Best new games of the week: Does Not Commute and Implosion - Never Lose Hope
Every week, our staff will handpick a game from the past two weeks that we believe is a must-have download for your iPhone or iPad. These games will always be from a wide variety of genres, but they are chosen because our own staff members love it and can’t put it down. So here are this week’s picks! Enjoy, and happy gaming!
Does Not Commute
Can you safely juggle and maneuver multiple cars at once for a commute across town?
Looking for a unique strategy game about driving and time paradoxes? Then you should check out our Game of the Week, Does Not Commute from Mediocre AB.
This special little gem features a gorgeous world that is set in the 1970s, and features colorful and fun characters who are going about their daily lives by commuting across town. Mediocre poured a lot of soul into crafting this beautiful game, because the textures and details are on point. Each vehicle has their own distinctive appearance, as well as speed, handling, and weight, all of which need to be taken into consideration when playing. The soft jazz soundtrack is soothing and just adds to the charm of the title.
Does Not Commute is split up into several different levels that consist of 10 or more parts in each. Players need to complete these one-by-one and in chronological order, so while it starts off pretty easy, things get difficult quickly. You start by controlling one car with the directional buttons, getting the driver from their starting point to the end point that is shown on the map. Then the next step will be to control another car, but it takes place at the same time as the car before it (temporal paradox). The process needs to be repeated for all drivers in that area.
So while you start with one car, by the end of that level, you’ll have over 10 cars driving their way around town at the same time, which means things can get very messy — you need to rely on your memory when planning out the route of the next car to avoid crashes and other sloppy mistakes.
But to make it even more challenging, the game imposes a time limit that starts at 60 seconds, though you can direct cars to get the extra time power-ups scattered throughout the map, and the leftover time you have gets carried over to the next stage.
If a car hits an obstacle, it slows down and costs you time. However, you can rewind the car at the penalty of one-second if you think you can do better. As you get further in the game, you can unlock power-ups like turbo and traction control, which are helpful when you’re in a pinch.
While the entire game can be played for free without ads, players can go for the premium upgrade to unlock the ability to start from checkpoints for just $1.99. The checkpoints are essentially the beginning of the next level, with all of your previous time carried over. You can always go back to the beginning and replay it to try and get more time on the next one, though.
We’ve been enjoying Does Not Commute over the past week, even though it is a fairly difficult game. If you’re a fan of Mediocre AB and want an interesting driving strategy game to check out over the weekend, we recommend picking this one up. You can get it on the App Store as a universal download for free with an in-app purchase to start from checkpoints.
For more about Does Not Commute, make sure to check my original review.
Honorable Mention
Implosion
You are humanity’s only hope in this amazing sci-fi mecha action game.
In the mood for something action-packed this weekend instead? Then you have to check out our Honorable Mention, Implosion by Rayark Inc.
In this amazing console quality title, players will be immersed into a sci-fi, anime-like world filled with mechas, zombie-like aliens, and the last surviving members of the human race. The graphics in Implosion are definitely something you would expect to find on your home consoles, since the 3-D world is full of insane detail, textures, flashy lights, and awesome particle effects. All of this is possible thanks to their graphical engine. To top things off, Implosion also has top-notch voice acting, and a completely original orchestrated soundtrack from the music engineer behind “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy — this is Hollywood quality audio right here.
Implosion has an in-depth story that is captivating and engaging, so players will be drawn in from the start. The game is split up into different chapters that have several levels each, and there is always going to be different objectives for each stage, though it will usually involve a lot of hack-n-slash action. The game also has sub-bosses and full on boss battles that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you need to plan your moves while staying alive. Implosion starts with Normal difficulty, but you can always go back and replay levels on Hard or Expert.
At the end of each level, you are given a grade based on your performance. Naturally, the more damage you deal and less hits you take, the better. The game also gives players up to five revives if you die, though this does reduce your grade. However, it’s good to use these in the beginning when you’re getting to know the ropes. You can also get drops from enemies, which are upgrades for your mecha suit that you can equip from the game menu. This leads to a lot of customization, and everyone can find a playing style that suits them.
The battle system in the game is like what you would find in Devil May Cry or Bayonetta games. All the action happens in real-time, and you’ll be slashing things up a lot or blowing them up with lasers and missiles. A virtual joystick is in the bottom left corner, and buttons for attacking and using special abilities are in the bottom right. A circle around your character’s feet will have a large blue arrow to point you where you need to go, and red arrows indicate incoming foes. All-in-all, Implosion has a responsive control system that works.
We love seeing high quality, premium games like this on the App Store, and Implosion is definitely one you shouldn’t miss. The price may seem a bit high, but remember — this is much more than your typical mobile game. Implosion can be found on the App Store as a universal download for $9.99.
For an in-depth look at Implosion, don’t miss my original review.
