I’m as delighted as I am pained to review Keep Defenders from Itty-Bitty Games LLC and hopefully that statement makes sense by the end of this review.  What we have here is a game billing itself as a fast-paced realtime combat game.  I’ll buy that; quite accurate and while some reviewers are lumping it into the castle defense genre it far more resembles a traditional (medieval) RTS sans base building.  You control a small army consisting of 3 unit types (soldier, knight, archer) and attempt to fend off wave after wave of enemy units (which are unfortunately just darker-colored versions of your own guys).

First the good: the graphics and sound…excellent in both categories which definitely takes the game up several notches in production value.

So now the bad stuff mixed in with some sincere suggestions:

-10 lvls seems ok for this kind of game but they’re quite small and the random nature of enemy spawns means you’re always just hanging around the keep and never able to explore the map
-controls are a stinky mess, clearly this game would be great with a mouse but it’s horrible on a touchscreen (is this a port?)
-could use a button (or a double touch) to automatically select all nearby units without having to draw a rectangle and also a way to select just a certain unit type
-could use a way to cycle through units as it can be frustratingly difficult to activate the unit you want in a battle mosh while he just dies as you tap away
-could use formations, at least a couple (think Myth The Fallen Lords if any of you know your gaming history)
-archers are a joke, almost impossible to be effective with as often you tell them to attack and they rush up and melee instead!
-can almost never get a unit to disengage which kills the MAIN strategy of the game which UNFORTUNATELY consists of way WAY too  much micromanagement
-maybe some challenge levels could be introduced where you get a set number of units to achieve a goal and can’t buy more
-plodding pace, levels take forever to complete as each wave can consist of several separate attacks and units have godlike amounts of HP so while the battle animations are great it gets tedious
-fortunately you can pause and resume w/o having to restart from the beginning or can you (at least I think you can)

The developers at 1 point (forever ago) promised new levels, units and a faster pace and if they ever did that plus add a MAJOR UI (and AI in the case of the nitwit archer) overhaul, they’d have themselves an absolutely stellar game for this platform which I would recommend to anyone and everyone.  Unfortunately, in the impossibly absurd amount of time it took me to publish this review, there has never been another update and the dev website hasn’t been updated in just as long so I’m afraid this is all you get.  As it is then, what’s here is a beautiful experience to behold in the audio/visual dept but excessively frustrating to actually play due to some confounding play mechanics.

Version reviewed – 1.1
Reviewed on – iPhone 3GS 3.1.2
iTunes Link – Keep Defenders

For the past few days IAR has gotten a bunch of review requests for iPhone 4 LED flashlights, apparently a booming market in the app store. Unfortunately, I don’t have the means to acquire Apple’s latest gadget, so I’m going to be giving away the promo codes in the comments for all you lucky iPhone 4 owners.

LED Flashlight, only for iPhone 4

The Flashlight App (For some reason, the iTunes Link Maker was screwing up on this one and wouldn’t give me the link. But rest assured, it’s a flashlight app.)

LED iLight

LED Light for iPhone4

Adventure puzzle hidden-object finding games are always good…especially when they’re free! Check the bottom of the post for a promo code.

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you manage to snag a code, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an honest App Store review!

1. T7WWX7YFJHA6
2. LJMJ3PK73AW3
3. WJYKRATXTH6A
4. JJAFKAYFEAR7

Instructions on redeeming can be found here http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

iTunes Link – Laura Jones and the Secret Legacy of Nikola Tesla

Probably one of the most unique apps I’ve came across in a while, Descent is a freefall calculator able to offer “the most accurate possible representation of the time it would take to freefall to the earth’s surface and the speed you would be traveling upon impact”. Sweet.

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you manage to snag a code, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an honest App Store review!

1. PM9F7XAEPF4T
2. PMRM47NTETE
3. XHTJ4WX7K4H
4. YAXXEF7MXRLP
5. PL77APHXE77F

iTunes Link – Descent

A slick top-down racer where you have to collect fuel and smash other vehicles! Check the comments for promo codes.

BlackjackAttack! is basically blackjack on steroids. With powerups. Hell yeah. Free codes at the end of post!

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you snag one, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an App Store review!

1. 9RFHRTM33TRW
2. H9AJPKM6FTMW
3. 7PJA7Y7EX7E6
4. ARHAHX7JY9T6
5. A7XTJAAYFWHL
6. JEPMYWAAMFFJ
7. HXEJ9YR6XX3X
8. KX3XHLMPRNF9
9. RFKFWNXHNWYM
10. MYYKLTWARE3N

Instructions on redeeming can be found here http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

App developers: Interested in getting some free promotion and word out about your app? If you’d like to participate in the free code giveaway then just head over here and drop some promo codes to share.

Turn-based strategy games are quite popular on the App Store, beloved due to their addictive and thought-provoking qualities. But every now and again, there comes along a genre-shaking game that just blows me away. Everlands, developed by Hexage.net, is one example.

Everlands’s basic plot revolves around the evil spirits taking control of animals, and the brave plethora of creatures that must come together to stop the evil and cleanse their possessed brethren. While this more juvenile, lighthearted storyline seems out of place in a genre filled with macho heroes, futuristic weaponry and vehicular combat, it blends nicely into the game and serves as a much welcomed change of pace.

In Everlands, you and your opponent take turns placing animals on the hexagonal board. Each animal has a certain amount of life and attack points, but can only attack out of certain sides. After attacking, the animal cannot attack out of that side again for the rest of the match. When an animal loses all life points, it will change alignments, resetting all life points but not attack sides.

Each species has varying amounts of life and attack points, as well as a unique special ability. For example, the intimidating Tiger is able to reduce the attack points of all adjacent enemy animals, while the prickly Hedgehog is able to attack on almost all sides. Everlands is super easy to play, with the bonus of  shorter tutorials, but adds just the right amount of depth to avoid being simplistic and dull.

In order to complete a stage, you must have possession of more than 50% of the board with your creatures. If you are victorious, you unlock another animal to add to your arsenal. While the story mode starts off easy, the difficulty quickly ramps up as you learn to synergize your animal’s abilities and weaknesses together. However, the story mode is rather short, and with the conclusion of the game you are left little replay value. Perhaps in a effort to combat this, Everlands also features a two-player duel mode where you can square off against a friend using the same device.

Everlands is able to simultaneously pay homage to strategy game and casual game principles, making it a blast to play. Everlands is a must-own game if you’re a lover of strategy games, or just have the desire for a great game. Hexage.net builds on a classic hexic strategy game with its own unique quirks and twists, creating a game that shouldn’t be missed.

iTunes Link – Everlands

Developer Link – Hexage.net

Well, the app’s description is in it’s title. Kickabout is a fun, polished casual game where you have to keep a soccer ball/football in the air for as many kicks as you can. While usually a dollar, Co-incidence Ventures Ltd has been nice enough to provide some free codes to give some lucky readers a free go at this game.

iTunes Link – Kickabout – Keepy uppy football skills for the iPhone

Like similar games, High Noon is based around the concept of ‘energy’, which permits you to duel other people a certain amount of times before you have to let it recharge. However, rather than fighting in a strictly textual way, like ‘Mafia Wars’ type games, High Noon actually incorporates some real time action into the game with fantastic results. Because of this, you want to make sure you’re in an area with good internet connectivity; else the game will spit out a warning about how you need a strong connection to play.

Dueling in the game involves tilting your phone (or pod, or pad) to control your gun’s reticule and tapping to shoot. To reload, simply tilt your device forward.  Rather than gaining experience points to level up, the High Noon uses a system of gold bounties on an enemy’s death. If you successfully slay your enemy in mortal combat, you’ll get a tidy sum of gold toward gaining your next level.

My biggest criticism is how repetitive High Noon can tend to be, especially if you need to collect a substantial amount of gold to reach your next level. While you can liven up battles by purchasing items for one-time use (I enjoyed stringing up bad guys with a lasso for shits and giggles), High Noon can tend to get dry when you have a wide swath of enemies to shoot through.

Because High Noon is a ‘freemium’ game, you have the option to buy a secondary currency, ‘wampum’, using actual money from an in-game store. While wampum allows to you purchase more powerful and valuable items, the game does have a generous selection of items to be purchased with gold.

All in all, High Noon is a strong, addictive game. With its combination smooth real-time action bits and a leisurely leveling up and upgrade system, High Noon is the cream of the crop of online freemium games. And since it’s free, be sure to give it a download if you’re interested, and leave your thoughts about the game in the comments.

iTunes Link – High Noon

happylatte’s website

For the low, low price of free, this can all be yours!

Being too lazy to find my iPod Touch’s UDID* by manually plugging it into iTunes, I stumbled upon Ad Hoc Helper, by Erica Sadun. This no-frills utility basically snatches up some info about your device, such as your device name, model, system version, memory, free space and UDID and automatically pops open Mail so you can get that info where it needs to be.  While this not be necessary for everybody, Ad Hoc Helper an awesome way for you to quickly get info about your device, and I recommend you scoop this app in case you’re ever in a pinch.

*A 40 digit serial code unique to your iDevice. Useful for app developers who are beta testing, debugging or adjusting their app. More info here, at TUAW.

iTunes Link – Ad Hoc Helper

Budcat and Activision have teamed up to bring you Pix Maze. The object of this game is to complete different mazes and as you go a picture is revealed.

There are small mazes, medium mazes and large mazes for you to concour. With over seventy mazes for you to complete this game offers a lot of play time.

When you start up a maze your character is a bug that goes through the maze stepping on little color blocks that leave said color behind you to create the picture. In the top left corner there is a screen that shows your progress on the picture so the further into the maze you get the more detailed your picture becomes.

The controls are really simple and not intrusive. In the bottom right corner there are four arrows that you push to go in the direction you wish.

In the options you can set hints to be on or off. If you have the hints on and you wait at a fork in the road the right way will be show to you as a blinking color tab and if you wait even longer or find yourself off the main path arrows will show up to lead you back.

You can also set a playlist of songs to play from the option menu.

If this wasnt enough there is a custom maze creator. All you have to do is draw up the picture and a maze will be created for you automatically. Way cool.

I had a fun time testing this game out, cool graphics, cool pictures but the one and only thing I didn’t like was the character. Im not sure why they chose a bug as your character but I would have preferred something more appealing.

iTunes Link – Pix Maze

Version 1.0.0

Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.3