I took two awesome games with me on our spring break trip to Oregon.

Spirit Lords

This game is a combination of Diablo and Pokemon. Maybe that’s all I need to tell you? It’s FTP so you have to put up with “energy”, a bunch of different kinds of currency, and (the mechanic I hate the most) Powering up the monsters you’ve collected by feeding them different monsters you’ve collected. I don’t know why that one drives me so crazy but I really hate it. Despite all the FTP bullshit Spirit Lords is super fun. The various Spirits you collect slot into your character and grant you special abilities. They fall into certain categories like defensive, movement, or offensive. You take these powers into a Diablo style dungeon crawler that’s beautiful and honestly fun. I’ve been playing a bunch of Dungeon Hunter 5 recently and I actually prefer the combat in Spirit Lords even though (or maybe because) it only requires one finger to play. Since it’s free there’s not much need for me to go on and on about why I dig it. Just go grab it for yourself.

Implosion: Never Lose Hope

Now this game is a different story. This is a $10 purchase, which for an iPad game is a good chunk of change. I bit the bullet and picked it up based on the reviews I read. Man this game is killer. First of all it’s so refreshing to play a game that doesn’t require an internet connection. I was able to play it on the car ride which was nice. Overall Implosion feels like a game I might have played on the original PlayStation. It looks and feels like a “console” game if that makes sense. Since it isn’t FTP there’s none of the bullshit, it’s just a great game that you can play as much as you want. You upgrade your character by playing the game rather than via micro-transactions. This is just a great action game with solid controls, beautiful graphics and an engaging story. Honestly I feel like $10 is a steal.

We were in Seaside Oregon which is a little beach town that happens to have the best arcade I’ve ever seen. Last time I visited I saw TANK TANK TANK for the first time. This time I was able to play the Star Wars Battle Pod.

Holy shit this game was fun. You sit inside that little pod and a projector above your head throws the video onto a huge concave screen that wraps all around you. You use a throttle and joystick to control various Star Wars ships depending on the scenario you choose. I flew a Snow Speeder, a Speeder Bike and an X-Wing. The gameplay is mostly on rails and has you using the joystick to target enemies and shoot them down. The experience is a thrill though as the action surrounds you and pod hits you with bursts of air at just the right times. Each time I got out of the pod I wobbled a bit Like I’d just come off a roller coaster. If you ever see one of these in an arcade, drop a couple bucks and give it a go.

-Gabe out