ProEvolution Soccer 2011
Android is starting to take off as a gaming platform. The big titles still appear on the iPhone first, but increasingly they are being rewritten for Android phones. Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) is one of the first of the major football games to make it over. The controls are simple and fluid — you can move your player in any direction as the game controls the other 10 members of your squad. Shots need to be well timed, as the keepers are not easy to beat. PES has no commentary (not a drawback, since it can be irritating) but a bigger omission is the non-availability of most English sides. While Real Madrid play Barcelona, in the Premier League “Merseyside Blue” must meet “Man Red”.
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
Tom Clancy, the writer of military thrillers, has put his name to this jet-fighter simulation. You take the role of a former US air force pilot now flying for a private military company. Don’t be put off by a confusing tutorial: once your wheels are up, controlling your plane — whether by tilting the phone or with the use of an onscreen joystick — is easy. The graphics look great and Clancy’s well-plotted adventure is involving. This is a great step forward for Android gaming. Missions can be a bit too long but the flying is always fast and furious, while in multiplayer mode you can dogfight with friends on the same wi-fi network long after the campaign has finished. H.A.W.X. outflies all other combat simulations for Android.
Totemo
Totemo is a simple puzzle game with appealing visuals that ramps up the difficulty at just the right pace to keep you coming back for more. The object is to match up glowing “spirit” orbs, which subsequently disappear from the screen as they are released into the afterlife — or something. Orbs can only be matched horizontally or vertically, and to pass a level all must be removed from the screen. At the beginning you link up pairs but as the game continues you are soon linking orbs in groups of three. This is a logic game that requires genuine consideration rather than button-mashing, with the result that mastering each level results in a great sense of achievement. It’s a good choice for anyone looking to stimulate the mind rather than just the adrenal glands.