10. FREE FIRE


 Garena Free Fire is a mobile battle royale shooter where players land on a remote island to fight and survive. Scavenge for weapons, gear, and other loot while competing against 49 other players to be the last man standing.


Free Fire Overview

Garena Free Fire is a mobile battle royale shooter where 50 real players land on an island and fight to be the last man standing. Games are fast paced and only last a maximum of 10 minutes. The core gameplay is similar to other battle royale games like Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, with players starting on a plane and choosing their starting location by parachuting to it. Explore the island to find weapons and items before the safe zone shrinks, forcing players to move quickly. Things start to heat up as the safe zone gets smaller, as players are forced to fight in an ever shrinking play area. Players can get around the island quickly using one of four vehicles: a Jeep with low speed but high durability, a fast pickup truck, a small three-wheeled vehicle called the Tuk Tuk, and even one that can travel on both land and sea called the Amphibious. Where Garena Free Fire differentiates itself from other battle royale games is its unique character system. The game has 10+ unlockable characters each with their own unique playstyle, such as the bodyguard who reloads faster and the nurse that restores more hp when reviving allies.
Garena Free Fire Key Features:

 Huge PvP Battles - engage in thrilling 50 player combat with an extensive island with unique environments and loot.
Vehicles - travel faster with vehicles such as Jeeps and pickup trucks, and even go across land or sea with the Amphibious.
10+ Unlockable Characters - each character has their own passive effects, such as an athletic girl with increased sprint speed and a nurse who restores ally HP.
Character Customization - buy outfits for characters as well as cute pets that follow players around in-game using premium currency.
Solo or Co-Op - fight in squads of up to four players with in-game voice chat.


 Free Fire Screenshots




Free Fire Featured Video




 9. Asphalt 8: Airborne


Asphalt 8: Airborne (iOS|Android) is the latest sequel in Gameloft's superpopular arcade racing franchise, but this one has a new element that lets you get big air to perform tricks. The new jumping mechanic is fairly well executed and adds to the excitement, but it becomes old hat pretty quickly.

It's important to note that arcade racers like this one differ from simulations like the Real Racing franchise, so don't expect real-world physics and controls. This type of racer is meant to be much more fast-paced and entertaining than the sims, so racing purists might want to look elsewhere. With that said, Asphalt 8 is still a lot of fun.


Like the other games in the franchise, Asphalt 8: Airborne comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from an arcade racer. For starters there are 47 cars, including luxury racers like the Bugatti Veyron and the Lamborghini Veneno, each of which you'll eventually unlock as you earn money by racing. Getting the top-tier cars will definitely take some time, but like many games these days, Asphalt 8 lets you spend real cash to buy car packs if you want to get ahead quickly. Fortunately, even the beginning cars are pretty appealing, so you won't have to pay your dues racing some subcompact tin can like you do in other games if you don't want to spend the money.

There are only nine different racing locations, but you'll race each track in reverse as you progress and there are numerous routes to take on each track for plenty of variation. To mix it up further, there are a few different race types, starting with a standard race, then adding some variation with elimination, head-to-head, and an Infected game mode, where you infect other racers with a deadly virus that makes their cars explode. There are eight seasons you can race through, and each is a mix of all the different race types so you don't have to worry about doing the same old thing every time.

The default control system has you tilt to steer with the throttle always on, and you can touch the right side of the screen to get a nitro boost. The brakes are on the left side of the screen, and while you won't need to slow down much in this arcade racer, a tap of the brakes puts you into drift mode, which comes in handy for sharp turns and generating nitro. You also will find pickups around the track for nitro, so don't worry too much about overusing your speed boost as you race.

One thing to note about the controls is that I found the steering to be pretty unresponsive and muddy through the first couple of races. But all it took was a trip to the game settings to add more sensitivity to the steering. The game defaults to 50 out of 100, and I found that 75 was just about perfect for me. If you find the same thing, play with the settings before you give up, because it made the game much better for me.


Asphalt 8: Airborne
Speed around the track with five other cars as you try to battle your way to first place.
Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET

Cars and gameplay
Like the other games in the franchise, Asphalt 8: Airborne comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from an arcade racer. For starters there are 47 cars, including luxury racers like the Bugatti Veyron and the Lamborghini Veneno, each of which you'll eventually unlock as you earn money by racing. Getting the top-tier cars will definitely take some time, but like many games these days, Asphalt 8 lets you spend real cash to buy car packs if you want to get ahead quickly. Fortunately, even the beginning cars are pretty appealing, so you won't have to pay your dues racing some subcompact tin can like you do in other games if you don't want to spend the money.

There are only nine different racing locations, but you'll race each track in reverse as you progress and there are numerous routes to take on each track for plenty of variation. To mix it up further, there are a few different race types, starting with a standard race, then adding some variation with elimination, head-to-head, and an Infected game mode, where you infect other racers with a deadly virus that makes their cars explode. There are eight seasons you can race through, and each is a mix of all the different race types so you don't have to worry about doing the same old thing every time.

The default control system has you tilt to steer with the throttle always on, and you can touch the right side of the screen to get a nitro boost. The brakes are on the left side of the screen, and while you won't need to slow down much in this arcade racer, a tap of the brakes puts you into drift mode, which comes in handy for sharp turns and generating nitro. You also will find pickups around the track for nitro, so don't worry too much about overusing your speed boost as you race.

One thing to note about the controls is that I found the steering to be pretty unresponsive and muddy through the first couple of races. But all it took was a trip to the game settings to add more sensitivity to the steering. The game defaults to 50 out of 100, and I found that 75 was just about perfect for me. If you find the same thing, play with the settings before you give up, because it made the game much better for me.


Fast-paced arcade racing through beautiful environments (pictures)






ASPHALT 8 GAMEPLAY




 8. Dead Trigger 2


When Dead Trigger (Free) first came out, it was an instant hit. It had amazing graphics, and it was fun to kill zombies. It was so popular, that the Android version was eventually made free due to the amount of people sideloading it. The downfalls? Extremely repetitive gameplay, enemies that pretty much were cookie cutter of each other, and an annoying paywall grind. But… it looked good.

Madfinger has recently released Dead Trigger 2 (Free), and while it is a great improvement over the original in almost every way, there are still some issues, most of which existed in the first game as well.




After an unskippable and fairly boring video which introduces you to the very basic backstory (that serves as little more than to warrant being another game with zombies, really), you begin in the grand ole U.S. of A. Eventually you’ll trek to another continent, where, surprise surprise, the same thing is happening.

One of the biggest new features is auto-firing. Upon starting the game, this method is defaulted. You don’t aim and shoot at zombies, you just aim, and your weapon will fire automatically. I have zero clue as to why this control scheme was implemented, much less used by default. It’s easy enough to swap to a normal control scheme, but the question of why is still lingering.

Just like the original game, Dead Trigger 2 is graphically very nice, and just as bloody and gory. There are finer details too, such as walking under a leaking spout and having water droplets fall in your vision. Madfinger has also baked in gamepad support, so if you’re the type who enjoys these games with a controller of some sort, you’ll be able to.




The sound throughout the game is decent, from the firing of your gun to the satisfying thwack of knocking some geek in the back of the head. Atmospheric effects are what you’d expect, as is the voice acting; there isn’t a lot of it, but they all sound chipper, considering the situation, which doesn’t fit with the environment they’re trying to create.

Throughout the course of the game, you’ll get to take on zombies that come with a bit more variety this time around, making the world feel a little more alive (hah) than in the previous game. And you’ll be killing these new zombies in new mission types. You’ll have to escort people, or locate items, while still having some of the original mission structures to contend with (kill x amount or survive x amount of time). It’s definitely a nice change of pace. You’ll also be able to control turrets, and go up against super zombies on your mission to save mankind until the next forthcoming zombie apocalypse. Luckily this time around, there is no energy meter that might deter your progress, and you’re free to play to your heart’s content.

Another new feature in this installment is the hideout, where you can build workstations and upgrade items. You can craft medical supplies and explosives, to name but a couple. Each item you craft requires time to produce. This adds a new dimension to the game, as each upgrade increases efficiency, which makes you a faster, better killer of the undead, but because Dead Trigger 2 is a freemium game, you can expect to either spend hours grinding for the necessary cash and parts (such as blueprints, which are random drops), or spending some real money.

The IAP is pretty much the same as in the original, where you can buy gold and cash. You aren’t harassed to buy any either, however, nor are any aspects of the game behind a forced paywall.
Oddly, the game requires an internet connection. For a game with no multiplayer (yet) and no worthwhile online component, this seems an odd choice.



At the end of the day, while Dead Trigger 2 is a nice improvement, it’s still overly repetitive. The new variety of enemies and different mission options are nice, however, the basic structure is still the same, and if you found yourself getting bored quickly with the first one, you probably will with this one.


7. Shadowgun Legends


Welcome to the world of SHADOWGUN LEGENDS, where saving the galaxy is a spectator sport and fending off your foes is secondary to looking good while doing it. Gear up and play to the audience in the game's Campaign mode, where players take on over 400 missions across four different planets in solo or co-op. But fame is fleeting in this winner-take-all arena, forcing Legends to spend their downtime between alien invasions by battling against each other in competitive Duals, Capture the Flag, or other team-based player-vs.-player events. To the victor go the spoils, with Legends earning not just the adoration of their fans, but a lasting legacy in the form of special rewards, custom items, and even a statue built in your honor in town square and your name etched into the Walk of Fame ... at least until the next new Legend comes along to take your place.



This first-person shooter manages to bring a console-worthy experience to phones and tablets. Shadowgun Legends packs all the action of a triple-A first-person shooter into a bite-sized, free-to-play experience, complete with all the usual trappings of the genre: story, co-op, and competitive gameplay. The game is a solid addition to the genre, with sharp visuals, intuitive controls, and a focus on fun, friendly (and sometimes, not-so-friendly) competition. But as good as it can be most of the time, there are still some spots where the game misses its target.


One of the first things shooter fans will have to adjust to is the game's default use of auto-fire. Simply aiming over an enemy unleashes a hail of gunfire at your foes, which can make things awkward when trying to aim for critical targets and those oh-so-valuable headshots. Early on, this makes the game almost too easy, though that quickly fades when the difficulty ramps up and enemies start doing major damage. This can be turned off in the options, but without it, the shooting winds up becoming a bit of a mess. Another issue with Shadowgun Legends: Some odd network problems. When everything's working, the game runs almost flawlessly. But frustrating issues include some bad lag in some multiplayer matches, rewards not appearing in your inventory, and other random quirks of online play. But the game’s biggest issue has to be with how it handles its free-to-play structure. While many items you can buy are simple cosmetic additions, others feel like they're necessities to enjoy the game. For example, players start with an extremely limited inventory, a major handicap in a loot-driven game like Shadowgun Legends. This can be substantially expanded with your first purchase from the in-game store, but between that and the availability of more powerful armor and weapons for real-world cash, it's hard not to feel like the game is angling for more of a pay-to-win experience.




6. Call of Duty: Mobile


ActivisionActivision has long resisted the urge to put the heart of its blockbuster shooter franchise — the multiplayer, competitive modes — on mobile devices.

In the past, we’ve seen a standalone port of the co-op Zombies mode, a solid single-player campaign with curious strategic elements, and even a cynical freemium Clash of Clans-esque base building simulation — but never a proper online multiplayer experience.

Well, here it is. On the backs of the immense popularity of Fortnite on mobile and the free-to-play PUBG Mobile, Activision and Chinese gaming juggernaut Tencent have deployed Call of Duty: Mobile, developed by TiMi Studios, on both iOS and Android. It’s an online shooter that plays like a free-to-play greatest hits package, bringing together popular Modern Warfare and Black Ops maps while converting the familiar controller or keyboard/mouse gameplay to touch controls.



Amazingly, it works. Call of Duty: Mobile doesn’t come across like a deeply compromised or watered-down rendition of the age-old multiplayer format; it just feels like Call of Duty. And it looks like it too, running at a high frame rate and looking detailed and sharp on my iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Call of Duty: Mobile has the same flow and cadence of combat as its counterparts on consoles and the PC; the same satisfying pop to a headshot or grisly tension of a knife to a back. It also has some of the same modes intact, including team deathmatch, the area-controlling Domination, and the delightful Gun Game, in which you try to be the first player to rack up one kill apiece with 20 different weapons.



The 5v5 matches are brief, however, typically lasting a few minutes due to the tighter kill and point tallies. This is a game designed for shorter sessions.

In that sense, Call of Duty: Mobile feels like it’s optimized for smartphones and tablets. But when it comes to the controls, it’s clear that Activision and Tencent are doing the best they can with a touch interface. It’s not ideal, obviously, to go from the precision of physical controls to an array of virtual buttons on the screen, but I still found the controls to be effective for navigating the terrain and popping off shots. The game eases you into the action by filling your early matches with A.I. foes, leading my initial K/D ratio to shocking new heights. That didn’t last for long, however, as real opponents quickly crushed my short-lived ego.
Call of Duty Mobile offers multiple control options and some customization, and I ultimately preferred the ability to have my weapons automatically fire once an enemy was within the crosshairs. Is that easier? Totally. Dumbed down? Sure. But it streamlines the moment-to-moment experience while still requiring precise aim to rack up kills. It’s not perfect; auto-firing with a scoped rifle takes a beat longer than it should, which can complicate the late stages of the Gun Game mode. But it’s effective, for the most part. Activision says that it is testing physical controller support, so that may eventually be an option for more serious players.

Alongside multiplayer is a full-fledged 100-player battle royale mode, much like Blackout in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. It’s not the same map, but Call of Duty: Mobile’s large environment similarly integrates locations from past multiplayer maps in the series. Most of all, it looks and feels very similar to Tencent’s own PUBG Mobile — which is a pretty good thing overall. It’s blander than the 5v5 showdowns, given the larger scale of the map and more downtime between encounters, but still plenty satisfying to take the win against the entire field. And it’s still pretty compact: I won a full match in 13 minutes.

Beyond touch controls, the other big question mark coming into Call of Duty: Mobile was the free-to-play model and monetization. Luckily, you can play as much as you want: the freemium energy meters of old are thankfully absent here, plus you don’t have to watch video ads between matches or anything like that. In that sense, the game is surprisingly friendly. Play for hours at a time without paying, if you please.

Still, the sheer repetition of freemium prompts is obnoxious. I’ve seen as many as six straight full-screen alerts about various in-game deals and promotions when opening up the game, promising more rewards if you pay for a Fortnite-like premium battle pass, or offering special gun skins for sale. Premium currency is sold in bundles up to $100 apiece, and you can use those coins to purchase items directly, or take a chance on gacha-style crates that unlock random weapon skins, emotes, sprays, and more.

I’m never going to spend $20 worth of real money to unlock a rainbow spray-painted AK117 anyway, nor are the soldier outfits remotely as diverse or interesting as Fortnite’s skins … so it’s pretty easy for me to shrug off the freemium hooks. Like Gameloft’s Asphalt 9: Legends, a premium, console-quality mobile game like this is only free because of that kind of prodding. If you can deal with that — and ignore it, if you choose — then you should be fine.

Even amidst those free-to-play annoyances, I still had a lot of fun with Call of Duty: Mobile’s short-form shootouts. It’s not going to pull the die-hard fans away from their consoles and PCs, and it’s unlikely to lead to a rash of canceled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare preorders.

It’s meant for more casual play, and for more casual players too — it’s for the few spare minutes at the end of a lunch break, or a quick match while killing time. And it’s for the players who probably wouldn’t spend $60 on a new Call of Duty game, or don’t aspire to compete at a high level.



That seems to be a whole ton of people, too, given the 100 million downloads racked up in Call of Duty: Mobile’s first week of availability. Call of Duty: Mobile is smaller-scale proof that the core ideas of the series work just fine on mobile devices. 

Call of Duty: Mobile is out now for iOS and Android devices. The game was reviewed using a free-to-play download on iOS. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.



5. Iron Blade: Medieval Legends


It's a remarkably fun and challenging experience, with surprisingly deep combat and lovely graphics to take in, though its somewhat repetitive set-up can grow weary in a short amount of time.



Steel sword

Iron Blade largely revolves around you fighting an arena full of soldiers, hacking and slashing until they're all dead and you move onto the next set of sword fodder.


Attacking is simple – just tap the right side of the screen to swing your sword, or swipe towards an enemy to change target and fire an arrow at them if they're too far away for your blade.

Enemies will also make a move against you, but a swift tap of the left side of the screen when the incoming attack icon pops up will deal with any blows.

There's also a handful of special attacks to use, which rotate as you use them, giving you an edge when you're surrounded by guys who want you dead.


The only real issue is the targeting system – you have no control over the camera, and the only option to change target is to swipe in their direction.

This is fine in most instances, but if an enemy you want to hit is stood behind another foe, you simply can't attack them unless they move closer to you.

Foiled

Poor targeting can also foul up your ending score – to reach a three-star rank you need to beat the level in a short time, but this becomes nigh-on impossible if you keep swapping enemies.

This also isn't helped by the levelling system, which leaves you with weak equipment a lot of the time, making it difficult to kill quickly.



Everything you take into battle scores some experience points for each piece of equipment, but levelling up this way is incredibly slow.

Instead you'll need to grind out equipment from collecting chests or re-doing missions, half of which will be useless and need to be fused into existing equipment to make it better.


It's pretty straightforward stuff, but it never seems to really help, leaving you stuck grinding endlessly before you can make even the slightest impact.

Tin soldier

Overall, Iron Blade has a lot of good ideas – solid combat, great graphics, and plenty of violence to keep action fans happy – but it falls short on a few fronts.


Its targeting is serviceable but a little too flimsy, flinging you between enemies when you really just need to focus in on one, and levelling up just never seems to make an impact.

It's definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for a good hack-and-slash, but unless you're willing to grind, you might not find much enjoyment here.

4.Modern Combat 4 Review


With Modern Combat 4, Gameloft continues to push mobile gaming to new visual heights. The studio has taken full advantage of the power of modern tablets like the 3rd and 4th-gen iPad to introduce flashy new effects like motion blur and Havok physics. New particle effects also now punctuate key bullet impacts and explosions.
Unfortunately level and encounter design has failed to keep pace with these visual improvements. Much like the Call of Duty franchise that it apes, Modern Combat 4 can sometimes feel more like soulless and disconnected series of set-piece battles instead of a cohesive FPS experience. The 13-mission, 4-hour campaign feels designed by check-box. Unmanned drone mission? Check. Sniper segment? Check. A contrived occurrence separates you from your squad? Check check check.



Still, for the most part the campaign Gameloft has constructed is as thrilling and compelling as ever. Gamers will chase villains through Barcelona, get embroiled in major firefights on the streets of Seattle and eventually storm an enemy compound in Antarctica. There’s no sense of pacing and little gameplay variety (besides the aforementioned vehicle segments), but all of the extensive weaponry at your disposal feels powerful and satisfying. Especially the shotguns, which seem to work at absurdly long distances.

The big twist this time around is that gamers play some missions as domestic terrorist Edward Page, the game’s primary villain. This does add a little spice, but besides one nifty set of missions that show both sides of an engagement, MC4 doesn’t really go anywhere with this switch-up. Page just shouts things like “fascists!” at downed enemies instead of “kill confirmed.”

Playing an FPS on a touch screen will never be an ideal experience, but MC4 continues the franchise’s tradition of making the best of this non-optimal situation. Virtually every on-screen button can be moved anywhere the player wishes, and can also be enlarged or reduced in size. It only took about 20 minutes for my control frustrations to melt away after doubling the size of the Fire button, moving Sprint a little closer to Move and moving Grenade away from where I rest my thumb.


This very welcome level of control customization and the sheer spectacle of the campaign allowed me to enjoy MC4’s single player. But this is the first Modern Combat title that isn’t a clear improvement over its predecessor. It isn’t quite as polished as a high-profile Gameloft release should be. My character will shout things like “Enemy Spotted!” even when he’s by himself. The already-thin story stretches itself to the breaking point when you’re sent to a new continent because “we’ve gotten new intel.” The campaign just doesn’t feel quite finished.

Like its predecessor, Modern Combat 4 features a suite of free multiplayer modes and maps, powered by Gameloft Live. Local Wi-Fi multiplayer is also included. In my limited multiplayer tests the experience was fun and lag-free. Up to 12 players can duke it out across 8 modes and 8 maps.

Most of the multiplayer features are taken directly from Call of Duty. An advancement system rewards you for kills and other medals, unlocking new loadout options as you level-up. A challenge system encourages players to get kills with specific weapons and equipment. Players can customize their emblem, tag and even their kill sound.

New to Modern Combat multiplayer are very welcome improvements to stat tracking. Players can now dive into their complete match history to see individual results and track a variety of career multiplayer stats. It’s a very impressive suite of multiplayer modes and options for a $7 mobile download.




Verdict

Modern Combat 4 might be a small step backwards but it’s still an impressive, action-packed adventure. At its best, the game offers up real moments of intense gunplay. Enemies closing in, planes flying overhead, too much panicked comm chatter, and you trying to line up the perfect sniper head shot. All while you’re on the train on your way to work. But be sure to check expectations for the by-the-numbers nature of the experience at the door.

3.Asphalt 9: Legends


Asphalt 9: Legends is an undoubtedly lavish affair, one which is rightly used as a benchmark for the latest mobile devices. It’s a genuine stunner, boasting next-level particle effects, lighting, and realistic weather. But what lies beneath that polished exterior is something I’ve always struggled to get on board with; an arcade racer that strips the genre to the bone, offering up a theme-park experience more akin to a tech demo than a fully-realised game.



In its best moments, you can expect the same gleeful sense of speed and violent carnage as the earlier Burnouts, albeit with a much-reduced sense of danger. Crashing headfirst into an oncoming bus isn’t the recipe for disaster you might expect; instead registering only as the slightest inconvenience. Part of this is down to non-racer vehicles functioning like props on a set as opposed to genuine hazards.

Even when you do wrap your Porsche around the pretty scenery, the worst you can expect is to lose your lead. And this is part of a larger problem: The game is in such a rush to keep you going, to push you rapidly to the finish line, to serve up your latest reward, that it can feel like your input isn’t wholly required, and that the racing itself is an afterthought. Even when using the manual control scheme, there’s a lack of complexity to the core driving experience that limits its long-term appeal.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening review - "Don't sleep on this remake"
After many hours of play, I never once felt like I was improving or pushing myself. Progression here isn’t hard-earned or personal; it’s about treating the game like a mindless time sink, coming back time and again for more upgrades, blueprints, coins, etc. That hook will just never be as strong as the gradual satisfaction of turning off the various assists in, say, the Forza Horizon games – a series that nails the balance between arcade fun and hard-fought self-improvement.

Some scarce interest lies in the branching tracks, all full of curved ramps and ludicrous shortcuts. There are many, and they're drip-fed to you in bits and pieces. This approach works surprisingly well, helping to keep the expertly rendered locales, from Scotland to Shanghai, fresh through the many times you’ll encounter them. Again, though, the sensation of discovering an alternate path is dulled by the game’s reliance on upgrades over skill, brute force over gutsiness.




Perhaps its hollow core would sting less if there wasn’t an expectation for you spend dozens of hours with it to see even half of what’s here. It’s hard to imagine a version of Asphalt 9 that isn’t free to play; those elements are so deeply embedded in every facet of the experience. In many ways, it’s as if the free to play elements are the game, with a definite feeling that you’re putting more time and effort into sifting through menus, checking in on timers, and opening card packs than actually racing.


The £19.99 launch bundle by no means turns it into anything resembling a premium title. At best, it’ll allow you to play the first few hours without ever having to sit around and wait on your cars to refuel. The 200,000 credits and 300 tokens are handy, but you’ll likely burn through them in no time at all, with card packs going for 65-75 tokens apiece.

Mario Kart Tour review - "Good kart, greedy gacha"
And I do hope you’re ok with touchscreen controls, because trying to navigate Asphalt 9’s menus, submenus, and sub-submenus with your Joy-Cons is an exercise in extreme frustration. Nothing ever quite works in the way you wanted or expected it to. You might grow used to it after a while, but UI woes don’t stop being an issue just because you learn to live with them.


And my gripes with the Switch port don’t end there. The frame rate during more hectic races, often when there’s a bunch of particle effects being thrown about, judders and splutters like nobody’s business, and connection to the game’s servers drops frequently, resulting in you having to wait 5 or more seconds for it to spring back to life.

These are all issues that some may well turn a blind eye to on mobile, but in coming to Switch, Asphalt 9 has now invited comparisons to the superior Horizon Chase Turbo and Grip: Combat Racing. It may technically be a flashier, more recognisably AAA package, but that means nought to me when it’s otherwise a barely-holding-it-together shell of a game.

If you're just starting out in Asphalt 9: Legends, be sure to check out our extensive list of tips, tricks, and guides.


2. Darkness Rises



There's no getting around just how impressive Darkness Rises looks. It's one of the finest visual achievements we've seen on the App Store for a long while. Sure, it's pretty generic, but when the polygons are in motion it's breathtaking.



And, for the most part, it gets its violence just right. The complexity is balanced with the limitations of touchscreen controls pretty darn well, and while there are a few hiccups here and there, there's nothing that's going to make you abandon the game with a flouncy grimace.

The main gripe you're likely to have is about the menus and currencies and upgrade trees. There's a lot going on here behind the scenes, and if you want to succeed you're going to have to understand it better than you understand the combos you can dish out.


Rising stamp
The game sees you legging it through a dark fantasy world, slashing everything that moves. Well, depending on the class you choose you might be stabbing, or firing balls of magic, but the basic idea is the same – kill.

There are a variety of different types of challenge, but for the most part it's only win conditions and allies that change. Your focus is still on murder. You unleash your simple attack combos by holding down a big button in the bottom right of the screen.

Around that there are a number of other buttons representing your skills. You've got a dodge button too, and every now and then skull buttons pop up too. These let you deploy one-hit kills that trigger some pretty gory animations.

For the most part the controls work fine. There were a few instances when the buttons didn't work while I was playing, but this is less a game about precision and more a game about making sure your numbers are high enough before you go into a fight.


You control those numbers with a variety of menus. You're tinkering with your gear, stats, skills, and more. And to begin with you're going to be more than strong enough to take everything that the game throws at you.

But in true free to play fashion you'll find the game gets much tougher the deeper you get in. Enemies will crush you, and it's then you'll discover that the controls don't offer much when you need to be precise.

Knife to see you
But that's the balance that games like this deal in. You feel like an unstoppable superhero at the start, but when things turn against you you'll be grossly underpowered. Then comes the pay or grind choice.


Darkness Rising might have the trappings of a hardcore game, but it proudly stands atop the midcore hill. It's fun in its own ways, and there's a decent enough story to push you from encounter to savage encounter.

But it's not the action game you might have hoped it was going to be. Go in expecting that and you'll be disappointed, but take Darkness Rising for what it is and there's a good chunk of enjoyment to be had here.


1. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile


PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds – or PUBG as it's better known – started life on the PC before drifting sideways to console and mobile devices. It's not often that we turn to mobile games for review, but in the case of PUBG Mobile, there's a serious case for it: it's an exceptional experience. 



The defining game of battle royale 
You can't turn anywhere without hearing about "battle royale" (BR) these days, the idea being that many players are simultaneously thrown into a survival arena and, you guessed it, have to survive.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is generally considered to be the classic BR game, despite many others jumping on the bandwagon. Key among the rivals is Fortnite – which also came to mobile around the same time – but there's increased activity in BR games from other established franchises, including Call of Duty. PUBG, however, is only about battle royale and although there are different game types, it all revolves around this scavenger survival concept, which is incredibly simple.

PUBG Mobile tips and tricks
What's most impressive is the adoption of PUBG Mobile: there are 20 million active daily users (according to Tencent); it holds the number 1 spot on iTunes for strategy games (with a 4.5 star review average); and sits in the top action games on Google Play (again with near perfect user scores).


Fortnite has attracted a lot of younger players because of its stylised graphics, storyline and defence elements. PUBG Mobile attracted those looking for a more realistic combat gameplay. That's also reflected in the ratings: PUBG is 16 or 17, while Fortnite is 12.

PUBG Mobile doesn't need the most powerful phone
One of the things that's made games like PUBG Mobile work on mobile is the increased power and screen size that mobile devices now offer. Across the board, smartphones are becoming better gaming devices. In the case of PUBG, we'd pick the phone over the Xbox, because we think it plays better (and the Xbox version has run into a number of problems).

While the gaming experience is better on larger-screen devices – we have played it predominantly on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and 9 – it also plays well on lower power devices. We've played it on the Nokia 6, with mid-range hardware and at lower screen resolutions, so a good experience isn't the preserve of those with the most powerful or expensive phones.

PUBG Mobile addresses a number of graphical elements to the game offering to automatically detect the best settings for you – but giving you control over the resolution, colouration and other settings. Importantly, you can also edit the frame rate if you find you're not getting a smooth experience.


In reality, the biggest barrier to play that we've found is connectivity. If you don't have a good connection, you're likely to get lag and find your player doesn't respond and can't be controlled properly. That means you're likely to end up dead. And if you're dead, you can't win. 

Generally speaking the graphics are very good and the game does play smoothly – but it's important to make sure you have your brightness turned up and any night mode turned off as this will downgrade the visual experience.

Gameplay and controls 
The crux of PUBG Mobile is to survive. There is no plot. It's gather, kill, and avoid being killed. That takes several different modes – which have slowly been changing over updates to the game – but revolve around Classic and Arcade modes.

The Classic is 100 players dropping into one of three maps (at the time of writing). The Arcade modes are various versions of this – changing the length of the game, size of the map or restricting the selection of weapons.

The game also offers third-person and first-person perspective, letting you choose how you play.

But the big thing about mobile gameplay is controls and information: there's a lot on the display, from movement controls to the mini map, to voice and text communication, as well as weapon controls. You get to custom edit the display if you want, so you can reposition some elements to make things more playable.

If we have one criticism it's that screen clutter can obscure the game: you might be crouching in a building and move toward the window to target an opponent, and then have something popping up to tell you there are some supplies to gather in that location. You'll then find that obscures your view, while you're trying to fight. Ultimately that's a downside of mobile play.

There are reports of some playing with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse on a tablet and that may well be the case (both work well on Android), but we've never found it to be a limit to winning or progressing in the game. Generally speaking, you die because of some tactical limitation – you're in exposed ground, running to get to the playzone and someone with a rifle and scope is on high ground, ready to shoot you.



There is also talk of cheating, but the same applies as above. We've not encountered something that's obviously cheating and have never really struggled to rank well in games. 


Team play and friends 
There are teams and voice chat for co-op games. You can invite friends to the game and play as a proper team, or just be paired with strangers. Voice chat is completely controllable, although the speaker is on for team games by default. You'll often then hear someone else crashing around (hand movements past mobile device microphones really get in the way here). 

We usually turn voice chat off when playing with strangers. It might be antisocial for the team, but there is an opening for abuse on open voice systems – and who can be bothered with that? There's a text system for team communication with some stock phrases ('help', 'enemy ahead', 'I've found a scope', etc), and there's a custom field for text entry here too.

While this is sparingly used, we've encountered some players writing extensively – obviously on a keyboard – and generally berating the rest of the team for some reason or another, which is tedious to say the least. That's online gaming, eh?

Teams are generally a good experience, although often dive straight into the fiercest battle and die through naivety, leaving you without teammates. The camaraderie can be pretty good and after 25 minutes (an average game length) playing with a considerate teammate, you'll feel the community spirit. Make friends and play together again, because good players thrive in PUBG.


Every game is different and beginners are just fine 
One of the successes of PUBG is that you don't respawn, it's one life (except in the Arcade war mode). That means everyone drops in with nothing except their clothes.

That also means the game is immediately approachable for beginners, as everyone starts on a level playing field. Sure, experience helps and knowing that a shotgun will decimate someone in close range but won't touch someone further away, makes a huge difference – but you don't find yourself immediately slaughtered in a small arena, which has been the downside in lots of previous online multiplayer games.

That's a great thing, because you can essentially choose to avoid the conflict and gather, or dive right into the places where the battle is going to be the fiercest if you have blood lust. Veteran or not.


PUBG Mobile does attempt to match players on some degree of ability, often filling in gaps with bots. You can spot the bots as they display erratic behaviour, like running wildly in the open and stopping when you shoot at them, pausing for a long time (when you usually kill them) then sprinting off in a different direction (if you don't). 

You might think that PUBG Mobile gets a little one dimensional as it only offers one thing. We've not found that to be the case, though, as every game is different and you're free to roam the map as you please, until the decreasing playzone limits your movement as the game progresses. 


The experience has been enhanced by updates to the mobile game. At the time of writing there are three maps – temperate, desert, jungle – each with their own character and some minor differences in weapons and vehicles. You can choose to have random maps or always play the same map.

Rewards and in-game purchases 
To try to spice things up, there's a hefty rewards system where you collect XP/BP for various things – daily plays, time survived, kills with a particular weapons and so on. These contribute to various levels across the game, as well as giving you credits to use for various other collectibles, like equipment crates.

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From these crates you can get clothing. The "free" clothing you'll gather is fairly basic and common, with the in-game store offering a wider range of exciting garments you can purchase with real money.


It's here that PUBG Mobile attempts to monetise. You can directly by clothes and items, like weapon skins, but you really don't have to – although starting the game dressed for war is a minor advantage. 


There's also a Royale Pass system that powers-up rewards, letting you do things like change the skin of the aircraft you drop in from (a 10 second moment of glory in reality). Do you need to spend any money to progress in the game? No, you do not.

Verdict

PUBG Mobile's success very much comes down to playability on mobile devices. The fact that you can login on your phone or tablet and play across whichever device, largely irrelevant of its specification, is why this free-to-play game has been able to thrive.


PUBG Mobile now sees updates pretty much every month, bringing additions and improvements. We've been playing since it launched on Android and we've not managed to get bored yet, which is a rare and great result.

Importantly, we're not tempted to switch to a bigger platform: PUBG Mobile feels and plays like a native mobile game with every bit the AAA feel, and we can't ask for more than that.



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