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X2 Football 2009 iPhone Game App Review

Posted on 30. Aug, 2009 by iPhone App Reviewer.

X2 Football 2009: Fully featured immersing soccer on the iPhone.

Our Rating: 8.9/10

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: X2 Games/Exient [Interview with iPhone App Reviewer]
Price as of Review: $6.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5
Size: 81.1MB
Lite Version: [iTunes Link]

X2 Football 2009 is the kind of game you’d see on a system like the Playstation Portable, it’s completely 3D with amazing graphics and an excellent control scheme. This app is a full board sports app which allows you to play soccer (or football for our British readers out there) against a computer opponent. You’ll start by learning the controls and strategies in a training area with many different options and scenarios such as free kick and left corner. When done you can quit training and launch tournament mode or penalty shootout. You can also just go ahead and play a quick match with teams of your choice!

When creating matches you can choose starting positions and other team management abilities. Afterwords you’ll be thrown into the playing field in a fully 3D environment. For control there’s three side buttons for passing, sliding, shooting and other actions. You then have a very responsive touch joystick for movement of the player. The artificial intelligence is excellent – the computer opponents are challenging and even details such as red/yellow cards have been added. You can tackle other players and steal the possession of the ball. Not to mention you have in-game replay’s which are saved and can get zoomed in, panned and rotated around and played and multiple speeds.

The graphics are absolutely stunning for an iPhone app and the game runs them with perfect stability. The field is clear and all the player’s animations are perfect. The sound effects include dynamic commentary – roaring crowds and even the swift sound of that soccer ball hitting the net. Unfortunately there’s no accelerometer controls, nonetheless the touch control scheme is amazing, X2 Games has done an excellent job.

All in all X2 Football 2009 is an amazing sports game app for any fan of immersing gameplay and detailed 3D graphics. Definitely seven bucks well spent.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 9.4/10 – It’s a complete soccer game!

Enjoyment: 9/10 – Awesome to see something like this being so well executed on the iPhone.

Graphics: 9.7/10 – Probably the best in-game graphics I’ve seen.

Sound: 9/10 – Stunning, love the commentary.

Technology: 9/10 – Have I said wow yet?

Replay Value: 7/10 – This is the only part of our review that is not simply excellent. Without a full tournament mode, unless you simply love soccer, you won’t play games a lot.

Final Rating: 8.9/10

Further Improvements:

Full tournament modes
Multiplayer Mode

More screenshots of X2 Football 2009 on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

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Need for Speed Undercover iPhone Game Review

Posted on 06. Aug, 2009 by iPhone App Reviewer.

Need for Speed Undercover: Simply the best racing game I’ve ever played on the iPhone.

Our Rating: 9.1/10 [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: Electronic Arts
Price as of Review: $6.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4.5/5

Need for Speed Undercover is a racing game concocted by one of video gaming legend’s, Electronic Arts. Although this is probably one of fifty racing games on the iPhone, iPhone App Reviewer could not resist reviewing it. It’s outstanding graphics and gameplay make it shatter the competition. With multiple gameplay modes and enough storyline and challenges to let you play for days, Need for Speed Underground is an addicting pleasure. Not only are the graphics outstanding, but there’s tons of cars and maps to choose from, and all cars have a certain level of customization.

Although I could stop the review right here, there’s more to go. The graphics are entirely 3D, even the menu has a 3D model car (your current tricked out ride) in the background. Unfortunately the graphics and high detail considerably affect stability, specifically on loading the game. Before version 1.2, you’d generally have to try quite a few times just to get the app started (even after fresh restart).

Once you get playing it shouldn’t be a problem, except for the unfortunate parts where you’re facing off against multiple cars at very high speeds. Even with the customizable cars, the game lacks settings, I’ve yet to see a racing game with customizable environment settings such as friction, drift ease, wind resistance and so on. Not to mention that there’s only a few basic car customizations. After that, just appearance.

If you’re looking for a single player racing game that will last for hours on end, look absolutely no further. Unfortunately, iPhone App Reviewer has found a few down falls to an otherwise perfect racing game, just scraping it away from that perfect 10 rating. Maybe later they’ll add more maps and multiplayer modes…perhaps… (EA has a history for not updating their games features much).

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 9.2/10 – Everyone loves a good racing game, Need for Speed Underground has multiple gameplay modes and an awesome amount of maps.

Enjoyment: 9.8/10 – Without doubt it’s in the top 10 games on iPhone App Reviewer’s list.

Graphics: 9.5/10 – Just at the level where it won’t slow down the game entirely, perfectly detailed and high res. Just anti alias a little more.

Sound: 8.5/10 – Love the sound track, unfortunately it can be a bit distracting and not of a majority of the users taste.

Technology: 8.5/10 – Just improve performance a tad, luckily the 1.2 update fixed several errors…keep it up Electronic Arts.

Replay Value: 9/10 – A huge storyline mode that as mentioned above, will leave lots to play.

Final Rating: 9.1/10

Further Improvements:

Multiplayer Mode
Environment Settings
Performance Enhancement

More screenshots here.

Other Reviews on Need for Speed Undercover for iPhone and iPod Touch:

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