Time Waster
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Weekly Time Waster - ‘1945 Air Force’
I always enjoy finding horizontal scrolling games that are similar to classic arcade games such as “Galaga.” I’m also a pretty big fan of World War II gaming. Wouldn’t you know it, I found a great little horizontal scrolling game called “1945 Air Force” that hit the sweet spot of that particular Venn diagram.
In “1945 Air Force” you control a warplane in an alternate WWII setting that is taking on enemy forces in over 350 levels. You are either flying solo or alongside other smaller planes that are part of your squad – they shoot when you shoot. In each level, you take on other planes by moving your plane left or right and firing at them, all while dodging their ordinance. As you level up, you can upgrade your plane with different ammunition and abilities to cause more destruction and mayhem.
As you tear through the levels, you eventually reach high health and challenging bosses, that range anywhere from gigantic flying fortresses to massive tanks and battleships. Each boss has small weak points on them that you can attack to eventually destroy them while helping ensure your survival. The game is not too easy, but it’s not too challenging either; it hits a great middle ground, especially if you are familiar with this style of arcade game.
With hundreds of levels, over 30 historical planes from countries from WWII and some fantastic graphics, special effects and sounds, “1945 Air Force” is a great time waster to add to your app list.
“1945 Air Force” is free to download on the Android and IOS stores.
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Weekly Time Waster - ‘It’s Literally Just Mowing’
Many of us out there mow our lawns from time to time, as the grass gets tall and makes the exterior of our home look uninviting. Well, what if you could take a break from mowing your own lawn … and mow some virtual lawns instead?
Don’t let the title of the game “It’s Literally Just Mowing” fool you, as the game is LITERALLY just about mowing lawns and nothing more. In this game, you have a driving lawn mower, and you are tasked with mowing various lawns around the neighborhood. Each property has a few obstacles to try and mow around, such as garden plots, houses, and trees, and with those obstacles in mind you need to make sure you get every single blade of grass to complete the level.
You control your mower by swiping the screen to have it change direction, as it is constantly moving. There are a few cool unique levels you can play, such as a football field; there are tons of different customization options with which you can outfit your mower as you complete each level. The grass is also worth mentioning – it looks insanely realistic for a simple mobile game. It’s almost soothing to watch it sway in the wind and watch it get cut as your mower rolls over it.
“It’s Literally Just Mowing” is free to download on the Android and IOS stores.
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Weekly Time Waster - ‘Need for Speed: No Limits’
There are many racing games out there on mobile, but one of the biggest household names in the racing scene will always be “Need for Speed.” I was unaware all this time that the game series was on mobile devices, so of course when I found out, I had to dive in and see it for myself.
“Need for Speed: No Limits” is a free-to-play racing game that puts you in the shoes of a street racer looking to win races, build street cred, and earn money to buy faster cars and bigger upgrades. The game has fantastic graphics for a mobile game, which comes at the cost of sometimes running a bit slow or having long load times, so it might not play well on an older phone.
The game has a pretty decent story, but it is dragged down by mediocre characters. The main bread and butter are the races themselves. In “NFS: No Limits” you don’t need to worry about pressing an accelerator pedal. In this game, your car is always going full pedal to the floor, the only thing you need to do is tap the left or right side of your screen to turn. Swipe up to boost and swipe down to drift around tight corners.
It sounds easy, but there is plenty of room for error, and as you progress through the story, the races get much tougher, as do the opponents. There are a few types of races throughout; each race lasts less than a minute on average. There are also over 70 cars in the game, ranging from street and classic cars like a 2013 Impreza WRX STI or 1960 Dodge Charger RT, to a Hyper car such as a Ferrari LaFerrari.
“NFS: No Limits” is a free-to-play racer made by a huge publishing company, so there are a few caveats to understand before you go in. You can only play so much a day, as you use “fuel” in each race, so when you run out of fuel, you must wait to play again later. It also takes time to rank up and earn currency, so there are of course premium “paid” currencies to help you progress faster if you want. Other than that, “NFS: No Limits” is a fantastic racer that will be sure to burn some time – not to mention some rubber.
“Need for Speed: No Limits” is free to download on the Android and IOS stores!
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‘Press Reset’ goes behind the scenes of video game development
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Video games are big business.
Now, anyone with any sort of cultural awareness understands that the video game industry is a big one, but when you stop to really look, the numbers are staggering.
We’re talking a LOT of zeroes here, to the tune of some $180 billion (yes, with a B) just last year. That number outstrips the global movie industry. It outstrips the North American sports industry. And oh yeah – it’s more than those two COMBINED.
So yeah – big money.
But with big money comes big pressure. The companies that make these games, whether we’re talking about the major-name studios doing the distribution at the top or the multitude of smaller shops that tend to the lion’s share of the developmental work to bring these games to life, are faced with massive expectations. When those expectations are not met, there are of course consequences, but even success is no guarantee.
Jason Schreier’s “Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry” (Grand Central Publishing, $17.99) takes a look behind the scenes at the video game industry, digging deep and investigating the stories that spring from every game development experience. Some of them are good, some not-so-good, all populated by designers and developers who want nothing more than to make great games – even if the success of those games doesn’t always trickle down to them.
Through first-rate reporting and dozens of first-hand interviews, Schreier walks us through the process of making games through the eyes of the people who make them. We also get to explore the business side of things, watching as executives insert themselves into the process regardless of whether they actually know anything about video games.
As they say – mo’ money, mo’ problems.
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Weekly Time Waster - ‘Enlisted’
For any of you who are lucky enough to have gotten your hands on a next-gen PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, congratulations and welcome to the future of gaming! With a new generation of consoles comes a new generation of free-to-play games, and in my opinion, one of the best to play so far is “Enlisted.”
“Enlisted” is a free-to-play first-person hardcore World War II online shooter. You play as a squad leader who has a squad of A.I. soldiers under your command that you lead into battle. Each real person has A.I. soldiers as well, so there are hundreds of soldiers in any given battle, which makes it feel like a real massive-scale war is going on. In “Enlisted” you can play as infantry, a tank crew or even an aircraft pilot, as you take the war to land and air.
The game feels extremely historically accurate, what with the weapons, vehicles, uniforms and more. It is a hardcore shooter as well, so everyone is eliminated in one or two shots instead of soaking up bullets like in most shooters.
There are currently three campaigns in the game: the Invasion of Normandy, which has an amazing beach landing map to mark the beginning of Operation Overlord, Battle of Berlin and Battle for Moscow, which contain the playable factions of Germany, the United States and Russia. The battle of Tunisia is soon to be added, as well as other unannounced campaigns hinted at by the developers down the road.
As you play, you unlock different historical squads and weapons, and you can customize your squads to your playstyle. You can build your squad with snipers, assault troopers, engineers who can build bunkers and weapon emplacements, radiomen who can call in airstrikes and much more. Personally, I’ve found that playing as a tank crew is one of the most rewarding experiences as rolling around in armor feels extremely realistic. The tanks move slow and they turn slow, but when you hit the frontline, you feel like an unstoppable force of reckoning. And there are LOTS of WW2 tanks to unlock as well, ranging from Panzers to Sherman tanks, which are armed with HE rounds for infantry, AP rounds for other tanks and a heavy machine gun to mow down soldiers; you can make a huge different on the battlefield in a tank.
“Enlisted” is a massive game, that provides an incredible WW2 experience, and with so many large maps, vehicles, weapons and planes to unlock, it is going to keep you busy for hundreds, if not thousands of hours. On top of that, you get to partake in some of the most famous battles in WW2 history, and get to learn a thing or two along the way.
“Enlisted” is free to download on the Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and on Enlisted.net to play for free on PC. It should be noted that “Enlisted” is an early access game (open beta), so it is not completely finished yet and is subject to having a few bugs and glitches. That said, the game is constantly being updated and tweaked, so you get to play the game and be part of the overall experience which will help shape the game to be an amazing finished and fully released free product in the end.
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