Save the world, one villain at a time in Superhero City

Here’s yet another Superhero game that probably doesn’t have as much attention as it should. KlickNation’s ‘Superhero City’ has just over 430,000 monthly active users (on 11-01-2010) and pretty much everything that a superhero game should; sound, graphics, animation and storyline. Rated 3.6/5 from over 6000 reviews, Superhero City’s shortcomings are actually few.

Starting off in Superhero City, you create an avatar for your superhero. There are not many choices here and the avatar is seen throughout the game, so choose carefully or you may have to put up with a bad looking superhero. Then you are guided through the first few steps with a storyline and a retired superhero and have to save his daughter in one mission. The stages take you on a ride through various cities across the world, like Manhattan, New Dehli and Tokyo.

What is great about this game is the fights have sound and are animated with pretty nice graphics and scenery. You can fight any other player in this game and see it in animation unfold before your very eyes.The layout and interface of the game is not too cluttered and there is not that much to read for the player, in fact it is quite easy on the eye.

Gameplay is quite similar to others I have reviewed like The Godfather Story and True Blood, you have a ‘My Team’ tab where you add your friends to fight with you, the ‘Arena’ where players fight other users, the ‘Training’ area in which you teach your hero all those superhero abilities that we know and love, like super-strength and infra-vision. But this game has a bit more not just the animation either.

The missions are interesting and something superheros would do; saving a cat stuck up a tree, preventing a robbery and taking down a crime syndicate.

So, who wants to save the world, one villain at a time? Player reviews read “I like the fight music, it adds just the right amount of larger than life” and “Love the game, the discussions can have a lot of drama but it brings spice to the board. You Devs seem to have so much fun making this game and that is passes to the players!”

Shortcomings would be that the players do not like that changes are occurring, but I think changes are essential for the betterment of the game. The devs certainly need to add more variety to the avatars, there is only a few looks a hero can have and when fighting, it may often look like you are fighting yourself.

Next time you are looking for a fresh game to play, Superhero City is one that should now pop into mind. I would say 3.9/5 (would’ve been 4.5/5 were it not for the lack of choice in the avatar creation process) . Play it here http://apps.facebook.com/superherocity/

My Zoo – For the Animal Lover Within

Ever wanted to manage your own Zoo, buy a piece of land, build a zoo, purchase your very own animals and please your patrons? Well, now you can in a social networking game called ‘My Zoo’!  With 563,447 monthly active users on the facebook platform (on 7/1/2010), it is clearly an established application.

Zoo-managers rate this game a 4.1/5 (after 26654 reviews) and fans comment about the game play, saying things like: “Love My Zoo. Thanks for a very realistic no nonsense game, spend as little or as much time as you want. Great game” says Tammy. It is quite an addictive game, but depending on ones likes and dislikes it can be very entertaining and time consuming.

So what is My Zoo all about? It’s all about gaining daily visitors and pleasing them through ‘visitor satisfaction’. How can you please them? Well, have good parking (buy building parking lots), good food (by purchasing certain food stalls and carts), adequate restrooms and cleanliness (by hiring workers), value (not charging too much for entry) and animals of course. The best part is buying the animals as there is a huge range to choose from. The more animals, food stalls, shops etc you have, the more money you will make to then turn your small zoo into the greatest zoo of your territory.

There are just so many things to keep you entertained in this game. A vast variety of things to buy that become available as you increase in level, things like employees, infrastructure, enclosures, food carts, exhibit houses, guest accommodation, special programs and animals, which are listed in categories such as marsupials, reptiles, mammals, birds and petting zoo type animals. Though at a certain point, you have to wait a while until your cash refills so you can purchase more things (or buy your game currency with real currency – and a certain percentage goes to a wildlife charity), but other than the wait, it’s a great play.

You have the chance to name your zoo and compete with other zoo managers across the social networking platform. Worth a play and 4.5/5 stars from me.

Visit the site: http://apps.facebook.com/myownzoo/

The Fast & The Furious – Pimpin’ Race Cars Anyone?

The Fast and the Furious is a social network racing game on the facebook platform, where users and their friends become defiant street racers.

With over 96,000 monthly active racers and a 4.3/5 star rating after 5425 reviews, this game is proving to be a favorite amongst the fellas. Boys and their toys, right?

A player’s aim is to increase their position, rank and standing in the world of street racing by collecting cars, upgrading them for better performance and racing other players from all over the world.

The Fast and the Furious application on facebook is a licensed registered trademark of Universal Studios so follows with the story of the existing 4 Fast & Furious films. Racers get to experience customized, exclusive race courses and tracks that only The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tokyo Drift, and Fast & Furious can deliver. Racers speed around the streets of Los Angeles, through Tokyo parking garages, across the coasts of Florida.

A racer plays missions to gain experience points  and cash bonuses. These missions (or ‘Jobs’) convey and relive exhilarating stories from the movies and racers connect with legendary characters including Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Connor, Letty, Mia and others from The Fast and the Furious movies!

Players race against other racers and the winner gains experience points and cash. What determines the win is how ‘done-up’ your car is. In the ‘Chop Shop’ section, players can purchase items for their car to increase its performance such as tires, exhaust, suspension, transmission etc. The ‘Chop Shop’ has upgrades, detailing (like ‘pimping’ your ride) and the option to buy other cars.

The ‘Garage Crew’ the group of friends that have accepted a player’s invitation to join. This is the team that stands by a player and his/her car, similar to a gang. Players need gas and energy to do ‘jobs’ and also race.

The game play is thrilling for those who love their cars and those who don’t; well they probably could learn a thing or two. Graphics are pretty good for a click and play type game, but choosing the details of your very own cars has got to be the highlight. The game lacks a gripping storyline, but the fact that it is based on the films make it a whole lot more mesmerizing to play.

Overall, a 4/5 star rating would suit this game. Give it a try and rate it yourself – http://apps.facebook.com/fastfurious/

Avast! Pirates: Rule the Carribean by Zynga

The pirate saying goes “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island” and it proves true in this Zynga game called ‘Pirates: Rule the Carribean’ on the facebook social networking platform. With a rating of 2.9/5 after 36747 reviews, this game is still largely played by the pirate-loving audience despite its somewhat relatively low star rating.

This is your average pirate game, full of pirate jargon yet somewhat fun as the unknown always is. You start off as a pirate, choosing from three types. You do some missions, gain gold (pirate currency) and fight other pirates. You can place a rival pirate on a bounty (similar to a hit list or blacklist), purchase weapons and build ‘operations’ on various islands. Your treasure chest acts as your bank would usually, having the option to bury and unbury it. The brothel refills your health. Yes, you heard me, going to the brothel and getting a ‘massage’ will regain your health to its full capacity. And if you thought that was all, you are wrong. Davey Jones is there to offer you some favors and bonuses.

The Good

Earlier reviews saw this game to be ‘Great’, ‘Fun’ etc. It is entertaining at the beginning for a casual play and time waste. The brothel concept was pretty funny at the start as well as the option to bury and unbury treasure. I would say that the narration is fantastic, from a writers’ point of view too.

The Bad

This game at the current time has a lot of shortcomings. Firstly, the bugs – there are so many that the game is virtually impossible to enjoy because what you want to happen doesn’t always occur. Zynga needs to get their pest control team on that as soon as possible. Secondly, the speed of the game is quite slow, overloaded servers is what the game players are complaining about. Thirdly, many players have reached the ‘Commodore’ stage and have been there for 6 months as there are no further stages for them to go. Therefore, we all fear that Zynga will discontinue this game or just leave it to rot and clog up their system. Also, I would’ve liked to see an image of Davey Jones and the brothel J (though that term is not fit for a PG+13-rated game, is it?)

The Verdict

I would have to say that the reviewers and existing game players would have a greater knowledge of this game than I do, but after playing the game I surely realized and came across the same as they did. I would have to say that playing this game could be somewhat pointless if there are no further stages. Although, the narration and pirate jargon is amusing, this dies out at some point and the game play doesn’t have a strong hold like the rest of the Zynga games.

3/5 stars.

Viral Gangsters – The Godfather Story rises

As you stumble into 2010, wondering to yourself “What did I do?” after that rocking NYE party, the treatment for that throbbing headache and distantly vague memories is right in the comfort of your home – The Godfather Story, in conjunction with a long, relaxing, quiet night in, the cell phone on silent and a coffee by your computer.

Climbing to almost 7,000 monthly active users in its first 2 months after release, The Godfather Story, developed by IBT Games (a reputed developer of casual facebook applications) is set to become one of the biggest and most popular gangster games available on social networking sites. It will take your mind off things for a while or at least until people move on from the occurrences of last year.

Constructed around the criminal world and on the facebook social networking platform, users in The Godfather Story start off as street gangsters aspiring to be ‘The Godfather’ of the crime dominion (hence the name of course).

The games’ focus is a few things really, being powerful, rich and affiliated with a large gang, same as real life, isn’t it? Fighting gangsters, doing missions that are set forth by those higher than you in the crime world and buying weapons are just some of the amusing parts of being a gangster in The Godfather Story.

Here’s a walkthrough for those who don’t understand what this is about: You start of as an aspiring gangster, completing and mastering certain missions such as vandalism and petty theft. You then get noticed after gaining experience in insignificant crimes and are recruited as a street gangster. You fight other gangsters, purchase weapons, armor and other items that you may require for certain missions and recruit your gang from your friends. Recruiting is quite important because the larger your gang, the more ‘back-up’ you have, so to speak.

You can also join the gangs of facebook users who are not in your friends list! You also encounter boss fights, which may be someone you got on the bad-side of and they have returned for revenge and purchase assets for a supporting and constant income. But just like real life, you have to pay taxes.

Unlike other games in its field, The Godfather Story has a storyline. The missions are as they would be in real life if you were working for ‘The Godfather’, engaging, compelling, stimulating, rewarding and of course, full of consequences. You start somewhere small, as we all do, you aim to be higher, through stages such as ‘The Streets’, ‘The Ghetto’, ‘The ‘Burbs’ and ‘The City’. Each time you succeed, the Godfather (or one of his accomplices) promote you to a higher stage in the crime world, where the missions get harder, but fighting the little guys becomes a piece of cake.

Overall, game play is pretty gripping and exciting, graphics are not bad for a mainly textual game though one thing that is pretty cool is the way the boss image changes when you fight him or he gets hurt. That is a must see!

The multiplayer aspect is great, to play with friends or even against friends – makes for a fun time with friends online.

So, don’t take my word for it, play this game http://apps.facebook.com/thegodfatherstory/ and let us at socialgamesreview.wordpress.com know what you think of it.

Oh and another thing, put your money in the bank if you don’t want it to be snatched from you in a fight. Useful hint . . .

Scavenger Hunt- Due for an Overhauling?

The most promising game by developer James Sablatura boasts an impressive number of users trying to make it to the top in a mad dash of “item finding” that involves a journey across a plethora of profiles and applications. The application is used by 16000-20000 users daily and by 60,000 users monthly.

The Objective of the Game

 To find listed goods in different places within the timeline of a season.

 The one with the most number of items are given a score and is judged the winner.

 You have to come back frequently and see if items in your list have popped up or not and search in different places using different methods.

The Virtues

 Scavenger hunts hold a special place in our heart so the point around which the game has been developed is something that a lot of us can relate to. Those who have been unlucky enough to not play any scavenger hunts in real life can now get a part of the experience by playing the game.

 Each season, new topics are chosen and items specific to that topic are scattered in various places for the players to find. The topics are as varied as they are interesting and ranges from finding pirate goods to Mexican foods.

 The choice of images to represent the list deserves a thumbs-up.

The Shortcomings

 The game’s designing can use some touch-ups. Any one entering the homepage would see paragraph after paragraph of text waiting for them. The FAQ seems to have been written in 15 minutes and the game although simple leaves us craving for more.

 The methods that are employed to find the items leave a lot to be desired. I was disappointed to find that we could get the items by just clicking on the thumbnails of the friends or strangers. The developers should have given some clues that would actually make us use our brain. This would certainly have made the game a lot more interesting than it is now.

 Playing the game is like entering a blind alley. You only proceed up to a point before you realize that there isn’t much more to do. The developers can easily boost the number of users by adding some twists and turns in each season of this “interesting under the surface” game.

Final Verdict

It would be a crying shame to let this game end up in the “washed out” zone. The developers should beef up their attempts to improve the game play and replace the texts with images or at least present the necessary text in a better format. I think I saw a feedback form popping up that day when I was playing the game. If they are paying attention to the voices out there then it would not be long before they find themselves in the right track. Do try the game out and decide for yourself.

3.5 out of 5

Dog Wars- It’s a Dog Eat Dog World

Successful developers know the importance of designing their games differently from their contemporaries to give the gamers a unique experience when they are playing them. It is not always necessary to change the theme of the game radically just because someone else has used a similar one (if that was the case then games like Tekken, Soul Calibur, Mortal Kombat etc would not have seen any success after the one vs. one fighting theme was established by King of Fighters, Street Fighter etc.)

Dog Wars might not be able to provide you with an experience that is one of a kind but it would definitely be able to give you a fun time that would make you come back for more.

Objective of the Game
The objective of the game is best summarized by the content of the info section provided by the developers “Become a dog, give yourself a name, choose a breed, and work your way up to become Facebook’s top dog!”. Those who are put off by the unusual nature of the objective and decide that they have other applications they rather spend their idle time in than becoming a dog would be missing out a treat.

The Good

1) The whole concept of the game smells of freshness. Just think of a game that revolves around being a dog and turning yourself into a formidable creature with spell casting abilities and the skill to use dangerous equipments making the usage of fangs a thing of the past.

2) Many of the features of this game are inspired from the insanely famous game of Warcraft and another version of the game that is known as Defense of the Ancients or DOTA. You have items that give you evasive capabilities, damage boost, defense boost, etc. You also get recipes that allow you to combine items to forge more powerful ones and super rare items that give you huge upgrades in stats.

3) Different breeds of dogs that vary from each other in strength, agility and intelligence are at display to choose from. This gives you the unique chance of choosing and becoming the mutt of your choice and train to turn it into the ultimate pooch. The dogs have different primary attributes which get free boosts every time the dog levels up. All of these combined make choosing of the dog a very interesting part of the game.

4) The items and spells that the dogs use to fight each other are hilarious and yet cool. I taught my character to use lightning and sunbeam to deal damage to enemies during fights and as far as I see even more formidable yet funny ones are coming up as I level up.

5) The inclusion of evasive capabilities and damage boosters by varying factors mean that a lot of complicated calculation must be done before you can determine the true attack and damage of an opponent. There are items that reflect back the damage and also ones that multiply damage by some factor based on the difference of level or stat of the different dogs (I found this one especially intriguing).  This ensures that one has the chance to take on other players at higher levels if he/she has the right items and strategy.

6) The substitutions of the necessary components of similar games with things that would make sense if you were a dog have been done with some wise thinking. For example, the concepts of virtual money needed to buy the items have been replaced by bones and biscuits and the idea of having a bank to store the money has been replaced by dig sites where you dig a hole and hide your bones.

7) The explanations of how the abilities and attributes contribute to the fight have been kept simple yet effective.

The Bad
1) Each energy point is restored after every 3 minutes and this waiting can get boring once you get to higher level missions that require a lot of energy.

2) The explanations beside every attribute and beside certain items make the pages look messy at times and it can be corrected easily by putting relevant help files beside each attribute and items.

3) Color scheme and choice of fonts could have been better.

4) The complex calculation of damage (Base damage + Spell Damage + Equipment Damage + Damage Boost from Potions + Extra Damage due to Alliance) and defense (Base Defense + Defensive Spells + Defense from Equipments + Bonus Defense Received from Allies + Bonus Defense due to Potions + Health Rejuvenation Potions etc) might go over the head of casual users who would be left baffled thinking how they lost to a seemingly easier foe.

The Ending

It is a fun game and the learning curve is relatively low. With only 32, 000 users and an average rating of 3.9, I am sad to say that the game deserves a lot more and that the critics have been too harsh in judging it. You should definitely give this game a shot. Try it -Dog Wars

4 out of 5

Superheroes Alliance- There is a Hero in all of Us

Our love for superheroes would be taken to new heights with this application that lets you share the thrills and pains that come along with being in the shoe of one. Follow the code of “United we stand, divided we fall!” as you form alliances and take on the role of being a life saver.Craft your sidekicks and buy cool vehicles to add to your arsenal as you take on villains who don’t know when to quit. Then again the job wouldn’t be any fun if they did!

The Pros

-The greatest strength of the game lies in its simplicity. The sense of being lost in the clutter of options provided is a common experience and woe of casual gamers. The developers deserve a pat in the back for creating the game with that factor in mind.

-The second thing that got my attention was the color scheme and the images used in the application. Although correct usage of these have become bread and butter for any decent game in the social network for example Street Football, Mafia Wars etc but the creation of the correct theme is a difficult hurdle that even many talented developers fumble over. Playing Superheroes Alliance would make you feel that you are a part of the colorful world of Superheroes and the images compliment the theme perfectly.

- The options of building an empire that helps in funding the superhero life, unlocking & mastering new abilities for the hero, choosing from a variety of missions all help in adding variety to the game that would not let you get bored.

- Fighting your allies and other hero alliances and the option of putting up bounty on someone’s head catalyzes the possibility of clan formations which means intensely competitive matches.

- Loved the chat room. Every game should have a similar one designed for it. It helps in communicating with my alliance members a lot easier and also helps in recruiting new members.

The Cons

- Images should have accompanied the smaller missions and some descriptions regarding the hostile situations should be added alongside.

- The necessity of forming big alliances to have success later on the game makes the game a bit tedious.

- The automatic energy fill-up takes too long.

Summing it all up, I can say that if you are into games in the social networks and have a large number of like-minded friends then this game deserves to be given a shot.

Try it out here – Superheroes Alliance

4 stars out of 5

Street Football – Go Underground!

Street Football is a hip and happening Facebook application created by IBT Games Inc. It has 153,859 monthly active users and 334,778 installed the app. in the past 4 months. Fans rate it 4.1 out of 5 (based on 1234 fan reviews). One reviewer stated “It is an excellent game. Everything about it is good. The street store, the challenge board and most of all the team settings (Strategy, Training, Stat and Dressing Room)” So what is the raving all about?

The Street Football app. is the only one of its kind on Facebook, with six players per side; it is not based on the mainstream football but rather the rapidly popularizing underground version that is played in the streets. The matches are informal, and do not necessarily utilize the requirements of a formal 11-a-side football game (also known as Soccer) such as a large field, goal apparatus or match officials. The most basic set-up is usually involved in a street football game, entailing a ball with perhaps a fence or wall used as the goal and items such as clothing and rope used as goalposts. The game involves the player to choose their team of six either manually or randomly from their friend’s list and select a name for their team (and a country to allow you to participate in the national league). You can assign the position you want your team’s players to play in and set their playing mentality from being mostly defensive or offensive. You can train your players in these areas – Technique, Attacking, Defense, Shooting, and Speed. Also players have a level of commitment to the team and condition that their fitness is in. These all have contributions in the outcome of the matches that you play in.

Challenge friends, enemies and other underground teams to win the title of 6-a-side Street Football Champion in this intense game. There is also a dressing room where the manager of the team can distribute special items to team players to improve their commitment, attack and defense in the game. These gifts are purchased from a street store with money gained from winning matches. Players can also purchase venues, training and rehabilitation facilities. How exciting!

Street Football on Facebook is a great way to pass time and get in on the action of the underworld street football league. So why not give it a go?! http://apps.facebook.com/streetfootball/

Twenty20 Cricket – Become the Eye of the Cricketing Storm

With almost 100,000 active monthly users and over 689,000 total users who have joined in the last year, the Twenty20 Cricket game on Facebook is the largest cricket league on the social media games platform.  Released over a year back, the T20 Cricket game has connected cricket fans around the world. Yet another great game developed by IBT Games Inc., it has fans raving “Great”, “Addictive”, “Excellent”, no wonder it is rated 4.1/5 (Based on 2468 user reviews).

Among countries with the highest amount of users who added the application are United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which is no surprise considering that these are the top teams in the real game and their fans evidently want to join in the fun themselves.

Players bowl, bat and field their way to the top of the league with friends and other T20 members. As the manager of the team, they are responsible for selecting and setting up a triumphant team, using tactics and fixing a formation. They are in charge of training of the team, funding and tournament participation in this most realistic simulation. Tight run chases, big scores, and realistic scorecards in the most sensational cricket game is only some of the phenomena you can expect.

You can even hire your friends to cheer for you in your very own cheer leading squad and you are able sell drinks to the audience during home matches, which earns you money in order to buy various things like your own venue and decorate it with TV screens and flood lights.

Why is this game so addictive? Well, I was fortunate enough when the inventor of the Twenty20 Cricket application, Fazle Taher accepted to have a chat with me about this impressive game.

Interviewer: Why Twenty20 Cricket?

Fazle: I had started playing the first online football management game on Facebook but realized that it wasn’t very user friendly and thought perhaps I should make a similar game but tried cricket instead of football as the IPL has just finished, proving very popular.

Interviewer: How much knowledge about the real game is a prerequisite to play this application?

Fazle: Anyone could play at the beginning, but it is not like that now as real cricket tactics are required to play the new features; such as training bowlers, batters and fielders and knowing which of your team member requires what training. We are continuously adding new features that involve real cricket stratagems.

Interviewer: Where do you envisage the Twenty20 Cricket app. in the near future?

Fazle: We’d like Twenty20 Cricket to be released on an independent platform and anticipate it to be quite interactive. The game now is more like a click and play, though we know browser and text based games are fun and popular, making a Twenty20 Cricket game with graphics and interactive would be something to really look forward to as a player and a developer.

Try it our yourself and do your own review http://apps.facebook.com/twentycricket/