Stolen in 60 Seconds Review

Stolen in 60 Seconds will be seen by some as a controversial title because of it’s subject matter, which in basic terms involves breaking into buildings and stealing things. It would be valid for some people to be hesitant about a game like this but it is hardly a deal breaker and I for one am not suddenly going to start stealing things just because I have played this game. It is in essence a puzzle game which has been surrounded with realistic graphics and animation, dazzling cut scenes and most important of all game play. This, like Robo which I reviewed last week, is not a title that you just pick up and play- it is one that you have to think about to succeed in and the more you think the more successful you will be at cracking each level.

Robo has had me scratching my head a lot over the past week and unusually for me I have actually spent time thinking about each level and have forced myself to progress further. It is with shame that I admit to still being on level 8 (with over 60 left to go!) but I am determined to try harder and get there- few games have done that for me in the past and this revelation caused me to investigate Stolen in 60 Seconds as well.

Starting off

The instructions in 60 seconds are minimal but after a couple of minutes I started to find my way around the controls. You are given training quests, which you should try to complete because it makes things easier later on, and as each quest pops up so does the complexity increase. The graphics remind me of Grand Theft Auto somewhat and thus have a familiar feel to them which is a bonus. Each quest is started off in a room where you are given simple instructions and a map of the building you need to steal from. You have to choose tools, your thief and plan your route on the map.

Once this is done you are taken to the ‘real life’ display where your thief will follow your plotted route and use the tools at the point you have pre-set for him.

Game play

As with most of my reviews I have not progressed as far as would have liked so far but know full well that much more is coming. The mixture of route planning, thief choosing, tool decision and marrying them all together makes for an experience in which you really do need to take your time to ensure you can achieve your task in the quickest time possible.

I have also found that there is often more than one way to complete a task and this adds more fun. Sometimes finding the only possible solution can get frustrating but these quests are somewhat less computerised in that way and leave more to the imagination of the player.

I have no idea how many quests are included and I really do not want to know because I would probably get depressed at the thought of how much work is needed in the future

Conclusion

The further you progress, the more you will enjoy this game. The training quests are good to start with and then all of a sudden you are hit with two thieves and multiple actions to complete. As you know, I am not often completely positive about a game but I have yet to find a fault with 60 seconds. After trying Robo and now this HeroCraft are way up the ladder in my opinion and hopefully we will see even more from them in the near future.

Available from http://smart.herocraft.com/sss for $3.90 to $11.75 (depending on platform). Works on Palm OS, Windows Mobile Professional and Standard, Series 60, Series 60 v3, UIQ and UIQ v3.

Robo Review

Few games are released today that work on all of the major mobile platforms. Robo was recently released and works on Palm, Windows Mobile Standard, Windows Mobile Professional, Symbian S60, S60 v3, UIQ and UIQ v3. I can think of few other developers that develop for all of these platforms and it is indeed refreshing to see. Anyway, on to the game itself…

Starting up

I completely ignored the tutorial and instructions (I am a man after all) and jumped straight into level 1. The controls are very simple- left, right, up, down to move and to push stones and the centre button to ‘look’ around the whole screen- pressing this enables the directional buttons to move the whole game map around. Within 2 minutes I was playing and enjoying this game a lot and knew it would be a keeper.

Game play

The idea of the game is to reach the exit on each level by blocking beams (that will kill Robo) which are diverted over the playing field by mirrors. You have to find the best path through to the exit and this is no way near as simple as it sounds. Even on level 3 I found myself struggling to think of the way out and have to face a further 73 which to be frank scares me a little

The 76 levels are split over 4 worlds and Robo needs to tackle them in a variety of ways which could involve blocking lasers with stones, using bombs to explode laser cannons or even making them destroy each other. Again, this does not sound complex but it adds a huge amount of variation to how you make up the final solution for each level. At this time, and it is early days for me with Robo, I can see huge amounts of longevity in this game and will keep you updated as I progress through the levels.

Graphics and sounds

The graphics are superb in this game and the way the environments are rendered adds to a feeling of wanting to jump back in and play some more. Robo himself is particularly cute and the animations used for him are some of the best I have seen. The music is a nice touch as well and can be switched to mute whilst leaving the main game sound on. Personally I tend to turn music to mute and leave the standard sounds on so at least the option is available.

Conclusion

Robo is a game that takes parts of Sokoban, Traffic Jam and another game, which I cannot currently remember the title of, and merges them to create a stimulating puzzler that is hard to put down. As I said earlier, it is early days for me with this game but first impressions are extremely good. Considering the price, which unusually ranges from $4.40 to $12.85 depending on the platform you use, it is superb value for me and one which I can highly recommend.

Time to bring the next 73 levels on by which point I will probably be begging for an extra level pack to keep me playing even longer!

Available from http://smart.herocraft.com/robo.

iSkoot

From A.A.S.- “iSkoot, which allows you to make and receive Skype calls and instant messages on your phone, is now available as a native application for all UIQ 3 phones (P1i, P990, M600 and W950). iSkoot works by using a normal phone call to reach a special iSkoot number before passing the call on to Skype over the Internet. By using an ordinary phone call for the first stage iSkoot minimises the amount of processing power required on the phone and means there are no data latency issues. However you do still have to pay for the cost of local call, although in many cases this will comes out of the allowance provided by your contract.”

FolderMirror 1.1

FolderMirror 1.1 is a simple tool to take more of your desk on the road with you- “Away from your desk, out of the office or on the road, FolderMirror allows you to stay connected to any Outlook Calendar or Contacts folder.

Carry additional Outlook Calendar and Contact folders. Wirelessly. Increase your connectivity. Using your current wireless synchronization solution, wirelessly access and stay connected to more of your business and personal information from Outlook while you’re away from your desk with FolderMirror.

Key Features of FolderMirror Include:

Carry and stay connected to multiple Outlook Calendar and Contacts folders, including:

Public folders
Subfolders
SharePoint Contacts and Calendar folders
Business Contact Manager (BCM) Accounts and Business Contacts folders

Works with your current synchronization solution- FolderMirror replicates the desired information in your main Outlook Calendar or Contacts folders and allows your current synchronization solution (cabled or wireless) to transfer that information to your device.

Transparent flow of information – The replicated items will be filtered from your view in Outlook providing a transparent flow of information from any Outlook Calendar or Contacts folder to your mobile device.

Compatible with ALL wireless synchronization solutions.

Compatible with ALL smartphones, PDAs and all other mobile devices including:

All iPhone models
All Windows Mobile devices
All Palm OS devices
All BlackBerry devices
All Symbian devices
All other mobile devices

No server software to install – this product runs on your desktop PC in conjunction with your current wireless solution.”

fring

Just received this- “We saw your post regarding fring on the P990, which also worked on the P1.

We wanted to let you know that our oh-so-clever and speedy technical guys have now made a version of fring dedicated to the recently released and critically acclaimed Sony Ericsson P1i handset.

Users of the compact and stylish P1 can now enjoy all the benefits and freedoms of fring – including IM and voice communication through Skype, GoogleTalk, MSN and ICQ, microblogging with Twitter and calls through hundreds of SIP providers.

For more information and screenshots check out our blog.”

Up to 50% off P1i software

SymbianGear are offering up to 50% discounts on P1i compatible software (offer page is here). Discounts include 50% off Media Studio, 41% off Handy Tools and 35% off Documents To Go.

Wisepilot

Wisepilot is a GPS solution that is definately compatible with the P1i. 12 months use will cost EUR99 and it is an online service so extra data charges may apply. Speed cameras are included but seemingly no traffic alerts.

Wisepilot is a personal mobile GPS navigation solution. With Wisepilot and a GPS receiver you turn your mobile phone (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola), Blackberry®, PDA (HTC, Qtek, HP) into an all-inclusive navigation system with full-colour 3D maps and clear voice instructions while driving or walking. Use Wisepilot to find convenient parking, hotels, or the nearest restaurant. All maps, points of interests and other information, such as pan-European speed camera locations, are automatically kept up to date in Wisepilot.

With Wisepilot on your mobile device you always carry with you a reliable GPS navigation and map solution. Don’t be late for another business meeting because you don’t know the way. Impress your friends or customers by finding that Italian restaurant without problems. Get to the airport in time to safely check in and return the rental car. Wisepilot can save you time and money. It will make travel by car in both foreign and known places much less stressful.

K-Rally Review (works great on the P1i by the way:))

Whether it was in the arcade at my local bowling alley at the age of 14 or sitting in front of my TV with the Atari STE at the age of 19 it was the same game that captured my imagination for all of those years- Badlands. The idea was simple- race around a track collecting weapons, money and spanners to add new features and repair your car and it worked perfectly. Most importantly the AI was spot on with each level getting harder and harder until you were racing around quicker than you thought possible.

F1 Sprint then appeared for Palm OS devices- it was a clone of the very basic arcade classic and worked very well indeed. There was little depth in it though, which was a feature of the original, so this kind of top down racing had yet to be brought to mobile devices in an immersive and frantic way.

K-Rally is the latest attempt at top down racing on mobile devices and is currently compatible with Symbian S60, Symbian S60 3rd Edition, Symbian S80, Symbian S90, Symbian UIQ 3.0, Pocket PC and Smartphone. In the works (hopefully) are Palm OS, Symbian UIQ and Desktop PC. As you can see this game will run on a LOT of devices and I have played it on a Nokia E65 and T-Mobile MDA Mail and both worked without issue. Considering these two devices are far from the most powerful it was good to see that the level of detail could be turned up to maximum with no effect on the speed of play.

So what do you get for your US$15? This is not a lot for any game but there are some immediate highlights that spring to mind that are unusual-

Downloadable content including new cars and tracks (awaiting availability I believe)
Online high scores
Two career modes and ghost mode
Random track generator
Betting in career mode
A variety of weapons, characters and cars
Multichannel audio system- original soundtrack

The above gives a taste of what is included and as you may be able to guess longevity is built in right from the off. You are forced to start the game in training mode and this is a good idea because it enables you to customise the controls so that you can find the ones that work best on your device. Automatic acceleration and turbo can be chosen if you only want to steer but that would be a bit lazy now wouldn’t it…

When I started playing the very first thing that struck me was how difficult it was- in my first few races I was last by a distance but as time went on and I repeated the courses I gradually improved and eventually started to get good results at easy level. The control system is excellent with some nice sliding and naturally corrective steering and this gave a more responsive feel to the game. It can feel slow at first but again things speed up with progress and use of your collected weapons and turbos at the correct moment will reap rewards. There is an option to play without weapons if you are a fan of pure racing. The ability to steer your car via touch screen or buttons is a good more compatibility wise as well- in my experience steering with buttons gave a much more realistic feel and I wasn’t convinced of the stylus steering approach- maybe more testing time with a stylus would have made a difference because the theory sounds natural: car turns in the direction pointed by pen and moving stylus away from car increases acceleration and offers the use of your turbos.

The various modes are cleverly though out as well-

Quick Race- simply racing against other cars but is required so that you can collect experience points which allows you to start a Championship.

Championship- You are given a car by a sponsor and you have to race three other cars through various rounds until you race the Boss. If you fail to beat him in three attempts you have to start all over again! If you beat the Boss you can then compete at a higher level and could even be offered a bet at the start of a race… As you can tell there are no easy wins with this game.

Career- this mode never ends. You pay for everything here- upgrades and race entry fees will come out of your coffers. So far I have only just started this mode but there is a genuine feeling of wanting to progress further and to see what happens next. The variety built in is fantastic and every race genuinely feels different to the previous one.

Ghost mode- this is purely for you to take on the track. You can play as often as you like to get the quickest time and once a lap is completed a code is offered which you can add to the Infinite Dreams online high score list.

Random track- now this is a bit of a side show but a clever one. You enter an 8 digit code and that is used to generate your track. In theory the chances of getting the same track twice are zero unless you deliberately enter the same code.

There is little else I can say about this game at the moment because I have not had time to explore much of it at all. It has the Gran Turismo feeling in that respect- you can play for hours and still only chip the surface.

Conclusion

As a fan of top down racing games I am obviously going to be biased about a game such as K-Rally but because it has wonderful graphics, natural game play and a longevity rarely seen in mobile games I have to give it top marks. I am not going to recommend you try it, I am going to demand that you try it! Truly one of the best PDA games I have ever played…

Available for Pocket PC, Smartphone and Symbian devices for US$14.95.

ScrapBook 0.9.1

ScrapBook 0.9.1 is new and more importantly free- “ScrapBook (Java-midlet) allows its users to write multimedia scraps over the gprs\edge channels, with costs less than the normal mms charges. The scraps are saved in the mobile for offline viewing. The application enables quick and efficient voice, image and text messaging through an easy to use interface.”

Tube 2

Tube 2 is now compatible with the P1i- great news for people who are lucky enough to avoid the tube a lot and thus require this software.

Save hours by automatically having the quickest routes to hand, with all the details you need including line changes, platform directions and accurate journey times.

No more confusion on your trips, route details include, direction of travel, end of line, towards information, and number of stops in each segment. Select advanced journey options such as quickest journey, fewest stops, avoid lines and quickly display return journey details.