How Deep does the Basement Go?

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Issac who lived happily with his mother who spent all her time watching religious television programs. One day, while watching her programs, she heard the voice of God (or, most likely having an episode of Schizophrenia, that's what she thought she heard) that told her that her son was evil and had to be punished, so she locked him away in his room, never to come out. The next day she heard the voice again, Issac was still evil, so she took all his toys and left him with an empty room. Issac didn't understand why, but he knew there was something very wrong with his mother. On the third day, his mother heard the voice again, telling her that the only way to cleanse him was to sacrifice him, so she went to the kitchen and took a carving knife. Issac, peeking through the keyhole in his room, saw her coming and panicked, desperately searching for a way out. he discovered a trap door leading to the basement under a rug. Not knowing what was down there in the dark, but more afraid of his mother turning the key in the lock of his door, he jumped down into the darkness.

The Binding of Issac is definitely one of the more disturbing games, but that's what makes it fun to play. Everything is warped and wrong in so many kinds of ways that you can't help but feel an ominous presence hang over you while you guide Issac through the dark depths. Enemies are horrible, disfigured creatures and the dozen or so bosses are some of the most gruesome and horrid creature you'll ever see.

Issac himself is not defenceless; he shoots his tears as projectile weapons while dodging the ranged and melee attacks from enemies. Issac can't defend himself, so you have to avoid getting hit by the blood globs and touching any enemies. There are, however, literally dozens of items that Issac can find throughout the basement; each one gives him a stat boost or a new power entirely. Unfortunately, each one usually represents itself on Issac in some bizarre or gruesome way, and when they start to stack it will transform Issac into an equally disfigured character compared to the rest of the denizens of the basement.

There are also other items that require activation that you'll be able to collect and hang on to until you need them. Issac can carry one type of pill which gives a randomised effect, but they’re not always good. Tarot cards can be found and give a specific effect, but you’ll have to learn for yourself what each one does by using it. Finally, you can carry one useable item that can be used repeatedly but must recharge between rooms. These items are usually the most powerful in the game, but the more powerful it is, the longer it takes to recharge.

The best thing about The Binding of Issac is that each playthrough is completely randomised and you can (usually) complete a playthrough in half an hour, unless you did well enough and manage to get access to Sheol and attempt to defeat Satan himself; good luck with that. I only managed to get that far once and the game completely crushed me like a snail. This game is brutal and unforgiving; only quick fingers, quick thinking and a little bit of luck will get you anywhere near the big final bosses. And there is so much more to do within the game by unlocking special characters, even more items and then there are the special challenges to complete.

The Binding of Issac is completely wrong and disturbing on many, many levels. I won't deny that some may be dubious about its content. I was a bit uncomfortable with some elements myself, but they are never the focus of the game, usually simple items that you are free to ignore. With that said, most of the game makes you feel uncomfortable regardless, even with "Questionable religious content" (Nintendo's response on a possible 3DS version) aside.

With the sheer randomness, the massive content of items, enemies and rooms you’ll find, make playing each time like playing a whole different game

The Binding of Issac: Rebirth is an upcoming re-production of the original game to switch the platform from Flash to a more stable engine that will fix several bug that could not be fixed on the Flash platform. It will also feature co-op support, and add even more items and enemies to the colossal stack. It will be coming to PS4, Vita and Steam sometime in 2014.

Art by Blckwht (http://blckwht.deviantart.com/)

Mobile Security and You

I’m going away for the weekend, so this week’s update is coming to you a bit early. I also thought this would be a good chance to discuss Mobile Security, especially Anti-Theft tools.

Currently, the majority of all viruses and worms are aimed at the Android OS. Statistics say that 92% of all malware is targeted at Android devices, thanks to the open-source programmability designed by Google. This, coupled with a rising popularity over iPhones, has increased mobile infections significantly. This isn’t to say iOS and Windows smartphones aren’t completely immune to attacks. For iPhone users who ‘jailbreak’ their devices, there are viruses and worms that pose a threat and Windows is still in its infancy and isn’t much of a target, but so far there haven’t been any reported cases of attacks.

Viruses and Worms, the two big threats, are slightly more complicated to create for mobile devices since it is more difficult to actively infect these devices. In addition, a virus or worm must be written specifically for a mobile device OS, so you can’t pick up a desktop or Mac virus on your phone.

Most forms of viruses require mobile users to seek out and install Trojan applications, usually occurring when users download ‘cracks’ or imitations to avoid paying for apps. iPhone and Window’s users are protected by a ‘walled garden’, which filters all apps before making them available, with a fee charged to the developer. Google later implemented the ‘Google Play’ app as a similar product, but users are still free to download apps from other sites if they disable some security settings.

Worms, the more dangerous of the two, can infect a device through many other means, including BlueTooth, WiFi, SMS and MMS. Currently, only Android and ‘jailbroken’ iPhones are vulnerable to Worms.

Android users have access to Anti-Virus software which is a hard-line defence from all methods of infection. Both iPhone and Windows mobiles do not have Anti-Virus software available in their app stores, and although the risk to those devices are significantly low, they are extremely vulnerable if their systems are eventually hacked.

With mobile phone thefts on the rise, Anti-Theft software is another big issue some developers are tackling. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, an estimated 826,000 people in the United Kingdom had their phone stolen during the year of 2011/12. This has prompted governments to address concerns to mobile producers to incorporate more security into their mobile devices.

In the meantime, there are various applications you can get that offer a variety of features including Anti-Virus and Anti-Theft protection. For Android users, the top two products are avast! and Bitdefender Mobile Security and Antivirus. There is also a more universally available application called Prey, which works on iOS, Macs and Windows PCs; an ideal product for securing your laptops and notebooks.

These products, with the exception of Prey, also offer full anti-virus protection. avast! is a free product with premium available, but provides the basic tools necessary to protect your device. Prey is also free, but has limits on various abilities unless you pay for the premium service.

Anti-Theft protection can vary between products, but they offer multiple forms of protection and recovery. They can attempt to ping local WiFi networks or activate GPS to alert you to its location. They can activate the microphone or front camera to record thieves trying to access your device, some even activate an alarm if the SIM card is removed. Whichever product you decide to use, be sure to read into each one carefully, as they each offer a wide variety of options and abilities and with mobiles carrying increasingly sensitive data and costing a great deal, you’ll want to protect your investment.

You can find these products on the Google Play marketplace and you can also check out Prey here.

Universum: Jack in the Hole?

We delve back into the wide open pastures of Kickstarter this weekend, this time a game has surfaced that has got a few heads turning. Universum: War Front is a FPS, RTS, MOBA RPG and a DOTA-style game all in one. If that seems like a mouthful, well, it probably is. Now feel for the developers making this game.

Not too long ago now, there was a mammoth of a game called Spore; an idea spun off the top of Will Wright’s head and produced by Maxis. Spore was unique, there was nothing like it back in the day, but there were problems. Spore had five stages of evolution, each one played very differently than the others, in fact, you could go as far as to say they were different games altogether in one package. This was also Spore’s problem and despite the fact that producing one polished game is difficult enough, the developers were instead asked to produce five completely different games. Suffice to say Spore was both an ingenious idea and a technical letdown, lacking in overall quality.

Universum is striving for a similar goal, though on a much less linear scale. Firstly, it’s a RTS, with multiple planets divided into territories and then each territory is a DOTA game. Followed by another layer of FPS, you can join the troops on the ground and help blast the enemy away personally, finally followed by a slather of Space Combat and even a splash of underwater combat.

On the technical side, Universum is boasting destructible terrain and even natural disasters and phenomenon. The early production video on the Kickstarter page shows the game already has very good graphics, especially since its only been produced by a single person so far. Also boasting a single player campaign as well as full online support and they have already met their meagre $20K target. However, the stretch goals will each add a new planet to the solar system, expanding the war zone even further.

Universum could be a fantastic game and certainly something very unique that will attract players of all calibres, if it can pull each style off successfully. It would be a great disappointment if the FPS gameplay was excellent while the RTS was left lacklustre. Unlike the issue Spore had, there is no problem here of making different games within the game; rather, it is a single game with multiple gameplay elements that need to be perfectly balanced and designed. This will be a monumental task as they try to implement the balance of an RTS with the customisation of a FPS.

Can they pull it off, or will Universum be a Jack of all trades and a King of none? Well, either way, you can check out the Kickstarter page and have a look. The game is already initially funded, so any extra will just be icing on what’s left of the war-torn cake.

Mobile Review: Bloons TD 5

Balloons. One of Earth’s greatest threats has never been so dynamic, versatile and…pretty? The only thing standing in the way of the Bloons taking over the world is a troop of very resourceful monkeys. So we have Bloons TD 5.

The TD stands for just what this game is, Tower Defence. Bloons will enter the map from various points and only your resourceful placement of dart-hurling monkeys will prevent them from reaching the end. The design of Bloons is pretty standard for a tower defence, not really trying anything new, but rather putting a quirky spin on it. Looking back on the previous incarnations of Bloons, it really has grown and they’ve taken a lot on board for making the fifth iteration into one very solid game, standing out from the crowded tower defence genre.

The design has evolved to always feel the same; bright colours, simple cartoonish style, but it looks significantly better with each iteration. It has a charming seriousness about it; all monkeys are dressed for war. Your enemy is also extremely resourceful, with multi-layered balloons requiring several pops to destroy or the dreaded regenerating or MOAB balloons. There are several Bloon types, each posing a new problem. Lead Bloons can’t be popped by regular spikes and darts and Camo Bloons can’t be seen by regular towers either. Each map requires careful tower placement to best deal with the Bloon threat.

The tower options are both diverse, but not overwhelming. As with most tower defence games, players will have their favourites and the towers they never touch. Each tower has four upgrade options followed by two upgrade tracks with a further two upgrades, but you can only upgrade one track per tower. Each track transforms your tower into something completely different, usually providing more popping power, or popping more Bloons per shot, though others provide special abilities.

As with most mobile games, there are micro-transactions. Even though you pay for games these days, it’s very common to still be asked for more money. In this era of gaming, I can’t scrutinise a game for having micro-transactions, I can however complain full-heartedly if you have to pay for significant aspects of the game. Bloons TD 5 doesn’t do this, as all items in the game can be purchased with the in-game currency of ‘money’ (creative name right there) and you earn ‘money’ by playing the game, earning more on harder difficulties. Only if you have some compulsive need to get those items quickly, then you’ll never even notice the game asking for your cash.

It’s stylish, fun and challenging, and those things make for a very good game. Each map takes about fifteen minutes on medium difficulty, so it could be a quick time-waster if you need it to be. You can also quit and resume a map at any time between the quick rounds, handy if you want to squeeze in a few on the go.