the Originators, the antagonists of the game. If that isn’t bad enough, the elusive Originators also have the power to bring automatic and advanced weapons back to their time respective period.

The first thing I noticed and that impressed me when first playing this game were the short, animated movies. I like how this game immediately puts you in the middle of the action and story line of the life of the time traveling thug. If you don’t like to watch the cut scenes and want to get straight to the action, you may choose to do so by fast-forwarding to the end of each clip and view them later in the Movies section located in Settings. As far as the game play is concerned, A Thug In Time has an interesting premise that will keep the player engaged in the plot.

The game is easy to pick up once you have played the first level, which is a tutorial.  It is also easier to kill enemies faster in this game with the second directional pad used exclusively for shooting. If you find yourself lost in a level for an extended period of time, a yellow arrow will appear to guide you in the right direction. As a frustrated gamer aimlessly wandering around a level to find the remaining part of the stage, this is a great feature to have to eliminate confusion and stress. Another interesting feature this game has is the use of social media connections. By using Google+ and Twitter, you can sync your accounts to the game and brag about your latest in-game achievements to your followers and friends.

The only complaint I have about A Thug In Time is that it doesn’t have a disclaimer against gun violence and gang affiliation. Because of the main character’s past history with a gang in the story and the use of automatic weapons in the game, it would be ideal to add a little disclaimer about not to engage in any gang activities or to use any firearms improperly or illegally. It would be the same as Family Feud and Friends posting a statement when you open the app about how the game is for entertainment purposes only and the player does not win any real money.

Aside from that, A Thug In Time is a good top-down mobile shooter with great 3D graphics, a solid storyline as if you were watching a mini, action cartoon series and plenty of levels to keep you occupied. Although, I would not advise parents to allow children to play this game to prevent them from being exposed to gun violence.

If you are a fan of strategy, “shoot ‘em up” games such as Plants vs. Zombies, then you will enjoy playing Ionage. This free app takes the player on a series of intergalactic missions to destroy the enemy force’s power core by building multiple platforms, turrets and other forms of weaponry to defend your station.

Ionage does a great job of immersing the player into the game and helping a novice pick up the game quickly with walkthrough tutorials and links to Ionage’s forums when you are first playing. With intimate features such as inbox messages to keep you briefed on every step of your adventure, you feel like you are a part of the game. Another interesting feature in this is the ability to access the game’s forum. In my experience of playing strategy games, it is a rarity to see a link or tab leading you to a game’s forum site within the game itself. Although you will have to create a free account once you enter the forum rooms, it is very helpful to players who want to get an edge in the game by using tips, hints or cheats. Speaking of gaining an edge, if you are one of those players who are impatient with saving up game currency the “old fashioned way” by playing the game level by level, you may opt to purchase “badges” for $1.49 each and accessing and buying more weapons and special abilities to conquer the game quicker.

This game has multiple missions and gets progressively tougher with each additional mission you endure and will definitely make you think by throwing curveballs at you. You can even indirectly increase or decrease the game’s difficulty by adjusting the “game speed”, located in the Settings tab (represented by a graphic of three faders). The graphics are solid, runs smoothly and does not take up of a lot of memory space on your phone as this app is only 98MB large, even though Google Play will prefer you to download it via Wi-Fi.

Overall, Ionage is a good test of strategy and multi-tasking, although it will take a while to master this game even with the tutorial and can get a little boring to play if you are not engrossed with the story line.

Developer website

Google Play

Crazy Mob is an enjoyable and challenging 2-in-1 strategy game that not only tests your strategy, but also your reflexes and dexterity. The touch-screen manual shooting puts player more in control, which makes the game easier to play and eventually easier to beat. As an additional bonus, once you play the first level in the strategy game mode, you will unlock the game’s “runner” mode. Similar to the Invasion Multiplayer game on Halo Reach, you can opt to play as the defender in Strategy mode, eliminating enemies with fruit and protecting your territory, or play offensively in Runner mode, as one of the attackers invading the base camp. Although there are only two stages to play (Forest, Desert), each environmental stage contain multiple levels and in-game achievements to earn to keep you busy and there will be two additional land stages (Swamp, Volcanoes) added on in later updates. The game will also guide you through each level and each additional feature during and outside of the game play. If you are confused about any of the characters’ role in the game or want to know about how many weapons you have and what they are used for, you can just simply click the Information button, which is symbolized by a question mark.

The only problem I have with this game is its use of crude objects. I’m not sure why this game uses virtual props such as toilets and feces, or even why the makers would think gamers would find “poo” as a rewarding form of fictional currency. Nevertheless, it is unnecessary and off-putting, even though it is a video game.

Overall, Crazy Mob is fun for people of all ages and slightly addicting to play if you can ignore the use of fecal matter as money within the game. The “2 games for the price of 1” concept is an excellent idea and adds variety and versatility to the app. I have also observed that this game is also similar to Angry Birds in multiple ways such as the menu arrangement, the colorful animation and the use of different characters representing certain skill sets. From experience, this 2-D platform game will test your reflexes and quick-thinking more than your strategy. This app takes up little room as it is only 21MB and the ad-free version is only 99 cents, which is not unreasonable.

Developer Website

Google Play

In this game of instant decisions and quick trading, players may opt to race to either $1 million or $2 million while playing on a smaller 32-space board, as opposed to the standard 40-space board. I would suggest playing the $2 million mode for a better and lengthier game. If you’re just looking for a quick 15 to 20-minute Monopoly game, play the $1 million mode.

This is the first MONOPOLY game of its kind where players have to rely more on strategy and luck, rather than a game of outlasting their opponents and forcing them into bankruptcy. The same long-term strategies used in regular MONOPOLY games do not necessarily work in MONOPOLY Millionaire, especially with the game’s new format of giving the players more opportunities to win cash with Millionaire Lifestyle cards, Fortune Cards (upon landing on un-owned property) and an upgraded GO space worth up to $250,000.

MONOPOLY Millionaire also features Wi-Fi Play, which enables players to compete with people from across the nation and across the globe. I’m not sure if you will have much luck finding enough people to join a game in progress, but you can try hosting a game and playing with your friends and family. The game keeps track of overall wins and losses, total records in each difficulty, most money won in a game and highest number of houses and hotels owned in a single game.

The only drawbacks are the limited number of tokens and its non-customizability. On other versions, users have the ability to choose from eight different tokens and various environments. On MONOPOLY Millionaires, players have to choose from only four tokens, but it compensates by giving players a chance to upgrade their game piece twice in the game to more luxurious tokens (e.g.: Bike token: Scooter -> Moped -> Motorcycle). It is also not very customizable as the user is only stuck with one game environment and the inability to change the “house rules”.

Overall, MONOPOLY Millionaire is worth the 99-cent purchase. Avid fans of the classic trading game will love playing this game of high stakes, as they will have a chance to live in the lap of luxury. Although the game runs smoothly, you might need to download by using a Wi-Fi signal because of its large 251 MB size. Whether you are a beginner or a MONOPOLY titan, MONOPOLY Millionaire is fun, exciting and enriching to play.

Download at Google Play