Chad Hensley

Stories By Chad Hensley

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  Reviews

  Reviews By Chad Hensley

  MigmO is fun, but doesn't stand out in a crowd

  MigmO is a free action puzzle game where you aid the single-celled titular character to the goal. The game works on all iOS devices running iOS 7.0 or later. This is a game that is fun enough, but is not groundbreaking. At the beginning of each level, MigmO stands still for a few seconds, long enough for you to figure out how to use a combination of a ladder, a hammer, a stool, and a sign (used for turning him around) to guide MigmO away from certain peril, and towards the goal (a door). Each level begins with about 3 seconds before MigmO springs to action. The first few levels are essentially a tutorial, instructing you how to use each of the tools to complete each level. After you are finally on your own, without help, the game just really doesn't change much. It's a fairly repetitive game with the puzzles getting slightly more difficult as you go on. Some frustration springs from having such a short time to try to figure out the puzzle, having him go ahead and start walking while you've barely had time to survey the scene and figure out just what to do. One could argue that this adds to the challenge, and maybe so, but I would like a little more time to think everything out. The graphics are fine, with a look nostalgic for the days of the 8-bit condole gaming, but much cleaner. Overall, I don't hate MigmO, I just don't feel there is anything that helps it separate from other puzzle games available on the market. Everyone has their own preferences, and I'd recommend at least giving this a shot to see if it draws you in.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Chad Hensley

  All-Star Basketball fails to make it off the bench

  All-Star Basketball is a free arcade basketball game. It's simple, quick, and easy to play, but it rarely does much to satisfy. The graphics are nice, and it really does look like your player is shooting a basketball at a hoop, but that's really the best thing about this game. It's extremely repetitive, with little reward. All-Star Basketball runs on all iOS devices running iOS 7.0 or later. This game presents itself as if you are taking a basketball player and trying to move up in the ranks of the basketball world, but it perpetually feels like you're just practicing jump shots. There are "missions" to be completed for GP (the currency of the game, used to unlock other levels, as well as to customize your player's outfits), which mainly include making a certain number of a certain type of shot. The fact that this game feels a lot like monotonous practice just doesn't do it for me. The visual presentation looks good, is very clear, and as animated as watching a man take jump shots from different spots on a basketball court can get. It does get very flashy and colorful as you continue to make shots, but this does little to add to the experience. The sound is nearly unlistenable. An extremely repetitive beat that is aurally offensive, I found myself turning it off about 15 seconds into the game. There is a lot of content to purchase. There are additional levels, game modes, wardrobe options, and power-ups that cost money, or GP, which is built up slowly by playing the game repeatedly, or by purchasing it in the store. Overall, All-Star Basketball just really didn't work for me. It sells itself as a game to build up a player and conquer the world of basketball, but leaves you in a world that feels like perpetual practice, buying accessories and dressing up to go on the court to practice a jump shot. I think if more of the content were more easily available, then I could get a little more into it, but as it stands, there is just no variety.

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  Apps

  Apps By Chad Hensley

  SportsManias is custom team feeds and news, nothing else

  SportsManias Sports News app, available for free on the iPad and iPhone 5 in iTunes, is an app that will polarize sports fans. It is just as useful as it is flawed. I downloaded it, and after it installed, I was greeted by an app that was easy to navigate. I was prompted to choose my favorite sports teams, which I did, then I was taken to its main interface, which consisted of four tabs (Articles, Tweets, Videos, Rumors). I found that I could navigate between news stories about my favorite teams, tweets from and concerning my favorite teams and players, highlight videos, and even rumors about possible transactions. I could find the scores for my teams, as well as upcoming games. It was nice at first. It prompted me to choose my favorite teams. I picked a MLB team (Milwaukee Brewers), an NFL team (San Francisco 49ers), an NBA team (Chicago Bulls), and an NHL team (Anaheim Ducks). The other options available are NCAA, and Soccer. After setting my favorite teams, I started looking through the news articles. What I found was that it was mostly clouded with 49ers news. I scrolled down, and found mostly repeat stories with the same headline from different sources. I had to wade past about 15 49ers stories to get to a Milwaukee Brewers story (I understand the NFL starts this week, but the Brewers are in the middle of a pennant race). I didn't see anything about the Bulls or Ducks, but it is the offseason, so there isn't much happening. I moved on to the Twitter feed, and found it was dominated by Carlos Gomez (an avid tweeter, and CF for Milwaukee). It was mostly pictures he had taken with fans...not much of interest. Overall, sifting through News, Tweets, Videos, and Rumors, I found little to whet my appetite in the way of information about my favorite teams. It was later in the evening when I was checking this out, and I wanted to check scores for other MLB games. I couldn't. There is no option to look at anything outside of the teams you pick. This app is useful, but it limits itself. I do think it's nice that the twitter feeds, the team based articles, and the video highlights, etc. are easily accessible in one place, and it's very easy to use, but I would rather stick with my familiar ESPN SportsCenter app, or even league specific apps (Such as MLB AtBat or NFL Mobile) to find up to the minute news, social media posts, scores, and roster updates. SportsManias Sports News is good for diehard fans who don't care about the world outside their team, but if you would like to stay informed about rivals, or attempt to keep up with your fantasy team, look elsewhere.

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  Science

  Science By Chad Hensley

  Germanium is addictive humility

  Germanium, developed by Edamame, and compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (iOS 7.0 or later), is entertainment stripped down to the core. In the app store, the description promises a 100 second challenge that, "will utterly destroy every bit of gamer pride in you." It almost mocks you stating that it was only cleared twice during pre-release testing, then points out the simple tilt controls and basic graphics, even describing itself as "exceedingly simple." Listed in the iTunes store for $1.29, it's well worth trying out this highly addictive, if frustrating game. In and of itself, this is a very simple game. Even the title screen, which contains the title, "Start game," and "Touch to start" is stripped bare. The goal of Germanium is simply to guide a white ball past colorful blocks, and survive for 100 seconds. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Each new color of block presents a new and different challenge as time goes on. The tilt control is very fluid and reactive, making it easy to keep control of the ball. For about the first fifteen seconds, I figured I would easily conquer this challenge, then, over the course of the next thirty, everything went downhill. Both sides allow the ball to go off-screen to the left and appear on the right and vice versa, helping to avoid the more colorful, daunting blocks as they increase in number, movement and size. It was extremely fast-paced, frustrating, addictive, and fun all wrapped into about 40-60 seconds at a time. The only negative I experienced was at about 50 seconds in, my iPhone screen would automatically dim. This is easily fixable by either touching your finger to the screen, or disabling Auto-Lock in the general settings. For only $1.29, the highly addictive Germanium is well worth the price. A short, concise distraction that won't run over 100 seconds is perfect for a handheld device as a way to kill time. Of course, any game that willingly calls out prospective players is definitely begging to be beaten.

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