Apps Magazine Issue 59 - 2015 UK.pdf

GAMES
Above The repetitive Tower
battles are broken up with a
screen-tapping minigame called
Test Your Might – the goal is to tap
to break different items
Letf Sub-Zero’s moves can be
irritating to play against, and
when multiplayer is added it could
become a pay-to-win nightmare
MORTAL KOMBAT X
A BLOODY MESS
Below On-screen damage
counters make the game’s inner
workings more visible – handy
considering the game’s layout
PROS/CONS
Functional fan
service for those au
fait with the series
Some occasionally
satisfying finishing
moves to try
Bloated, repetitive
content backed
up with a crippling
reliance on IAPs
Visuals aim too high
and the app just can’t
keep up with them
Astiffandpuppet-likeSub-Zerofreezesthe
body of his long-time rival Scorpion, who is
encased in too-blue ice that looks flat and
simple. He pushes him back and Scorpion
shatters into thousands (well, about 12) pieces on the floor.
“Fatality” comes up in blood on the screen. Mortal Kombat is
back, and you can take it anywhere…
Well, at least that’s what the app wants you to believe.
The reality, sadly, is much less positive – unless you’ve got
the newest, shiniest iPad, this game will likely stutter, crash
and freeze at every opportunity. Also, the visuals – which
might look impressive in these static screenshots – tear and
distort, making it very unclear where you’re at during a fight.
The main Mortal Kombat X experience here sees you
saunter through a loose story mode with a team of three
characters, tapping and swiping the screen to dispatch
opponents. There’s no challenge to it, not really, but you will
find you’re often pitted against the most ferocious enemy
of all: the paywall.
Mortal Kombat X suffers from reliance on microtransactions,
but doesn’t even have a satisfying gameplay
hook to help you see past the sheer audacity of the online
store. Prompts often pop up for three different kinds of
currency (two of which need real money to obtain), and
while you can get through the game without paying, you’ll
find yourself grinding the same battles over and over a lot to
compensate for keeping your resolve.
The attackers in the game want you to cave in and die,
wellhewantsyoutocaveinandbuythat£10IAPpack,just
soyoucanriphischeekyheadoff.
We’d have stopped playing a long time ago if we
weren’t trying to unlock main game Mortal Kombat
content. Avoid.
iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | Freemium | v1.1
http://bit.ly/mortalkomxios
Android | OS 4.0 | Freemium | v1.1
http://bit.ly/mortalkomand
ALTERNATIVELY
Here are five other
games that’ll satisfy
the fighter within…
01 STREET FIGHTER II
COLLECTION
The issue of
your finger
obscuring the
screen because of the
virtual stick aside, this
is basically the exact
same game released in
arcades back in 1991.
iPad+ | iOS 5.0
| £2.99/$3.99
| v1.00.01
02 STREET FIGHTER X
TEKKEN MOBILE
Two huge
franchises
clash in this
brawler. The online
play is still surprisingly
strong too, if you can
stomach all the tag-in,
tag-out fighting.
iPad+ | iOS 5.0
| £2.29/$2.99
| v1.01.01
03 MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 2
Capcom was
doing crossovers
far earlier than
the previously
mentioned Tekken affair
– and Marvel Vs Capcom
2 remains one of the
most satisfying fighting
games in the world, on
mobile is no different
iPad+ | iOS 5.0
| £0.69 | v1.00.01
04 SOUL CALIBUR
If you’re willing
to shell out £10
to download
this game, make sure
you have space for 19
characters, full 3D
graphics and a deep
fighting system’s
worth of space!
iPad+ | iOS 4.3
| £10.99/$14.99
| v1.1.2
05 BLADES OF FURY
A 3D fighter
that’ll have less
of an impact on
your wallet, however, is
Blades of Fury – an
unapologetic Soul
Calibur knock off that,
for all its copying, at
least costs a third of
the price.
iPad+ | iOS 5.1
| £3.99 | v1.0.6
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