Ipad & Iphone User Issue 82
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130 PAGES PLUS: HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOUR NEW iPHONE GREAT APPS & GAMES ● Best FREE apps for every iPhone and iPad ● Great games to play in iOS ISSUE 82 WEIRDEST CASES, BEST LENSES + FOR iPHONE & iPAD Welcome... e make no bones about the fact that we prefer iPhones and iPads to their Android- W and Windows brethren. And one of the key reasons for that is the ecosystem that surrounds Apple’ mobile products. Not only is iOS 7 the easiest to use, most secure mobile platform, but it o ers the best feature set. And by virtue of being around the longest, it has the best third-party support. Speakers, chargers, docks – hardware makers queue up to make products that enhance your iPhone and iPad experience. The iTunes Store is chock full of great movies, music and TV shows, and then there are the apps. This is great for us iPhone- and iPad users, but it does create its own problems. Unlike the open internet, you don’t really search for apps within the App Store. In fact we are unusually reliant on Apple’s own recommendations as to what is hot and what is not. That can make it di cult for good apps to get away. Worry not, however: that’s why we are here. We’ve compiled two lists of great apps for iPhone and iPad. We’ve hunted through all the free apps on the App Store, weeding out those that aren’t good value even at free. Meanwhile with our gaming head on we’ve been thrashing our way through the best games that your iPhone and iPad have to play. Whether you are a hardcore PC or console gamer, or someone who likes to spend their commute abusing disgruntled avian life, there’s something for you. 2 iPAD & iPHONE USER • ISSUE 82 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 2 06/03/2014 10:24 75 best games for iOS David Price rounds up 75 must-have gaming apps e’ve collected the 75 most essential, must-play gaming apps for the iPad, W iPhone and iPod touch. With reviews and download links, read on for the 75 best games ever released for the iPad and iPhone. From strategy and action to puzzles and roleplaying games, these are the very fi nest iOS gaming apps. The iOS gaming landscape has seen a lot of change. Take pricing, for instance. When the iPhone came out, publishers thought nothing of charging a ISSUE 82• iPAD & iPHONE USER 3 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 3 06/03/2014 10:24 tenner for a half-hearted console port. But gamers soon cottoned on to the sub-£1 impulse purchase, and prices plunged. After a rash of ad-supported freebies and aggressive in-app purchases, things seem to be settling around the £1.99 mark - and may be heading upwards. More importantly, perhaps, iOS is no longer considered the poor cousin of console and PC platforms. Angry Birds showed the world that mobile games can be astonishingly commercial, but they can be critical successes too. The games on this list are inspired, well-written, funny, and occasionally even moving. Sometimes you just want a two-minute puzzle for your bus ride, and the iPhone is perfect for that, but if you know where to look, iOS gaming has so much more to o er. Free games 1. Middle Manager of Justice Free, tinyurl.com/nzeex8f Middle Manager of Justice is a superhero-themed base- building game in which the heroes are preening, stereotype-spouting goons who divide their time between punching thugs, watching TV and manning call centres. You’re abstractly their middle manager, working out where best to spend the squad’s pitiful income while assigning your heroes to dole out fi st-based justice to assorted evil- doers. Utterly shallow, but the game is aware of that - which is why it works so well. Alec Meer 4 iPAD & iPHONE USER • ISSUE 82 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 4 06/03/2014 10:24 2. Real Racing 3 Free, tinyurl.com/q8pkw94 The Real Racing series is deservedly idolised – Real Racing 2 appears in our best sports game section later. But Real Racing 3 follows a di erent racing line, o ering itself for free while touting for income via in-app purchases. The game is gorgeous, even though there is quite a lot of pressure to spend real-world money. David Price 3. Undercroft Free, tinyurl.com/mrxryfw An old-school RPG very much in the vein of Eye Of The Beholder, Undercroft harks back to a simpler time when men were men and roleplaying games were turn-based. Hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, but its low-fi charms remain undiminished. David Price 4. Temple Run 2 Free, tinyurl.com/c6htccn Like the ubiquitous fi rst game, Temple Run 2 is an ‘auto-runner’ wherein you make snap reactions as your fl eeing Indiana Jones-alike strives to dodge fatal drops, spikey boulders, hitting walls at speed and the monkey-monster which forever pursues him/her. Death is inevitable, as is having ‘just one more go.’ Alec Meer ISSUE 82• iPAD & iPHONE USER 5 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 5 06/03/2014 10:24 5. Pangolin Free, tinyurl.com/no6kvos A physics-based puzzler in which you bounce a cute little creature around a level and try to get him to the goal with as few shots as possible. Sort of like crazy golf played in mid-air with a scaly animal instead of a ball. We like this a lot, and the basic game is free. It’s probably worth shelling out for the extra levels, though. David Price Shooting games 6. Deus Ex: The Fall £4.99, tinyurl.com/nnueapv Deus Ex: The Fall is the iOS port of a deep, ambitious and critically acclaimed PC game. The story’s all about cybernetic enhancements and post-human ethical conundrums, but it never gets in the way of the important stu : hacking your way through a computerised security door, crawling down a tunnel and shooting a man in the head. David Price 7. Death Ray Manta (DRM) 69p, tinyurl.com/pw5dd3y Don’t try to understand it. Don’t even think about it. You’ll only give yourself a headache. Death Ray Manta, aka DRM, is an arcade shoot ’em up in the vein of Geometry 6 iPAD & iPHONE USER • ISSUE 82 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 6 06/03/2014 10:24 Wars, but where so many of those try to do the refl ex-battering ‘bullet hell’ thing, this one is all about sensory overload. A fast, frantic purely single-player game of skill, free from leaderboard posturing or cynical microtransactions. Lovely stu . Alec Meer 8. Waking Mars 69p, tinyurl.com/p6asmnm Waking Mars puts you in the boots of a jetpacking astronaut/ scientist exploring the Red Planet for signs of ancient life. It’s your job to fi nd and plant seeds that spread vegetation around the caves, which in turn opens up new areas. You have to evade carnivorous plants and acid pits, and occasionally you’ll need to kill o a plant to make room for another. It’s thoughtful and at times intense, not to mention incredibly pretty. Alec Meer 9. 9mm £4.99, tinyurl.com/pcmpb2r This hugely entertaining third-person shooter, starring detective John Kannon, is very much a case of ‘shoot fi rst, ask questions once the bad guys are dead’. The graphics are superb, the dialogue is hilarious and the optional gyroscope- based controls, while initially tricky, make those fi rst few kills all the more satisfying. This is a funny, great- looking game. Ryan Macro ISSUE 82• iPAD & iPHONE USER 7 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 7 06/03/2014 10:24 10. Grand Theft Auto 3 £2.99, tinyurl.com/m4evyf9 GTA 3 is a violent, darkly humorous ode to mafi a fi lms. You play silent thug Claude, an amoral criminal who escapes from jail and then shoots, steals and joyrides his way up through the city’s underworld. Aiming and fi ring can be tricky, but the touchscreen controls are otherwise surprisingly capable. The artifi cial intelligence is believable and entertaining, and the city is vast and diverse, with humorous radio stations and even changing weather patterns. Chris Holt 11. Max Payne Mobile £1.99, tinyurl.com/lgecnlh This iOS instalment of the mighty third-person shooter franchise begins with Max fi nding his wife and newborn daughter brutally murdered and vowing to track down those responsible. Navigation is confi gurable, allowing you to choose onscreen locations for the controls. There are nicely animated intros to take you into key elements of the game, an optional auto aim and a cheat mode allowing quick progression to later levels if you so desire. All of which adds up to one of the best games to hit the App Store: it remains true to the original, and has all the addictive qualities present in the computer and console versions. David Bradforth 8 iPAD & iPHONE USER • ISSUE 82 iPAD & iPHONE USER 82.indd 8 06/03/2014 10:24 12. N.O.V.A. 2 £4.99, tinyurl.com/k9dofet N.O.V.A. 2 wastes little time on a backstory or training, and drops you straight into the action. The controls are intuitive to use and, as with all fi rst-person shooters, boil down to moving, selecting a weapon and fi ring. The game’s AI is among the best we’ve seen; enemies are smart enough to duck for cover and use basic infantry team techniques.