Freeverse/Paramount iPhone Games

One developer, Freeverse is trying something unique in the App Store: go with Tom Cruise.  For action movies, it is tough to beat some of Mr. Cruises edge-of-your-seat thrill rides and today, we’ll look at two that Freeverse is riding to App Store riches: Rainman and Jerry Maguire.  OK, kidding: Days of Thunder and Top Gun.

These two movies turned iPhone games bring the same concept: go fast, beat those around you who try to knock you down, win the day.  The concept is tried and true: mix high energy rock music to fast driving/piloting and you’ve got a recipe for success.  How do they work out for Freeverse?  A mixed bag is what I found.

For each game, Freeverse uses similar strategies: look a like actor dialogue in between races/missions.  The result isn’t horrible if not a little hokey, but adds some plot to the games.

Days of Thunder

For Days of Thunder, you’re rookie driver Cole Trickle looking to move up through the racing ranks.  Left and right controls are handled through the accelerometer and do a fine job allowing players to dodge traffic, navigate turns and sling-shot around cars after drafting.  An onscreen button controls acceleration and brake in the lower left and right corners.

Play is good.  You can build up draft points and get enough and you can “drop the hammer” which catapults you beyond your top speed when the yellow hammer appears on the right hand side.  A speedometer reminds you to stay off the walls in corners and away from rubbing other racers.

Players also need to keep an eye on their car’s health meter on the top of the screen.  Get too low and you’ll be “out” and forced to pause racing and have to play catch up to limp into the pits to regain health.  There is nothing to do in the pits but wait out your health restore.

One aspect of the game thrown in to make it interesting is the other cars behavoir.  Your compeition likes to bang into you like bumper cars, rubbing your health lower and lower.  Fortunately these cars have health meters too that when depleted force them to crash.  I found it a bit annoying but so would coasting around the tracks.

The game is a good play until you lose track of what circuit you are in (about 15 races in my experience) then replay value was low for me.  It certainly was addicting for the first bunch of races.  I found the dialogue silly and at one point inappropriate as the racers talked about Dr. Claire Lewicki.

As popular as NASCAR is, this game pales in comparison to the second Tom Cruise fashioned game from Freeverse.

The game is currently $.99 in the App Store. Days of Thunder link in App Store

Top Gun

This game drips with adrenaline.  Maybe it is the fond memories of the Paramount movie or the fact that this is an Afterburner clone, or the game calling you by your chosen call sign;but whatever it is, mix a decent rock soundtrack to Vulcan Cannons and sidewinder missiles and you’ve got a winning combo.

Player are still fighting the Communist Russians but this time instead of the standard issue F-14 Tomcat, your assigned a prototype F22-B (we’ll sidestep the F-22-b being canceled back in 1993 as a replacement for the Tomcat).   From the movie, Iceman and Maverick are brought back as Top Gun instructors whose dialogue is less silly than in Days of Thunder as they outline the objectives through the mission, requiring you to click through.

Controls are similar to Days of Thunder: accelerometer for left right, up and down, bottom left for Vulcan Cannons and bottom right for missiles.  Guiding your sight over enemy aircraft turns their radar diamond to red, indicating radar lock.  Your radar can lock onto three targets at once allowing you to hit the missile fire button once to launch missiles on all three simultaneously.  Fun.

Obstacles in your way are “Danger Zones”.  The screen is divided up into 3 rows and 3 columns and much like tic-tac-toe you’ve got to escape into a free area as the danger zone turns from yellow to orange to red.  If your jet is in the Danger Zone when it turns red, you lose a health point.  Lose all your health points and you’ll be forced to eject.

If you’ve seen Top Gun then undoubtedly you know the Kenny Loggins hit Danger Zone.  The song here is reproduced by Gavareal and sounds very close to the original.  Other original songs are performed by Gavareal and do a good job of keeping your pulse quick.

This game has become my favorite iPhone game.  The action is quick, you can change the hardness level simply by deciding to take down combatants with your cannons instead of missiles and fighting the Russians is fun again!  The game has high replay value and I’ve still yet to beat the final level.

The dialogue lays out an decent plot, discovering that a mole exists in Top Gun.  Some of the movie-mimicking is a bit silly at times but it holds together.  It is not too hard to figure out who it is though I still have the big unveiling at the end of the final level to put it all together.

The graphics are amazing.  From the carrier take offs to the HUD (heads-up-display) everything is very clear and easy to figure out the game in short order.  Calibration of the accelerometer is very handy from in the game: simply hit pause and tap calibrate.  The game is well thought out and a blast to play.

As a huge fan of Afterburner, Top Gun was an easy pick as my new favorite.  Days of Thunder provided some fun but lacked in advanced play.  Once you mastered getting around cars and when to pit, not much changed.

For Top Gun, the enemies became craftier, dodging your missiles better, battleships through up anti-aircraft fire forcing you to be quick with the controls and to firing options keeps it moving.

The game is currently $3.99 in the App Store. Top Gun link to App Store

Summary

With Freeverse’s licesning relationship with Paramount, could Mission Impossible games be next?  $5 says both these games are on Tom Cruise’s iPhone.  Any takers?

Developer Site: [Freeverse]

share permalink ping Leave a Comment