Burn Baby, Burn!

Against the Fire! (US$0.99), ia rather ominously named adventure application developed by the team at Meridian. Meridian are also responsible for the excellent RPG app Alive 4-ever, of which Against the Fire! bares more than a slight resemblance to. Meridian have stuck to their winning design and gameplay formula in Against the Fire! The basic gameplay premise in Against the Fire! is almost exactly the same as Alive 4-ever and this is not necessarily a bad thing. Both apps offer similar thrills and spills, but come is vastly different visual packages.

Against the Fire! is an adventure application which bases itself around the fact that your character (Andrew, an amateur fireman), must rescue helpless civilians from a hotel which is being invaded by "Fire ball monsters". The idea is great and I was excited to have the responsibility of reviewing this app. Meridian has managed to differentiate this application from the many RPG shooter games out there, both on iPhone and non-iPhone platforms. Against the Fire! is cleverly disguised as a fun and innocent heroism-based app, but if you swap the harmless fire-hose with a loaded a gun and the Fire ball monsters with a living enemy (Zombies, anyone?), this app is RPG shooter to the core. In my mind, this kind of differentiation should be applauded, as it adds depth to a very theme-shallow genre and invites new fans into the RPG world.

Aside from the fantastic premise and inviting aesthetics, Against the Fire! still has some catching up to do before it is on par with its big brother (or sister, depending on what you're into) application, Alive 4-ever. The area which lags behind the most is the actual enjoyment that is received via the gameplay.  I don't like saying this, but, I did not find Against the Fire! particularly enjoyable, which is a shame, as it is loaded with potential. The two main issues which caused this unfortunate letdown are; that I found the character's movements difficult to control and that after the first five levels the game becomes ridiculously difficult. Other members of the MyAppSource team agree with me on the sudden jump in difficulty but not necessarily on my lack of manoeuverability during gameplay.



Luckily, the team at MyAppSource is full of ideas men (or women, depending on what you're into) and we have come up with some simple ways in which Against the Fire! can be altered to make this review redundant. The first idea we had was, if the difficulty of the levels (at least for the first seven or so) be toned down a little so that users can get a better feel for the game and not consider themselves hopeless when they are unable to complete the fifth level. The next, and perhaps most mind-blowingly revolutionary idea we've had, is to change the means of controlling the character. The directional pad is a bit small for my grown-man fingers and I believe that Against the Fire!'s gameplay would only stand to improve if the character was moved by 'tilt' control. Tilt control in this app would, in my opinion, make the gameplay incredibly entertaining and provide another point of differentiation for Against the Fire! as I have not yet played, or witnessed, any accelerometer controlled RPG apps.

All in all, Against the Fire! is not a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination. With a few minor adjustments this app would drastically improve. At less than a dollar and with many positive iTunes Store reviews this app is worth the purchase, if only to prove me wrong in my assertion that the gameplay is a little too tough. Don't hesitate to send us an email or drop us a comment about how hopeless we are at Against the Fire!, and to tell us that the level's aren't that hard, we'll probably ignore you, but it's worth a shot.

MyAppSource Rating: Three Stars!

Just Awesome!

Awesome Note (US$4.99) is another organisation and time management based application, with a similar premise to Put Things Off. Awesome Note has been created (by BRID) to help you poor souls with time management issues be able to run your lives a little smoother. The idea is good, the purpose is solid and the menus and options are very useful. So what is it that makes me feel that this app isn't as good as is iTunes reviews may state?

I have been thinking about that question for a while and I think I may come to a conclusion. I believe that this application has tried too hard to do everything an organisation application could possibly need to do and this has led to the app having too many features. You're probably thinking to yourself "Man, I love tacos." But, if you were actually pating attention you would be wondering how can too many features possibly be a problem, well, let me show you through the magical powers of words.

First of all, this app is supposed be a time saver and make note taking quick and easy. With all the options, like the ability to colour coordinate absolutely everything, modify any (and every) image, change fonts at will, modify note backgrounds and alter the note category order, by the time you have tested these you will have spent 15 minutes playing around with features instead of writing any notes! What's worse is that these features have minimal effect on the usefullness and effectiveness of taking a simple note.

Second of all, people who are time poor will be attracted to this app because they need all the organisation help they can get. These people have a tendancy to waste time on trivial tasks and often procrastinate to the nth degree. Awesome Note enables them to do this, while giving them the impression that they are solving their time management issues, which they clearly are not!

In all honesty, Awesome Note is a solid and useful note taking application, that is, until all the features steal half an hour of your precious time. The layout is great and aesthetically it is gorgeous. If this app was a little simpler (aka had a little less features) and did not focus so much on changing settings it would be excellent. This wouldn't be the first note taking app I would recommend, but all those high iTunes ratings can't be wrong. If too many features are never enough for you, then I strongly suggest you purchase this app.

MyAppSource Rating: 3 Stars!

How you like them Apples?

Frootrees (US$0.99), is deceptively tricky little application, developed by Tin Man Games. The developers claim that Frootrees is a "simple fruit picking game" and it is, and much more. Frootrees is based on a very simple idea (picking fruit). Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the premise, the finer points of the application allow for the idea to be simple and for the app to remain entertaining and not become stale or (God forbid) boring.

The name of the app may seem a little nondescript and unusual, that is, until you scratch under the surface of the app and find out that "Froot" is actually the fruit that you will be expected to pick (and drop and fling). During game play the user must tap (and drag to fling froot across the screen) on any apple, pear, plum or orange. Once the froot has been tapped it will drop, the idea is to drop each froot in its corresponding area (don't worry, the areas are colour coded [worry if you're colour blind]). Points will be awarded and deducted for the accuracy or inaccuracy of the falling froot.

Dropping the froot into the correct area is only half the battle. The other half is timing (because timing, as they say, is everything). Each individual froot starts small and rapidly grows into a larger, riper specimen. Extra points are awarded for dropping fully ripened froot correctly. Points are deducted for froot that was left too long on the Frootree, and has subsequently withered and died. Points "combos" and multipliers are achieved when ripe froot consecutively lands in the correct area.

These facets of game play allow Frootrees to be enjoyable after numerous uses. Frootrees is one of those apps that keeps you playing turn after turn, simply because of its challenging (and addicting) nature. The simplistic nature of the app limits it potential to be a "superstar" application, which is why I can only rate it as three stars, but, it is a high three stars. Frootrees lacks that "wow" factor, but for 99 cents it is certainly worth the purchase, and it definitely will not disappoint.

 MyAppSource Rating: Three Stars!