Our next guest is the newest member of the high-end Android lineup. Acer Stream managed to surprise us with top notch specs and really cool Acer Touch 3D user interface.
We’ve been eagerly waiting for some movement on the high-end Android market that’s so far been ruled by HTC and Samsung. Acer Stream enters the fray of battle just in time and rest assured, there will be blood.
Acer Stream packs a 3.7-inch capacitive WVGA AMOLED screen capable of multi-touch, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 2GB internal storage, 5 megapixel snapper with 720p video recording and microSD card slot (8GB card supplied).
Acer Stream next to Apple iPhone 3G, Motorola MILESTONE and Samsung I9000 Galaxy S
Besides its excellent specs, Acer Streams delivers a premium connectivity package – Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack, microHDMI port (with bundled cable) and a microUSB slot.
Our first video will get you through the unboxing. The package can also be qualified as premium – without counting all the basics, it comes with a screen protector, a stylish carrying pouch, a proper HDMI cable and a 8GB microSD card.
Acer Stream packs the latest Acer Touch 3D UI (which I like a lot) over its Android 2.1 Eclair. It features a unique lockscreen and homescreen widgets along with the neat and pretty status bars popups. See for yourself.
Acer Stream is surely impressive and it deserves our full attention. We are already working on our review.
Facebook Timeline lands on the iPhone, the iPad will have to wait some more
Facebook has updated its iOS application, introducing the newly introduced Timeline profile interface to the Apple platform. The social giant has released an update of its app for the iPhone allowing it to have a taste of the latest and greatest it has to offer.
Right now Timeline isn’t available to the other major iDevice – the iPad, but Facebook says it’s “coming soon”. Still, iPad users will get a few extra features with the new update.
For example, the new update brings Friends list, which is available on all iOS devices. A feature best known from the desktop Facebook UI, Friends Lists let you manage the information you share with your different circles of friends.
The photo management has also been improved with better speed, comments and upload systems. Finally, the iOS Facebook also got Subscriptions, letting you follow specific actions of your contacts.
With the new update you will be able to manage a much larger part of your Facebook profile from your iDevice, so you won’t need to use your computer as often as before. Now start those downloads and don’t forget to drop us a line in the comments section, mentioning how do you find the updated app.
Casio announces high-speed EX-FH25 and EX-FC150 with back-light CMOS sensors
Casio Japan announced a couple of pretty interesting digital cameras today. The EX-FH25 superzoom and EX-FC150 compact both feature back-light CMOS imaging sensors that should be able to deliver better signal-to-noise ratio than conventional front-lit units.
Casio EX-FH25
Both cameras sport 1/2.3” 10 megapixel sensors and are able to shoot video at up to 1000 FPS. Of course that number is only achievable in the miserly resolution of 224 x 64 pixels but VGA @ 120 FPS ain’t too bad either.
Casio EX-FH25 sports a 28-560mm (35mm equivalent) zoom lens with minimal aperture of F/2.8-4.5, while the more modestly sized EX-FC150 comes with 37-185mm (35mm equivalent) F/3.6-F4.5 lens.
Casio EX-FH25
Both cameras will start selling on 27th of November but there is no information about their pricing just yet. Admit it – you gotta fancy recording 1000fps video footage yourselves, wouldn’t you? I know, I would.
Yves Behar phone lives in the good old days when phones were for talking, costs as much as a car
In a stance against phones “more” Yves Behar designed a phone for Danish manufacturer Aesir, which focuses on craftsmanship and audio experience. The result is pretty attractive (unlike some eyesores of the luxury phone world) but its price will still make you frown.
Functionality-wise it’s nothing impressive but the edge-to-edge keypad does look interesting and there are custom ringtones and icons designed just for the phone…
The phone is called +YvesBehar and can be had in either stainless steel or 18K yellow gold. There is quad-band GSM connectivity and its “sound chamber” (ear piece, I assume) has been specially engineered to provide a better audio experience.
The +YvesBehar measures 114 x 49.8 x 11.9 mm and weighs 250g (gold version) or 210g (stainless steel version). The upper part of the phone is made of high-grade ceramics with ultra-glossy finish and the 2” TFT screen is covered by a scratch-resistant sapphire glass.
The phone also comes with exclusive ringtones by “master of the upright bass” Chris Minh Doky and custom icons. You can check out the ringtones here and peek at the icons here.
The +YvesBehar phone should hit Europe this Summer, expanding to the US, China and Hong Kong in the Fall. The stainless steel version costs €7,250, while the 18K gold version has a €42,000 asking price.
And don’t worry if you don’t have that kind of cash on you right now – payment will be effected only after they’ve shipped the phone. Interested? Here’s Aesir’s online shop.
Bang & Olufsen announces BeoPlay V1 LCD TV and BeoPlay A3 iPad speaker dock
Bang & Olufsen, more commonly known as B&O, has launched a new LCD TV called the BeoPlay V1. The best part about this set is the flexibility of its design that allows you to position it in multiple ways.
The TV has a unique mount for the stand that allows four different positions. One allows you to wall mount the TV, the other can be used to place it on the floor at a sufficient height so that it is approximately the same height as your seating position, the other places it at floor level with a tilt to point it towards you and the last one lets you hang the TV from the ceiling so it looks like it is suspended in mid-air.
Another great thing about this TV is that if you have an Apple TV, there is a compartment at the back where you can just slot it in so it’s out of sight and the TV comes with a universal remote that can also control the Apple TV. B&O also promises the same great audio quality from this set that we have come to expect from the brand.
The BeoPlay V1 will go on sale starting today and will be available in 32-inch (��1,999) and 40-inch (��2,499) models.
Next you have an awesome looking iPad speaker dock called the BeoPlay A3. The advantage of this dock is that it allows you to position the dock in portrait as well as landscape mode. In landscape mode, it positions the iPad at a comfortable angle for watching movies or typing.
The dock has an interesting design with two of the adjacent sides being thin and the other two being thick and flat. The flat sides allow the dock to be placed on its side and the long thin side lets you type comfortably on the iPad.
The dock has three 0.5-inch tweeters and 2-inch woofers that are placed in such as way that no matter which position the dock is you always get the proper stereo sound. The dock intelligently switches between the speakers depending on how you place it. The A3 also has a built-in battery that is said to provide five hours of audio playback and can also charge the iPad when the dock is connected to a power source.
The BeoPlay A3 will go on sale on May 21 and will cost you ��449. A white version is said to arrive later.
The critically acclaimed and award winning title Max Payne is now available on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The game has been released on the App Store and costs $2.99.
Max Payne is popular not just because it featured great action but it was also one of the first games to feature a cinematic story that gave the players a feeling of watching an action movie and not just playing a video game. It was also the first game to feature the now famous slow motion gameplay feature dubbed Bullet Time.
On iOS, the game comes with high definition resolution and textures for the Retina display along with customizable controls optimized for the touchscreen. It also features Rockstar’s Social Club feature to keep track of your game stats. Max Payne Mobile is also a universal app, which means you can buy it once and play it on both the iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad.
An Android version of the game is in works and as usual will be coming out a bit later. On April 26, to be precise.
12MP Panasonic GF2 announced, brings touch focus to the Micro Four Thirds family
Panasonic just announced the latest addition to their Micro Four Thirds camera lineup. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 as its full name goes is a really compact camera built around a 12MP CMOS sensor.
Capable of capturing Full HD (1920 x 1080) videos at up to 30 fps and weighing only 475 grams with batteries and lens, the GF2 should appeal to enthusiast photographers that don’t fancy the extra weight of a DSLR camera. The new Panasonic mirror-less camera measures just 113 x 68 x 33 mm so it’s actually possible to carry it around in your pocket, rather than a dedicated bag.
A feature that sets the Panasonic GF2 apart from most competitors is its 3” touchscreen that allows touch focus. This basically means that you have an infinite number of focus points at your disposal.
The GF2 is also compatible with the recently announced Panasonic 3D lens, allowing it to take stereoscopic images.
The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF2, will be available in black, silver, white, and red with the following kit options: DMC-GF2C – 14mm F2.5 Lens Kit and DMC-GF2K – 14-42mm Zoom Lens Kit. Sales start from January 2011 and pricing will be announced approximately 30 days prior to shipment.
You can check out its first preview over at DPreview to know what to expect.
Over at the Apple event in California Theatre in San Jose Tim Cook announced the number of devices that are currently running on the latest iOS 6.
The magic number is 200 million, which is quite impressive.
iOS 6 started seeding to users on September 19 and reached 100 million devices in just a couple of days. In a matter of weeks iOS 6 has also covered over 60% of all the iPhones out there.
You can check out our detailed review of iOS 6 here.
It’s been a busy week for CyanogenMod – to accompany the almost daily ports popping up for various devices, some users over at the xda-developers blog have achieved an unofficial CyanogenMod 10 port to the Motorola Atrix, DEFY, DEFY+ and the Tegra 3-only HTC Endeavor (One X).
While CM 10 does bring Jelly Bean to the aforementioned devices, it’s important to keep in mind that the software is still in its early stages of development and you will experience bugs, and there’s always the risk of bricking your device.
Still, most of the basic functionality is there – phone calls in particular shouldn’t have any major issues.
Among the more active devs that helped make this happen are user Quarx, TripNRaVeR and rogro82.
So if you own any of these devices and are eager to get some Jelly Bean, you’ll find the links below complete with instructions. As always, proceed with caution, and know that the procedures below will void your warranty.
Thanks to Kenpachi Zaraki, Shyam and Ibhati for sending this in!
Just as promised, today Rockstar released the first trailer for its hotly anticipated GTA V (that’s five) game. The trailer doesn’t reveal too much about the gameplay of the upcoming action title, but gives us a rough idea of the kind of graphics we’ll be getting.
The story in GTA V will take place in the fictional city of Los Santos in California (Vinehood is in the neighbourhood too). Ok, it’s not the real Los Angeles, but I doubt this will steer too many people away from the game – real city or not, this one is still high on the wish list for millions of gamers around the globe.
Unfortunately, we still don’t have a release date for this one just yet, but we’re hoping that the developers will fix that soon.
iOS 5 word suggestion pops out of registry hack, no jailbreak required
iOS 5 has been around for some time now, in beta form, but now that it’s official hackers are hard at work revealing its secrets to the eager public. This time it’s an automatic native word suggesting feature, which displays words above the keyboard while you’re typing. The “Go” has been replaced by “Confirm” so that you can confirm the selected word suggestion and move on with your typing.
The feature can be enabled fairly easy and doesn’t require a jailbreak, which is welcome news for many non-jailbreak enthusiasts. It’s reportedly been tested on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 but should become available to all iOS 5-certified phones.
All you need is to back up your iDevice and then use a thrid-party application on your computer to tinker with the backup and enable the features there. Then you restore your device to the said backup and you get the new functionality enabled with no risk involved. The only downside is that the only software that does the job for the time being is paid.
If you’re eager to try any of the two hidden gems (or both of them) you can check out the source links below for instructions. Keep in mind that these features most probably will become available to all iOS 5 devices via a future update.
Word suggestion instructions | Panorama mode instructions | Via | Via
Samsung reportedly hikes manufacturing costs by 20% for Apple's processors
According to reports coming out of Korea, Samsung has apparently increased the manufacturing cost of processors that it supplies to Apple by 20%.
As you may know, Apple custom designs its own chipsets for use in iOS devices but these chips are then manufactured by Samsung to Apple’s specifications. Samsung has now increased the prices of these chips by 20% and Apple, faced with the lack of immediate alternatives, has agreed.
While it is easy to go knee-jerk on the whole situation and just assume this is Samsung’s way of getting back at Apple for the current legal issues between the two companies, one must first understand that the Samsung that competes with Apple in court and Samsung that manufactures chips for Apple are not exactly the same but rather different corporations operating under the same conglomerate brand.
Also, the chip division at Samsung would be naive to mess around with Apple because what happens with the other divisions because Apple is their biggest customer, a customer that has also been looking to move their business elsewhere for some time now. Increasing their prices would only make Apple move away faster unless there is a logical reason for the hike.
A more reasonable explanation could be increase in the prices of parts which may have compelled Samsung to increase the prices of the chips. Or, as The Verge mentions, due to the significant investments that Samsung recently made in their Austin, Texas plant to cope with Apple’s greater demands.
Motorola Droid X – a giant phone or a mini tablet?
Motorola Droid X is one of those phones that just can’t stop popping up. After numerous pictures, hints and information, now we are able to gather almost a complete specs sheet.
Even more, the guys over at Engadget had the opportunity to play with Droid X and reportedly, it looks good. Yeah, it’s big, but definitely full of awesomeness.
Motorola Droid X is a CDMA smartphone intended for Verizon. That’s the main reason you haven’t heard of it on our main website.
Still it’s quite an impressive device that deserves checking out.
Motorola Droid X packs 4.4-inch capacitive touchscreen with 854×480 resolution and multi-touch support, ARM Cortex A8 1GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, HDMI port, 8GB internal storage and microSD card slot.
Motorola Droid X
As far as the connectivity package is concern – you can expect everything in it – 3G with HSDPA, Wi-Fi with DLNA, GPS, Bluetooth and 3.5mm audio jack. There is still no confirmation on the FM radio.
Motorola Droid X will run on Android v2.1 skinned with a new version of MOTOBLUR. There will be Swype support for faster on-screen typing much like Samsung Galaxy S.
Dorid X is expected to hit Verizon’s network in July.
Tesco website glitch prices the new iPad at just £50
A trip to the supermarket can be filled with special offers like “buy one get one free” or “two for the price of one”, but how about an iPad for just ￡50.
What some may see as the sale of the century, supermarket retailer Tesco see as a technical blunder on their part. Due to a glitch on the chain’s website, thousands of customers were fooled into thinking that a new 64GB WiFi/4G iPad was available to purchase for just ￡49.99.
The news spread like wildfire once it made its way onto social channels such as Facebook and Twitter and Tesco had to quickly quash any such hope that they would be honoring the reduced price accidental offer.
A spokesperson for Tesco stated, “We always look to offer our customers unbeatable value but unfortunately this is an IT error that is now being corrected.”
Such mishaps are not uncommon in the retail industry with UK highstreet chain M&S recently pricing certain 3D TVs at a fraction of their RRP. In a surprise move however, the company actually followed through and a number of happy customers came away with HD 3D TVs which they would no doubt consider an ‘absolute bargain’.
As we mentioned earlier, Tesco are far less likely to follow through with their mishap, nonetheless keep your eyes peeled, deals accidental or not, may still be lurking on the interwebs you just have to know where to look.
Free custom laser engraving for every Galaxy Note in South Korea
Good news for those of you living in South Korea. If you are still wondering whether to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Note or not, this may help you decide.
Samsung is offering to engrave the battery cover of your brand new Galaxy Note for free. There are lots of custom fonts and languages supported, so you shouldn’t worry about the lack of customization options.
The engraved Galaxy Notes are sold exclusively into Samsung’s Digital Plaza retail stores. The free engraving offer expires on March 31, so there’s enough time.
The list of official Samsung Galaxy S4 accessories is impressive, but the one that got the most people interested, is the S View Cover.
Basically, the S View Cover is an upgraded version of the Flip Cover, which has a neat cut-out window that allows you to take a quick peek at your Galaxy S4 screen to see what’s new or to just check out the time. Sounds good on paper, but is it worth the $70 price tag? Follow us to find out.
Design
The S View Cover is a two part affair – the screen cover has a leather-like texture, while the back has the same hyperglaze finish as the the standard battery cover on the Galaxy S4 that it replaces. The front cover is connected to the back one very securely, and opens up with a flick of a finger.
The outer side of the S View Cover’s front part is finished with a soft-touch synthetic leather with “Galaxy S4″ written on it. Keep in mind that dirt accumulates quite easily, but cleaning it isn’t particularly tedious either.
On the inside, it’s soft, with a bit of padding added that not only helps protect the screen, but also cleans it from fingerprints. Samsung has put a lot of thought into the S View Cover, as it has even added a cut out for the home button to avoid unwanted presses.
By itself, the S View Cover weighs 31 grams, so it does add a noticeable amount of weight to the S4, but not so much as to make it uncomfortably heavy. It also adds to the overall thickness of the device, but that’s to be expected from an accessory that protects your device from accidental scratches.
The little window cut-out on the S View Cover is its key selling point. It is made out of see-through plastic, which is thin enough so that you can press it and answer or reject an incoming call.
A little gripe we have with the S View Cover is that it makes the volume rocker much harder to press. It’s not the end of the world, but might be annoying if you constantly readjust the volume.
Functionality
Once you’ve closed the S View Cover the Samsung Galaxy S4 goes into a special mode displaying just the notification drawer, the clock and date, missed calls, new emails and messages, as well as the currently played song (only the Samsung Music Player is supported). We tried to shuffle through songs but to no avail.
However, you can answer or reject incoming calls without opening the cover. Simply apply a bit of pressure onto the window itself so that the screen of the phone can register it and you’re good to go.
To save battery, the screen goes all black with only the part that is located directly underneath the S View Cover window remaining active. As a result, the Galaxy S4 hardly consumes any battery when you’re checking the time or pending notifications.
Happily, thanks to the built-in magnet in the front cover of the S View Cover, flicking it automatically unlocks the screen. More importantly it skips past your lockscreen (unless you have set up a pass code) and goes straight to your homescreen. Since the cover is certain to block any unwanted presses when the Galaxy S4 is in your pockets, this is quite a smart time-saving feature to have.
Conclusion
Currently sold in white and black variants, the Samsung Galaxy S4′s S View Cover will set you back $70 (suggested retail price), which is quite steep as is usually the case with official accessories. The good news is unlike the S Wireless Charging Pad and Cover combo that we reviewed recently, purchasing it might be justifiable.
In addition to protecting the Samsung Galaxy S4 screen, the clever cover is also cool looking and saves you the trouble of turning the massive 5″ display on just to check out the weather or if you’ve had a missed call or message. Ultimately, it’s one of the more sensible Galaxy S4 accessories available.
Angry Birds Space now available for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows
The wait is over. Rovio launched today the next edition of their famous Angry Birds franchise. Dubbed Angry Birds Space, the game, as you’d imagine, features all new physics, levels and birds.
We already acquainted you with all the new birds and as for the levels they are different from what you are used to from previous Angry Birds games. Now, you fight the usual green piglets using clever space physics in an all new way, which might make you scratch your head a couple of times. In the end, though, the game is great fun and is definitely a breath of fresh air in the mobile gaming world.
Additionally, since Rovio and Samsung are partnering heavily on this game, there are some perks Samsung owners will be getting. One of them is a 30-level map pack, a specially designed level for the Galaxy Note and a special weapon – Laser bird.
So, what are you waiting for? Head to your store of choice and get the new Angry Birds Space.
Motorola Xoom gets unofficial Android 4.0.3 update, comes at the cost of camera functionality
It’s been just a day since Google released the Android 4.0.3 update and the folks over at xda-developers have managed to get it working on the original Motorola Xoom already.
While this may sound like exciting news, it’s still pretty much a work in progress, which means things are not working quite as well as they should. The camera is not working and there is a green overlay from time to time. But then again, that’s usually the case with most custom ROMs and as the developer continues to work on it, it will get better with time.
But if you’re impatient to try out Ice Cream Sandwich on your Xoom and are willing to forgo the camera functionality (not that the camera on a tablet is of much use anyway) you can consider giving it a try by visiting the source link below.
Get great discount on iOS and Android games on occasion of Labor Day
While America gets ready to celebrate Labor Day on September 3, you should get your wallet ready cause here comes another sale for games on iOS and Android.
The following titles are on sale right now, with the sale lasting through the weekend till Monday. So make sure you take advantage of the offer as soon as you can. Do note that some of the discounts may not be available in all regions.
For iPhone
Madden 2012
Fight Night Champion
The Sims 3
Risk
Battlefield Bad Company 2
The Sims Medieval
Dead Space
FIFA 2012
Mass Effect Infiltrator
Burnout Crash
For iPad
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Flight Control HD
Mirrors Edge
Sim City Deluxe
Risk
Shift 2 Unleashed
Battleship HD
Fifa Soccer 2012
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit HD
Dead Space
Battlefield Bad Company 2 HD
Madden 2012
Real Racing 2 HD
Monopoly
NBA Jam
Tetris
Mass Effect Infiltrator
Burnout Crash
For Android
There could also be some other discounted titles that I may have missed out on. Feel free to mention them in the comments below.
'Call of Duty: Ghosts' announced, watch the teaser trailer here
After a bout of rumors, leaked images and a teaser on Instagram, Activision has finally announced the next installment in the Call of Duty series – Call of Duty: Ghosts.
After a cadence of alternatively releasing Modern Warfare and Black Ops games, one would have expected the next game in the series to bear the Modern Warfare name (since the last game was Black Ops II). However, developer Infinity Ward has decided to go in a new direction, and as such Ghosts is a completely new series altogether.
No concrete information is available at the moment but Ghosts will feature a completely different story, setting and characters compared to the previous games. It will still be a first person shooter, though, and you are still playing as a soldier in the game so don’t expect a radical shift from what you have been doing in the previous Call of Duty games.
The game is expected to go on sale on November 5 this year and will be available on current as well as next generation platforms. The current platforms include the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC, with the Nintendo Wii U being left out as usual (that thing is like the Windows Phone of consoles). We will be getting a closer look at the game at Microsoft’s event for unveiling the next generation Xbox on May 21, so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, you can watch the teaser trailer below.
'Prince of Persia Classic' for iOS and Android game review
Prince of Persia Classic is a remake of the original 1989 Prince of Persia that started it all. There have been couple of remakes of this game in the past for mobile, one by Gameloft and the other by Ubisoft but since then they have been removed and replaced with this one.
We decided to give the latest version a try and see how this 23 year old wine tastes from a new bottle.
Title
Prince of Persia Classic
Developer
Ubisoft
Platform
iOS (iPhone / iPad)
Android
Release Date
June 2012
September 2012
Content rating
12+
Medium Maturity
Size
212MB / 195 MB
224MB
Price
$1.99 / $2.99
$2.99 / Free (trial)
Gameplay
In Prince of Persia Classic, you’re a nameless protagonist known only as the Prince, whose job is to save the life of the sultan’s daughter from the evil vizier and take back the kingdom.
The game is still a 2D platformer and you control the movement of the Prince using virtual joystick controls on the left. On the right you have additional controls that can make the price jump, bend/drop down and walk (instead of running by default). During combat, the keys switch to attack, defend and to sheathe the sword.
Alright, now here’s the thing; the game sucks. Yes, you read that right. It’s terrible and that mostly has to do with the controls and everything to do with the way the character generally moves. Prince of Persia Classic is a 2D platforming game, where you will be doing a lot of jumping and climbing, so the movement of the character has to be precise to make the game enjoyable. What you get is the exact opposite of that.
There is no precision in the movement of the character. It will be easier to control an aircraft that has lost both its wings and the engine than the Prince in this game. You can’t make him start running properly, you can’t make him stop when you want to. Half the time he just ends up running over an edge because he didn’t stop where you thought he would.
Climbing up and down is even more frustrating. The Prince’s moves are ridiculously limited, so he can only jump straight up when not moving. You have to line him up perfectly under an edge for him to grab it, not easy when you consider the aforementioned lack of movement accuracy. Climbing down a ledge is similarly frustrating.
But what really annoyed me about the Prince is the slow movement. Every action you do is followed by a slow, deliberate animation that makes you feel as if you’re watching the game in slow motion. There is no urgency in the movement and the animations feel lethargic, robbing the game of the energy and making the fairly short levels seem to drag on and on. You need an incredible amount of patience to play this game and you don’t even get properly rewarded for it.
This slow, dim-witted movement and imprecise controls make it hard not to throw your phone or tablet out of the window while playing. If you read our previous review of Rayman Jungle Run, you’ll remember I mentioned that if you die in that game, it’s because you did something wrong, not because there is something wrong with the game. With Prince of Persia Classic, it’s the opposite.
You’ll die a lot, and I mean a lot in this game, and 9/10 times it’s the game’s fault. The checkpoints are also spaced far apart, so if you die you have to go through a whole lot of trouble to get back to where you were, only to die again. You can choose to respawn instantly but that’s something you have to pay for using in-app purchases.
When you’re not missing gaps and falling to your death as you pull out yet another chunk of hair from your head, you will be fighting against some enemies. The enemy AI is pretty weird. At first, a couple of swings of your sword would kill them. Suddenly, two levels later the Price ends up getting slaughtered like a helpless sheep unless you block every enemy attack and time your attacks properly. This sudden spike in difficulty comes out of nowhere and makes the game even more frustrating.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics received the biggest and the only upgrade over the original game. The game looks decent but the visuals are blurry on the new iPad, suggestion the game is not running at native resolution. This makes the game look only acceptable and nowhere near as great as some of the other 2D games we have seen recently, such as Rayman Jungle Run (also by Ubisoft) or Spirits.
The game levels are split into multiple sections. You have one section on screen and once you reach the end of it a new section appears on screen. This made sense back in the day when the hardware had limited memory and couldn’t load the entire game at once or support continuous side scrolling but there is no excuse to do it now. The switches between sections is jarring and breaks the flow of the game. Also, you often have to make a jump right at the beginning of the next section, something you can’t see in the previous section. So you end up running straight into the pit as the next section appears on the screen.
The story of the game is told through 3D cutscene videos that feature no dialogues and look tacky at best.
There is not much of sound in the game. There is no background music while you’re playing and the only sounds are from the traps and the prince’s grunting as he moves around the place. The only music you hear is in the menus and during the cutscenes, which is passable at best.
Verdict
There is no point mincing words here; Prince of Persia Classic is bad and Ubisoft should feel bad. The developers took what is one of the most loved and remembered game in gaming history and turned it into a clunky mess. I’m not even going to say that you should only get this if you’re a fan of the series. If you’re a fan, you should especially stay away from this game as it would only sour the memory of the original.
Rating: 1/5 Pros: Pretty much nothing. Cons: Pretty much everything.
Note: There are two versions of this game on either platforms. iOS has a version for iPhone and iPod touch and a separate HD version for the iPad. On Android, you have a standard version and a free trial version. The Android version has DRM check that happens every time you start the game where it checks the game data to see if it is genuine.
