It's Oh So Quiet

Miracle Merchant - iOS

For the first time in a decade, I'm not involved in any podcasts.  I've done five (I think) in that time span.  One hit 100 episodes and 4,000 concurrent downloads (then I quit), another hit 50 episodes (then we both quit), another hit 30-some shows (then I quit) and the others were only a handful of episodes.  So now I'm TRAPPED with my own thoughts, and no one to vent to.  When my kids were born four years ago, I thought I could finally practice writing and make something out of myself.  I was wrong.  KIDS ARE A FUCKTON OF WORK.  Not ideal for practicing anything except operating motor vehicles on two hours of sleep for months at a time.

Been really down with what the 45 has done to the climate...not the atmospheric climate (yet), but the social climate?  Political climate?  MY EMOTIONAL CLIMATE?  Not trying to be a drama queen, but the dude is a major bummer and I've found myself reading more news in the past year than possibly in my entire lifetime combined, and also wanting to avoid the news at all costs.  It's seriously giving me anxiety.  I need to get some positive thoughts down, SO WHY NOT BLOG ABOUT IT?

Monster Mayhem - FREE (currently) - iPhone/iPod Touch

I swear I have been meaning to update this more often... promise... It wasn't until today though, when I gave a little game called 'Monster Mayhem' a spin, that I was inspired to write up a little review.

In a nutshell, 'Monster Mayhem' by Chillingo is 'Plants vs. Zombies', but with less plants, and touch screen weaponry. Basically, keep the incoming waves of monsters away from your property! The monsters filter in from the right side of the screen, with their goal on the left side.

You begin with a knife and revolver. The knife controls a la 'Fruit Ninja', while the firearms have a touch-screen shooting gallery feel to them. Each level is comprised of a half dozen stages or so, and each stage has a half dozen waves or so.

Pros
- Excellent cartoony graphics, bright colors, clean animations... typical top notch Chillingo art style here.
- Steady learning/difficulty curve. Never too hard, but stays challenging.
- Weapon variety - grenades, flame throwers, knives, etc. All upgradeable and with different perks.
- The 'Monster Handbook' has a little 'trading card' that shows their different strengths and weaknesses, etc.
- Crystal integration.
- Did I mention it's FREE right now? A lite version is also available when the sale ends.

Cons
- When some monsters are defeated, they drop coins or ammo. You have to specifically touch these items to collect them, or they time-out and disappear fairly quickly. It would have been nice to collect them if your finger touches them, even if you are attacking at the same time.
- Crystal integration. Hopefully, they will add GameCenter support soon. With Plus+ and Openfeint and Crystal all providing similar services, I wish there were only one game in town for leaderboard and friend connectivity.

Overall: At the current price, it's a no-brainer. Great action, great humor, very well-polished title that can kill a few minutes or keep you in your seat for a few hours. I'll put a CAG value of $2.99 on it.

Grade: A