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Freeverse’s Days of Thunder Released

xcool — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:39:31 +0000

Looks like its’ Freeverse news week. Days of Thunder, which Freeverse announced and shown to the world during Macworld San Francisco a month back has just raced itself into the App Store.

Days of Thunder is a new racing game based on the popular 1990 motion picture of the same name. Freeverse is developing this game for Paramount Digital Entertainment, which also publishes other movie tie-in games like Iron Man: Aerial Assault, Saturday Night Fever: Dance! and School of Rock. All three titles are currently available in the App Store.

UPDATE: Gentlemen, start your engines and rush head on to the App Store, now! Ian Lynch Smith, President of Freeverse just chimed in over at TouchArcade.com and mentioned that the game had some localization issues. He’d also mentioned that the $0.99 price tag is valid for 72 hours only!

Days of Thunder is set to bring the movie’s storyline along with the gameplay. Freeverse claimed the game to be the first stock car racing game for the iPhone platform. Control of the game is based on the accelerometer. Players will get to choose a wide variety of cars and either a circuit or track to race in. Play as main character, Cole Trickle and experience all the action-packed excitement of full contact stock car racing, battling the field of seasoned racers while climbing the leaderboard – defeat your rivals and win the Days of Thunder Cup.

Gameplay is quite simple, and comes complete with all the special effects and crashes. The crashes reminds me of Burnout Paradise, which I play a lot on my PlayStation 3. The game comes with Achievements support right out of the box. In my short time of playing, I have managed to get two Achievements unlocked.

I currently do not own any other racer besides SlotZ Racer, so Days of Thunder would be a great addition to my racing games library.

The game is going at a no-brainer price of $0.99! I got my copy immediately, fearing that it might increase in price later. I’ll be posting a review of this game soon once I have played it for a while more. Head over to the iTunes Store to get your copy. Don’t let the thunder stop you!

Here’s a trailer courtesy of the folks at Freeverse to give you some sampling of what the game looks like.

Freeverse Updates SlotZ Racer

xcool — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:15:50 +0000

Released less than a month ago, SlotZ Racer has done pretty well, climbing up the stairs of the Top Paid Apps list slowly. The app once reached its peak at number 3, but fell slowly afterwards. As of this writing, SlotZ Racer is currently sitting at position number 26.

Freeverse has just announced some major upgrades to this already great game. Early buyers like me who bought the game at only $0.99 a pop when it was launched gains the most from this upgrade, which brings the version number to 1.1. The file size has also been increased by about 50 percent, most likely due to new graphical additions. Read on to find out more.

Here’s a rundown of the latest additions to SlotZ Racer v1.1:

Track Manager – new page added to allow easy management of your custom tracks as well as sending tracks via Wi-Fi to a friend
Scenery Editing – the track editor now allows you to spruce up your track designs with objects like grandstands, hills, bridges, tunnels and many more
New Camera Modes – plan view, helicopter view, two new moving views and an additional driver’s view
Shake Feature – shake your device to perform tasks like returning to main menu, starting a quick race and undo track editing
CPU Opps Factor – it always seemed that the CPU cars will never run off the track, revenge is in order; set how often the computer makes mistake and run off the track
New Cars – four altogether but with weird names, CitruZ, TypeZ Drift, Mulsane and Vontara XT
Strict Championship Option – no restarts allowed during any championship races, trophies earned while this mode is active unlocks new car types
Bridge Height – four new heights for serious falling-off-the-track fun

Besides the major additions outlined above, the game has also been enhanced with about ten minor changes, including whole screen button for single player modes (players no longer need to focus their fingers on the small corner zone) and low-fuel and last lap alerts, all of which greatly enhances playability.

These changes and new additions are definitely welcomed, but sadly to say, I still can’t manage to find out the right way to play this game! Perhaps I suck at racing games, but as I mentioned above, I find it that the computer players never run out of the track no matter how fast they accelerate. The new oops factor setting helps a bit, but I find my own car still running off the track – and more often when compared to the CPU players.

That being said, SlotZ Racer is still a great racing game and should be in every racing game fan’s device. And it just seems that Freeverse tends to add more features into this game quicker than anyone can master them.

Give SlotZ Racer a spin. The game is available from the iTunes Store for $2.99 a copy. Head over and get yours now.

Freeverse’s SlotZ Racer Released

xcool — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:59:53 +0000

Freeverse’s SlotZ Racer, one of the titles announced during the Macworld 2009 expo has just been released to the iTunes Store a moment ago. The game lets you experience those childhood memories of building tracks, burning rubber, draining batteries and racing with friends and family. It is based on the slot car racers of the 70s and 80s. The game is currently on sale for 72 hours and is going at only $0.99 each. It is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch.

Race against computer controlled opponents, or with up to 4 friends on a single iPhone/iPod touch, thanks to a unique control system. Building tracks, you say? Yes, Freeverse really meant it when they mentioned building tracks. The game includes an intuitive track editor that provides players with the ultimate freedom in designing their very own race course. And, you’ll never get bored with the same red colored car that you used to play with during your childhood. The game offers a wide selection of cars for you to choose and race in.

Game modes galore; compete for laps, race against the clock in Time Trials mode, drive an endurance race and see how far you could go or simply go for a Quick Race and jump straight into the action. All this plus simulated days and nights mode. Best of all, the game also includes unlockable new circuits, cars, tracks and championship challenges to keep you hooked to the action. Last but not least, hard core racers get to opt between having lane changing turned on, or race in fixed lanes only.

Initial reactions for this game seems good, I grabbed a copy as soon as I could and will be posting a review of it soon. Anyways, as mentioned earlier, Freeverse is basically throwing the game at your way by pricing it at $0.99 and that’s going to last for the first 72 hours only! Later on, the game shall be going at the usual price of $2.99 each. Hit the iTunes Store now to grab it.

Here’s a video clip of the track builder tutorial as provided by the folks over at Freeverse.

Review: Freeverse Flick Fishing

xcool — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:38:25 +0000

Freeverse Software has long been considered as a premium Mac games publisher. The Apple Design Award winning publisher are well becoming a premier publisher in the iPhone/iPod touch games arena. Their first title for the iPhone, Flick Bowling, did pretty well with a 3-star average rating.

Flick Fishing is the second title under the Flick Sports brand of games from Freeverse. Along with Flick Bowling, Flick Fishing also employs the accelerometer to bring a fishing game that’s close to the real thing.

Playing the game is simple. Select “Go Fishing” from the main menu and then choose a fishing location to begin with. If you are a newcomer, The Old Pond (in the middle of the map) makes for easy tutorial sessions.

The game makes full use of accelerometer in order to cast your line. I’ve come to realise that casting straighter and with a little more force usually results in your line going further away from your starting point. And that usually results in a better chance of fishing up larger catches. As with real fishing, you can choose from various lures and bait, but that really depends on the location. You get to choose from 6 different fishing locations and use up to 9 different types of bait and tackle.

Once your bait is cast, all you need to do is wait for the fish to bite. When that happens, move your fingers onto the reel that appears in the middle and start making clockwise turns to reel the fish in. Remember to also pull back on your pole to drag the fish nearer. Take note of the two gauges that appear at the top of the screen. They measure the line tension as well as the strength of the fish. Your catch won’t give up easily and will usually give a fight. In order to prevent the line from breaking due to tension, make sure to let the reel spool out a little and then reel it back in. It is this “spool out, reel in” tactic that will weaken the fish, allowing you to pull them in.

All the fish that you caught will eventually be released. Don’t fret though, as they’ll also appear in your trophy box, complete with a brag button that lets you send an email to friends, informing them about your catch.

Flick Fishing is one of the highest detailed games I have seen so far on the iPhone. Each fishing spot comes with a highly detailed environment and photograph-quality water effects. Wildlife, stormy skies and other environmental effects brings the already highly detailed looks to another level. The environment effects each other as well; expect to see your tacklebox sliding on the boat if you choose to fish in the rough sea. I’d also like to mention that the water effects in the menu screens react to the device’s movement, try shaking your iPhone/iPod touch and see what I mean. Nice!

Adding a little bit of story to the game is this mysterious old man whom they consider to be crazy. During ‘free play’ sessions, you may engage him to see if there’s any mission for you to accomplish. Just tap on the exclamation mark near the middle of the map and listen to what the old man has to say. He’ll send you to catch a certain fish, or in some occasions, treasure boxes.

Besides the simple “Go Fishing” mode, the game also offers a timed-mode Tournament challenge, where you get to play with a friend via hot-seat or thru a Wi-Fi network, as well as the CPU. “Big Fish” challenges the players to catch the largest fish within the time limit while “Big Catch” pits the players to catch as many fish as possible. You can set the challenge duration between 3, 5 or 10 minute sessions. Both mode requires different sets of skill, so it is best if you finish explore the simple mode first by going thru all the available fishing locations.

I’ve encountered a hidden easter egg by simply tapping the light house. Its lights then revealed to me the Xtreme mode, where I get to catch… er, tuned ducks. Any other hidden items that you know of?

I’ve also come to a bug where one of the fish that I caught has got its Brag button shifted. The missing Brag button appears under another fish which I have yet to catch. Another issue I have with the game is the way the lines are cast. The game requires that we tilt the device a little bit and then flick it forward. However, when you fish with a real rod, what you do is to pull the rod back and then swing forward. I find that this should be the correct method, but the game doesn’t seem to register.

Rating: 4.5/5.0 Taps
Pros: Highly detailed graphics and environment, simple playing mechanism, Simple and Tournament mode for replayability
Cons: Casting mechanism, a few minor bugs

Flick Fishing is available on the iTunes App Store for $0.99 each and is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod touch running firmware 2.2 and above.

Freeverse Updates iPhone Titles

xcool — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:38:43 +0000

Freeverse recently announced a number of updates to their bestselling titles for the iPhone and iPod touch. Titles updated include Moto Chaser, Burning Monkey Casino, Flick Bowling and Flick Fishing.

Moto Chaser, the #1 best selling title in the iTunes App Store for four consecutive weeks, gets updated to version 1.3. The free update enhances the game by adding a new “Arcade” steering mode, allowing for even easier navigation of the player’s motorcycle during hairpin turns. Other changes brought by version 1.3 include a “holiday cheer” mode with characters each wearing a holiday outfit throughout the holiday season month of December. Also, players may now expect faster loading times and better performance, thanks to a new texture loading system as well as bug fixes and tweaks to the UI. Moto Chaser is currently available on the iTunes Store for $0.99 each.

Also updated is Burning Monkey Casino, bringing the title to version 1.1.1. The new version brings more jokes from the comedian. Aside to that, the starting money (as well as the Mo’ Money button) is now set to $500. If you are fond of numbers, this new version brings more statistics. Check your win/loss rate, profit/loss and more. If you find that you are losing too much, the house advantage and payout has been adjusted. Good luck! Finally, the update also fixes the problem of music and jokes not playing occasionally. Other changes noted include memory improvements and bug fixes. Get Burning Monkey Casino from the iTunes Store at only $0.99.

Next in line, Flick Bowling, gets updates to version 1.1.5. The update brings the same “holiday cheer” mode as well as bug fixes and enhanced memory management. In addition, this update prepares the title for the next big version update, 1.2, which will bring real physics, achievements, custom balls and improved artwork. Flick Bowling is currently on sale at $0.99 each on the iTunes Store.

Flick Fishing, currently one of the Top Selling apps in the Apple iTunes App Store, gets updated to version 1.2. Freeverse’s press release on November 26, mentioned that the app has already been submitted to Apple for approval, and shall now be available. Flick Fishing is the groundbreaking game created exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, using a combination of detailed ‘living’ environments with intuitive real-life controls.

Version 1.2 brings in a slew of new features to enhance an already immersive fishing experience. Players may now help the Old Guy in the Lighthouse with his job running the Island’s virtual aquarium via a new mode called ‘Quest’. Also new is an unlockable mode called ‘eXtreme Fishing’, which allows players to hook on to much bigger fish. Hone those fishing skills, you’re gonna need it.

Other changes announced include a new ‘Night fishing’ location. Fishing enthusiasts will be thankful that you can now catch four new fishes: brown trout, bream, wahoo and a new ‘named’ fish that shall remain secret for now. Lures and spinners have also be enhanced, they now work without floats. If you’re on your way to catch much bigger fishes, make sure to look out for the various secret ‘power-ups’. Aside to that, tournaments are now configurable at 3, 5 and 10 minute intervals, while the ducks have been re-tuned. If you hated the CPU players, thank Freeverse as they have now been re-educated in tournament ethics. As usual, the update also brings in various bug fixes, tune ups and improvements. Get Flick Fishing from the iTunes Store at a limited time price of $0.99 each.

Freeverse website
Moto Chaser on iTunes Store
Burning Monkey Casino on iTunes Store
Flick Bowling on iTunes Store
Flick Fishing on iTunes Store

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