When it comes to games on the iPad, casual games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga rule the roost, so to speak.
However, amongst the plethora of casual games are a few titles that really take advantage of the iPad’s hardware and delivers an experience which we’d consider “console quality.”
Here’s a short list of console-quality games which we are currently playing — do note that the list is not exhaustive and includes some older games that you may have missed.
Machinarium ($4.99 )
IMPRESSIVE VISUALS: Machinarium is one of the most
impressive-looking games on iOS.
If you like old-style point-and-click games, then Machinarium is the game for you. It features some of the most beautifully-rendered artwork we’ve ever seen in an iOS game.
It’s a bit of a spoiler to tell you more about the story, but it basically takes place in a far-flung future or alternate universe where you play a cute little robot. No it isn’t Wall-E.
In terms of gameplay, Machinarium is a classic point-and-click (or point-and-tap in this case) adventure with some challenging puzzles — be prepared to walk around, picking up items and figure out how to use them to overcome obstacles.
This kind of gameplay style may not be so popular these days but if you like puzzles and solving them at a more sedate pace, then this is the game for you.
If you like old-style point-and-click games, then Machinarium is the game for you. It features some of the most beautifully-rendered artwork we’ve ever seen in an iOS game.
It’s a bit of a spoiler to tell you more about the story, but it basically takes place in a far-flung future or alternate universe where you play a cute little robot. No it isn’t Wall-E.
In terms of gameplay, Machinarium is a classic point-and-click (or point-and-tap in this case) adventure with some challenging puzzles — be prepared to walk around, picking up items and figure out how to use them to overcome obstacles.
This kind of gameplay style may not be so popular these days but if you like puzzles and solving them at a more sedate pace, then this is the game for you.
(Amanita Design)
Price: US$4.99 (RM15)
Walking Dead
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: Walking Dead: The Game is a great companion
to the comic and TV series by Robert Kirkman.
Yet another adventure game, Walking Dead: The Game is based on the popular comic and TV series created by Robert Kirkman.
This episodic title created by TellTale Games is an excellent game that has won numerous “game of the year” awards from many gaming sites.
Walking Dead: The Game isn’t so much a game as it is an interactive movie — it puts you into the shoes of Lee Everett, an escaped convict who finds himself suddenly free after an incident with zombies crashes the car he’s being transported in.
There isn’t much puzzle-solving like in Machinarium, but TellTale Games does a good job with the story and the immersiveness — the choices you make in the game actually have a lasting effect on how certain characters treat you and on the outcome of certain parts of the story.
While it doesn’t have the graphical quality of say Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us (which has a similar setting and story),Walking Dead will still hit you from an emotional standpoint.
Fun: Lili is a relatively short but fun game.
It may not be very long — you’ll be done with it in perhaps five hours or so — but Lili is an amusing and fun to play game while it lasts.
With a story reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, you play Lili, a girl who’s transported to the island of Geos, where she meets a host of weird and wonderful creatures.
The game has a “non-combat” system for dealing with your opponents — instead of violent confrontation, you basically chase down a creature and pluck flowers that sprout from their heads till they give up. Sounds weird? Yes it is, but it’s also quite a lot of fun at the same time.
There are also a few simple environmental puzzles to solve but these are pretty easy.
Lili runs on the Unreal Engine, and in spite of its cartoony style, it is graphically quite impressive.
Lili
(BitMonster, Inc)
Price: US$2.99 (RM9)
Layton Brothers Mystery Room (Free for first two cases, $4.98 for all nine cases)
GUESS WHO: Layton Brothers Mystery Room is great for murder-mystery buffs.
Level 5 is well-known amongst gamers — this Japanese company has made some of the most highly-regarded games on the Nintendo DS with its Professor Layton puzzle game series.
Layton Brothers Mystery Room is actually a spin-off of theProfessor Layton series, with you taking on control of Detective Constable Lucy Baker of Scotland Yard, who is brought on to assist Alfendi Layton, a Sherlock Holmes-like genius who solves crimes without leaving his office.
The game is a treat for murder mystery buffs — each “case” presents you with a murder, with all the usual suspects.
The object of the game is to figure out who the murderer is by sifting through the evidence and images of the crime scene.
Layton Brothers is a great game and the visuals are very well presented, allowing you to pan around in the crime scene examining certain areas for clues.
The game itself is free to download and allows you to play the first two cases — however, to play all nine cases in the game you need to pay (a still reasonable) US$4.98.
Layton Brothers Mystery Room
(Level 5)
Price: Free for first two cases, US$4.98 (RM15) for all nine cases
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown ($5.99)
THE DARK KNIGHT: Batman: Arkham City Lockdown has some pretty impressive
STRATEGY CLASSIC: XCOM: Enemy Unknown on iOS ports
Yet another adventure game, Walking Dead: The Game is based on the popular comic and TV series created by Robert Kirkman.
This episodic title created by TellTale Games is an excellent game that has won numerous “game of the year” awards from many gaming sites.
Walking Dead: The Game isn’t so much a game as it is an interactive movie — it puts you into the shoes of Lee Everett, an escaped convict who finds himself suddenly free after an incident with zombies crashes the car he’s being transported in.
There isn’t much puzzle-solving like in Machinarium, but TellTale Games does a good job with the story and the immersiveness — the choices you make in the game actually have a lasting effect on how certain characters treat you and on the outcome of certain parts of the story.
While it doesn’t have the graphical quality of say Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us (which has a similar setting and story),Walking Dead will still hit you from an emotional standpoint.
(TellTale Games)
Price: US$4.99 (RM15) per episode; or US$14.99 (RM46) for all five episodes
Lili ($2.99)
Price: US$4.99 (RM15) per episode; or US$14.99 (RM46) for all five episodes
Lili ($2.99)
Fun: Lili is a relatively short but fun game.
It may not be very long — you’ll be done with it in perhaps five hours or so — but Lili is an amusing and fun to play game while it lasts.
With a story reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, you play Lili, a girl who’s transported to the island of Geos, where she meets a host of weird and wonderful creatures.
The game has a “non-combat” system for dealing with your opponents — instead of violent confrontation, you basically chase down a creature and pluck flowers that sprout from their heads till they give up. Sounds weird? Yes it is, but it’s also quite a lot of fun at the same time.
There are also a few simple environmental puzzles to solve but these are pretty easy.
Lili runs on the Unreal Engine, and in spite of its cartoony style, it is graphically quite impressive.
Lili
(BitMonster, Inc)
Price: US$2.99 (RM9)
Layton Brothers Mystery Room (Free for first two cases, $4.98 for all nine cases)
GUESS WHO: Layton Brothers Mystery Room is great for murder-mystery buffs.
Level 5 is well-known amongst gamers — this Japanese company has made some of the most highly-regarded games on the Nintendo DS with its Professor Layton puzzle game series.
Layton Brothers Mystery Room is actually a spin-off of theProfessor Layton series, with you taking on control of Detective Constable Lucy Baker of Scotland Yard, who is brought on to assist Alfendi Layton, a Sherlock Holmes-like genius who solves crimes without leaving his office.
The game is a treat for murder mystery buffs — each “case” presents you with a murder, with all the usual suspects.
The object of the game is to figure out who the murderer is by sifting through the evidence and images of the crime scene.
Layton Brothers is a great game and the visuals are very well presented, allowing you to pan around in the crime scene examining certain areas for clues.
The game itself is free to download and allows you to play the first two cases — however, to play all nine cases in the game you need to pay (a still reasonable) US$4.98.
Layton Brothers Mystery Room
(Level 5)
Price: Free for first two cases, US$4.98 (RM15) for all nine cases
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown ($5.99)
THE DARK KNIGHT: Batman: Arkham City Lockdown has some pretty impressive
graphics that are very close to that of the home console version.
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is a pared-down version of the popular console game, Batman: Arkham City and boy, does it look good.
In fact, if you’re playing on the iPad 3 or iPad (4th gen), the quality of graphics is almost right up there with the console version.
However, while the console version has a more complex story and varied gameplay, Arkham City Lockdown on iOS concentrates on the battles, giving you wave after wave of enemies to fight by swiping and tapping on the screen.
Warner Bros has done a good job of translating the fighting mechanics of the console version onto the iPad’s tap interface and overall it works very well.
Unfortunately, the game has a lot of in-app purchases, which range from skins to in-game currency for weapon and armour upgrades.
The gameplay is pretty limited in scope (it’s beatdown after beatdown) but if you like that sort of thing, then Arkham City Lockdown is worth checking out.
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
(Warner Bros)
Price: US$5.99 (RM18)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown ($19.99)
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is a pared-down version of the popular console game, Batman: Arkham City and boy, does it look good.
In fact, if you’re playing on the iPad 3 or iPad (4th gen), the quality of graphics is almost right up there with the console version.
However, while the console version has a more complex story and varied gameplay, Arkham City Lockdown on iOS concentrates on the battles, giving you wave after wave of enemies to fight by swiping and tapping on the screen.
Warner Bros has done a good job of translating the fighting mechanics of the console version onto the iPad’s tap interface and overall it works very well.
Unfortunately, the game has a lot of in-app purchases, which range from skins to in-game currency for weapon and armour upgrades.
The gameplay is pretty limited in scope (it’s beatdown after beatdown) but if you like that sort of thing, then Arkham City Lockdown is worth checking out.
Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
(Warner Bros)
Price: US$5.99 (RM18)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown ($19.99)
STRATEGY CLASSIC: XCOM: Enemy Unknown on iOS ports
over nearly all the content from the PC version.
When it comes to console-quality games, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is probably the poster child for iOS, as this game is essentially a direct conversion of the popular game that was released on the Xbox, PS3 and PC last year.
A remake of the classic PC game of the same name, XCOM is a turn-based strategy game that puts you in control of the elite paramilitary organisation known as XCOM as it tries to defeat aliens who have invaded Earth.
In the game, you need to place soldiers on a 3D grid, with each soldier having a limited number of moves per turn.
You also need to manage a base when not in battle, research weapons and equip your soldiers while making decisions on what countries to assist.
This game is pretty hardcore, and is recommended for serious gamers only. However, if it’s console quality that you want, this is the closest you can get on the iPad.
When it comes to console-quality games, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is probably the poster child for iOS, as this game is essentially a direct conversion of the popular game that was released on the Xbox, PS3 and PC last year.
A remake of the classic PC game of the same name, XCOM is a turn-based strategy game that puts you in control of the elite paramilitary organisation known as XCOM as it tries to defeat aliens who have invaded Earth.
In the game, you need to place soldiers on a 3D grid, with each soldier having a limited number of moves per turn.
You also need to manage a base when not in battle, research weapons and equip your soldiers while making decisions on what countries to assist.
This game is pretty hardcore, and is recommended for serious gamers only. However, if it’s console quality that you want, this is the closest you can get on the iPad.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
(2K Games)
Price: US$19.99 (RM62)
(2K Games)
Price: US$19.99 (RM62)
Data source: via Thestar
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