Mobile
Five Games
For 2015
Ianlooksatfivegamesyoumayhavemissedin 2015
IanMcGurrenis
aprofessionalIT
analyst,asemi-
professionalwriter
andaprettyamateur
electronicmusician.
Helikesgadgetryand
lovesmakinggadgets
dothingstheywere
neverdesignedtodo
Both,though,are verydifferent
games:Brotherhoodis a sort
ofIco-likeplatformexploration
typegamethatusesa clever
two-people-controlled-by-one-
personmechanic,whereas
TWOMis a point-and-click
survivaltitle'inspired'bythe
recentBalticstateswars.That
theytranslateso wellto mobile
platformsdemonstrateshow
farthehardware hascome.Minecraft:Story
Mode
Ta lkingof PCs,lastlythere'sthe
ubiquitousdigitalLego(note,
notLegoS),Minecraft.Well
notactualMinecraft– that's
beenoutages– butthelong
awaitedMinecraft:Story Mode.
Whyis thisexciting?Well, it's
notreallywhatit claims;it's
actuallythelatestadventure
fromtheeverexcellentTe lltale
Games,butit justhappensto
besetin theMinecraftworld.
SobothfansofMinecraftand
fansof high-qualityadventure
gamescanfindsomething
here. Nota fanof either?Well,
unlessyou're a hugefanof
PattonOswalt(whovoicesthe
leadcharacter),it mightnotbe
foryou.
It hasbeena goodyearfor
games,so whiletheexcitement
of thetechnologyarmsrace
diesdowna little,mobile
gamingis reallycomingintoits
own.With theemergenceof
consolesbasednotonlyon
AndroidbutnowoniOS, 2016
couldwellbetheyearthe
gamesmaketheleapto the
bigscreentoo.In the
meantime,enjoythenewyear!Theyearforhardware
hasn'tbeenthemost
excitingwe'veever
seen,withincremental
updatesbeingtheorderof the
day. Butwhilemore powerful
processorsin muchthesame
devicesisn'tmuchfun,theextra
powertheyprovidemobile
gamingis, andin 2015there
havebeensomeexcellenttitles.Alto'sAdventure
Let'sstartwitha titlethat
typifiesa modern mobilegame.
Simple,addictive,gorgeous.
Alto'sAdventureis whatyou'd
getif youboileddownTrials
HDandTempleRunto their
basics:namelyone-button
endlessjumpingwitha fine
physicsmodel.Thenweldit to
retro 8-bitstyle2Dgraphics
througha magic-hourfilterand
youhaveAlto'sAdventure.LuminoCity
Anotherutterlygorgeous
game,thistimefromUK-based
developerStateof Play. Think
Mystbutin a cute,cardboard
cutoutworldandyou'regettingthere. A point-and-click
gamewithverycleverpuzzles,
it'slikeplayinga 70skidsTV
programme(youcantellState
of Playhashugerespectfor
Aardmanandsuch),andit
looksespeciallygoodonthe
newAppleTV.NeedFor Speed
A differenttypeof gorgeous,
Needfor Speedis more of a
contentioustitlegivenits useof
in-apppurchases.Butthataside,
it'sa worthysuccessorto the
excellentMostWanted,andfor
peoplelikemewhogenerally
dipin andoutof games,there's
enoughto be gettingonwith
withouthavingto shellout
much.DidI sayit lookssuperb?
It does,youknow.Brotherhood&This
War OfMine
Two gamesthatoriginally
cameoutto greatacclaim
onthePC,Brotherhoodand
ThisWar of Mineare both
excellentexamplesof different
thinkingonthatplatformthat
alsotranslateswellto mobile.