Today's Best Apps: Oceanhorn, Tilt To Live 2: Redonkulous, Alpha Zen And More
Alpha Zen by Large Animal Games (Free, 27.6 MB): From the minds that brought us Color Zen arrives another casually challenging puzzler. Every stage consists of an outlined area and color encapsulated words. Similar to a crossword puzzle, your task is determining how they come together, i.e., which letters overlap. Obviously, the assembled group must fit within the designated area. As a reward, the words slide into place, completing a famous quote, many quite inspirational. If you're not familiar with most, it even becomes educational. The game features elegant minimal 2-D graphics, mystifying and calm soundtrack, 120 stages, single finger control, and Facebook integration. Unlocking all chapter requires a $1.99 in-app purchase.
Oceanhorn ™ by FDG Entertainment ($8.99, 161.8 MB): In this casual 3-D platformer, an adventure of fantasy and difficulty awaits your conquest. The tale begins with some foreshadowing by a boy's father. Unfortunately, it only reveals that a terrible creature resides in the sea surrounding the islands they call home. Now, after he has been orphaned, you must take control of the adolescent and set out on a journey to uncover the mystery inside your father's notebook and a magical necklace. At first, a small sword and those wits will be your only asset, however, persistence and experience shall change that. The game features charming graphics and instrumental soundtrack, 10-hour multi-setting campaign, auto-saving checkpoints, mini-map, inventory and objective manager, plenty of puzzles, as well as Game Center achievements and leaderboards.
Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous by One Man Left ($2.99, 87.3 MB): The little arrow is back and ready for you to help it survive the next wave of trouble in this sequel to the acclaimed survival-style action-arcade game. Hopefully, you learned something from the previous experience, however, even if not, the triangle-shaped character did, and just in time an expanded collection of weapons. For example, now the pointer can poke a ferocious fireball or wield a lightsaber. Better yet, there's added points for doing those slice-and-dice spinning moves in an effective manner. Although, don't get too confident as new enemies also exist, big bosses that require unique strategy to tackle. The game features a mixture of improved 2-D and 3-D graphics, two levels of difficulty, three control settings, mini-objectives as well as Game Center leaderboards and achievements.
Stealth Inc. by Curve Digital Games ($4.99, 60.4 MB): The previously PlayStation exclusive stealth-platformer has invaded the App Store. You control a small and quirky looking, yet skilled character, which reminds me a lot of a Minion, who must make it through the facility alive. Well, the preference would be unharmed, but that's just not going to happen. Anyway, you'll attempt to avoid brutal deaths by moving cautiously and trying to stay within the darkness until you trip an automated system. If it's just the lights, no worries. Unfortunately, there could be a high-powered laser just waiting for you to pass within the sensor. Nevertheless, some upsides exist. You can earn helpful gadgets, such as decoys, and every section has a checkpoint, because they're so challenging. So, frustration stays confined to short bursts, we hope. The game features cartoony 3-D graphics, ominous soundtrack, 80 stages, five gadgets, dual-thumb controls, and Game Center achievements.
GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience by Gameloft (Free, 1002.3 MB): This shifted sequel to the well-received high-octane simulation racer turns the difficulty up a new level. More like Real Racing 3, races involve actual human opponent performances and objective-specific challenges, such as the lead bragging King of the Hill. In addition, you can earn other bonuses, for example, new permanent or rental cars, plus purchase one-time benefiting boosts. For the finishing touches, auto-throttle has been enabled by default along with numerous other improvements to help streamline and balance things out. The game features 3-D graphics, techno tunes, 13 tracks occurring at night and daytimes, 67 upgradeable and licensed real cars, various disposal boosts, four camera angles, four tilt and touch control schemes, level-type ranking system, as well as Game Center achievements and leaderboard.