Flick Football Super Save
Last summer’s World Cup sparked a craze for football games in which you flick the screen to take a free kick at goal. Flick Football was one of the most popular. Its sequel puts you between the sticks, in control of a creepy pair of disembodied goalie gloves. Swiping a finger on the screen moves them around. Your task is to keep a clean sheet in the face of a barrage of shots from all angles. The ball physics are just right and different modes add variety, including a “bend it” game in which you face Brazilian-style banana shots. Online high-score tables are included for competitive types. It’s a shame it doesn’t support a multiplayer mode, with one gamer taking the shots and another making the saves, but for 59p you’re still getting a pleasing slice of the beautiful game.
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DOT5URBO
At first glance DOT5URBO might not look so hot, with graphics involving a luminescent ball, a bunch of spikes and . . . well, that’s about it. The ball races at a set speed along a horizontally scrolling tunnel, while you tap the screen to flick it between the top and bottom of the tunnel to avoid the alternating stalagmites and stalactites. The visuals are about as sophisticated as Pong circa 1972 but start playing and you’ll find that it’s a hypnotic experience, especially once you begin collecting power-ups to help you smash through the occasional spike and boost your score. The daft, blooping electronic soundtrack just adds to the fun.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard
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In contrast to the casual fun offered by our first two games, the latest Rainbow Six title is aimed at hardcore gamers craving a new first-person shooter. The plot won’t surprise you — like everything Clancy lends his name to these days, it’s all about elite soldiers taking on terrorists — but the rock-solid gameplay and impressive graphics will keep fans engrossed. The main game has 11 missions to play through but, as with many console shooters, these merely serve as practice for the online multiplayer mode, where up to 10 players compete in five-on-five team battles. It’s an impressive achievement on a mobile device, but you’ll need to connect over fast wi-fi to avoid ending up as cannon fodder.