Grand Theft Auto 3 review

When you think about landmark video games in the history of the industry, a few names come to mind immediately. Pong, Pac Man, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., and Halo all changed the video game industry with groundbreaking gameplay and graphics superior to most games before them. But one of the biggest, and most controversial industry game changers is celebrating it’s tenth anniversary — Grand Theft Auto III. Now the game that helped to pioneer the “open-world” genre of gaming has come to iOS in a universal app that is incredibly faithful to the original PlayStation 2 version of GTA III.

For those unfamiliar with Grand Theft Auto III’s storyline and premise, you control an unnamed bank robber (Claude, for those who are familiar with storylines from sequels) after he escapes a prison transport vehicle in a gritty area known as Liberty City. As you move up the ranks of the gang circuit in Liberty City, you’ll work for various crime bosses, corrupt cops, and others — all in an effort to rise up to be one of the most notorious gangsters. Of course, along the way you’ll have the option to perform various tasks and missions, or you can choose to ignore the storyline completely and explore the enormous landscape that is Liberty City — driving taxis, ambulances, fire trucks, and robbing and killing the citizens, all while escaping the police who will be out to stop your crime sprees.

The world of Liberty City was massive on the original PS2 version of GTA III ten years ago, and it feels just as large on iOS. The first time I carjacked someone and began driving around, I felt right at home as I explored the seemingly never ending streets, while simultaneously trying to maintain control of my (still, after 10 years) touchy automobile. Speaking of controls, Rockstar has done an admirable of porting GTA’s controls to the touchscreen.

Actions have their own dedicated buttons which are clearly labeled by icons on the button (a bullet to shoot, for instance). For the most part, these buttons worked just fine, though I did enjoy the considerable increase in the size of the buttons on the iPad’s larger screen, but I rarely encountered difficulties with the smaller size of the iPhone display.

Another landmark of GTA III was the presence of multiple radio stations in any car you hop into. These radio stations return in GTA III for iOS, and are present at the bottom left of the screen as you drive. Simply swiping left to right will change the station, and each of them is a joy to listen to, even during the commercials. The voice acting is also well done, lending an added dimension to the already colorful residents of Liberty City.
Grand Theft Auto III was a masterpiece ten years ago, and it’s really great to see that the game has stood the test of time while finding an entirely new audience on iOS. While there are a handful of “GTA Clones” available on the App Store, GTA III is the one that will have me coming back for more for a long time. At just $4.99 for a universal app, GTA III is well priced for a great trip down memory lane.

Here is a video demo of the Grand Theft Auto 3 app on the iPhone

Download Grand Theft Auto 3 at iTunes App Store

Price: $4.99

Developer: Rockstar Games

Version: 1.0

Size: 462.22 MB

Modern War review

Modern War is a new iOS game from Funzio, with gameplay similar to Crime City but this time with a military war theme and a few new additions. Just as with other iPhone apps in the turn-based social crime game genre, you build an army, join forces with other users online, invade enemy territories, add your friends, build a base and army and expand your virtual military empire. Although the games have a lot in common, Modern War differentiates from Crime City and Grand Theft Auto III, in that now you are less of a city criminal and more of a military personality. There are now even missions for taking down terrorists and joining forces with others to defend your territory.

The load time after launching the app is short. Before you start playing, you can choose from several avatars. There is a good selection of male or female avatars to choose from. I like having these options even though the simple, old school graphics are harder to see and you can’t really see your avatar anyway. There is a small tutorial before you start playing Modern War that helps your figure out what you need to do and how to control the game, which is pretty user friendly.
The concept in Modern War is simple. You are a soldier fulfilling various missions. It is entertaining and simple enough to play while you’re waiting, taking the bus, or stuck at a train station. The combat is also easy. You don’t have to actually fight your enemies; you just tap the enemy and the app tells you whether you’ve won or not. This may seem boring, but it is a good combat style for an iPhone game.

The controls are really user friendly and efficient. Most of the time, you engage people and items by tapping the screen, much like with other iPhone apps. In order to move your character, you tap the screen where you want him or her to go. To move and place buildings, you just drag and drop. The controls are easy and the response time is good. The app does not lag in regards to movement and control. One problem I have noticed when attempting to move the screen around is that the app is pretty sensitive to touch. Sometimes when trying to zoom in and out, the app thinks you are trying to move a building or talk to someone instead. This then brings up a prompt to move the building or talk to someone, thus ruining your attempt to zoom in or out.
The app does not include audio. I think it would add to the experience if there were at least some sound effects. I am not a big fan of repetitive music in applications, but I would like some effects when I move, fight, attack, and interact with other characters.
The graphics in Modern War are decent for a social game. During my play through, I did not see any noticeable glitches or problems with the graphics. However, when you zoom in as far as the app will let you (which is not very far), the graphics do get a little grainy.
Modern War is completely free which is a great value, and is better than some other paid games in this genre. If you are impatient, you can spend in-app purchase money on bags of cash and gold, just the same way as you did in Crime City. Modern War is a game you can play for weeks, if not months, on end, join forces with other users while you build an empire. Modern War is a universal app download and works on both the iPhone/iPod touch and the iPad.

Download Modern War at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Funzio, Inc

Version: 1.2.6

Size: 18.83 MB

Mail Enhancer

Mail Enhancer is a jailbreak hack app that adds a wide array of features to the iPhone Mail application. Developed by Stefan Mollenkamp, the Mail Enhancer mod requires iOS 4.0, and it recently added support for 5.0. Although iOS 5.0 includes many of the Mail features and tweaks users had clamored for, Mail is still one of the most lacking areas of the platform, and Mail Enhancer upgrades the experience considerably.
Available in the Cydia Store as an iPod touch and iPhone app, Mail Enhancer’s greatest strengths are HTML support, highlighting, signatures and custom notifications. It even has quite hours for those notifications. That allows you to prevent unimportant email from disturbing you, but you can flag senders with VIP status so that Mail Enhancer notifies you regardless.

The Mail Enhancer app is also extremely versatile. For instance, you can have an array of custom signatures. One of those signatures can be the default, which Mail Enhancer will add to the end of every composed e-mail without user interaction. You can also dictate signatures for specific recipients. This way, business associates get a different signature than Mom and she gets a different signature than your friends do. You can also add signatures to emails manually.
As for ease of use, that’s a bit of mixed bag. The application has a setting for everything, and making any one change is not difficult at all. The one problem is that the sheer amount of app options is a bit overwhelming, and thanks to the tiered organization, you’ll find yourself doing a bit digging whenever you to need to change anything. You will use this hack a lot, so eventually you’ll get used to the organization of the settings, and then it’ll be a non-issue.

We prefer Mail in general on the iPad simply because there’s more area for reading and composing e-mail. However, Mail Enhancer isn’t any less effective as an iPod touch or iPhone app because it integrates seamlessly with the built-in Mail tool. This is the big reason why we prefer Mail Enhancer to some of the other jailbreak alternatives available on Cydia. In fact, it’s so seamless we often find ourselves groping for Mail Enhancer features on iPhones with the default iOS.
If you have a device that’s limited to iOS 4.0, then Mail Enhancer is a must-have program. If your device supports 5.0, then it’s not quite as necessary because 5.0 added notifications and other great features. Nevertheless, Mail Enhancer gives you much more control. You have notification banners, you can filter alerts and you can force them to the top of the stack. In other words, Mail Enhancer is a must-have for all power users.

Price: $4.99

Download Mail Enhancer from Cydia

Developer: Stefan Mollenkamp (stm)

Version: 2.5.1-1

Size: 0.37 MB

Orchestra To-do review

Orchestra ToDo for iPhone combines voice recognition, hashtags, and email to create an incredibly useful and agile to-do list app. There is a small learning curve to get the most out of this app, but in short time, it will become the first thing you check before you get out of bed in the morning.
You can access Orchestra ToDo online at orchestra.com and on your iPhone. It automatically syncs any changes or modifications swiftly, so you will not miss a moment or an item on your to-do list. You can sign up for the app at orchestra.com or via the iPhone app. The welcome screen for the iPhone app touts all of the fantastic features of the app including voice recognition, task sharing with folks without an orchestra.com account, and turning emails into tasks. As I started to follow the prompts to enter my first task, I thought the features were great. But, there was still a missing piece. I couldn’t maximize all of the features, until I checked my inbox for the welcome email. And, wow, that was an incredibly well-crafted, helpful email. The developers at Orchestra Inc. articulated the highly customized features and capabilities concisely and clearly.

This is not an app to jump into feet first, if you want to use it to its fullest potential. And, let’s face it, staying on top of all of our daily tasks is not simple–work, kids, house, activities, responsibilities. And, usually, you’re sharing some responsibilities with others in your life. In the settings menu of the app, you create the types of list you need to maintain and who you would like to add to help you execute the tasks. Definitely, you should take time to think about how to best organize your tasks, since Orchestra ToDo’s iPhone app does allow you to customize.

You can add tasks four ways with the Orchestra ToDo iPhone app. First, you can simply hold down the plus button on the home screen to activate the voice recognition software. Second, you can add tasks within the app on your iPhone. Third, you can add tasks online at orchestra.com. Or, finally, you can transform your emails into tasks using hashtags and a handful of certain phrases to add them to your orchestra account straight from your inbox. Adding a task via email is super cool and amazingly useful. You forward your email task to tasks@orchestra.com. You can categorize and prioritize using specific codes set forth in your welcome email. Once you use the Orchestra ToDo iPhone app for a couple of days, the prompts will be stored in your brain’s long-term memory. If you collaborate with a spouse or a business partner, you can also share these tasks and update your Orchestra via the email functions as well.
The interface and functionality of the Orchestra iPhone app’s home screen is efficient and attractive. You can filter your tasks with a drop down menu and two touches on your screen. You can choose to see all lists or specific lists with a pull down menu. The pull down menus on Orchestra’s home screen are not only responsive, but also they are large enough that your touch on the screen is more accurate.

If you find your inbox filled with tasks and you constantly remember everything you have forgotten to do on the go, then Orchestra ToDo’s iPhone app will be your best friend.

Download Orchestra To-do at iTunes App Store

Price: Free

Developer: Orchestra, Inc.

Version: 0.9.81

Size: 14.53 MB