The Xbox Red Stripe Deal of the Week doesn’t update until Thursday, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find a new Xbox Windows Phone deal today. The good folks at Gameloft are running a little sale of their own, with almost every single one of their titles marked down in price. The best deals of the bunch have to be The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises for three bucks apiece - those games only came out in March!
Full list with descriptions and store links after the break.
The Amazing Spider-Man (Windows Phone 8 devices with 1 GB RAM)
Regular price: $6.99 Sale price: $2.99 Download size: 542 MB Store Link - Review
The Gameloft sale starts out with a bang thanks to this very good licensed game. Based on the underrated Andrew Garfield film of the same name, Amazing Spider-Man is an open-world action game. Players can web sling or run across a fairly large city, fighting random thugs and taking on little side missions. Or run through the story and try to thwart the Lizard’s evil plans.
Amazing Spider-Man has just two problems. The frame rate is less than ideal. I still found it perfectly playable, but some players won’t care for it. Also, the game suffers from two broken Achievements. Sadly, Gameloft rarely fixes Achievements, so I’ll be mentioning this same issue in several other games’ descriptions.
Asphalt 5 (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 110 MB Store Link
Before Gameloft graced Windows Phone 8 with the stellar Asphalt 7, they published a good port of the less amazing fifth game in the Asphalt series. It was actually supposed to be a launch title but came out almost two years later in July 2012.
Actually, Asphalt 5 looks and plays very well for a Windows Phone 7 racing game. My only complaint is some of the race types are difficult to figure out, which can eventually prevent players from progressing in the game. Asphalt 7 thankfully dropped those problematic race types.
Assassin’s Creed (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 139 MB Store Link
This might be the single most frequently discounted Xbox Windows Phone game. Does anybody not own it yet?
Assassin’s Creed is a 3D platformer/action title set in the middle ages. With great graphics and full voice acting (though the acting is atrocious), it feels like a DS game squeezed into a mobile title (‘cause it is). The controls are fiddly and the platforming can be frustrating, but the story and action mostly make up for it. Easy Achievements too.
Brain Challenge (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 112 MB Store Link
Brain Challenge is a collection of brain-teasing minigames that you should be wary of. It sports an amazing five Broken Achievements – the most of any Xbox Windows Phone game. Seriously, Brain Challenge is buggier than an entomologist's laboratory. Skip this and get the superior XBLA version instead.
The Dark Knight Rises (Windows Phone 8 devices with 1GB RAM)
Regular price: $6.99 Sale price: $2.99 Download size: 774 MB Store Link
Want an open-world action game for your phone that doesn’t have any broken Achievements? Dark Knight Rises fits the bill. Some of the Achievements are difficult to actually figure out, but they are all attainable.
As for the game itself, it looks and plays much like Amazing Spider-Man. You can take on the story missions following the film’s plot or run around doing random missions. Batman doesn’t web sling, but he does get to drive vehicles. As long as your phone can run the game and you don’t mind the frame rate, Dark Knight Rises is a must-buy.
Let’s Golf 2 (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 170 MB Store Link - Review
Let’s Golf 2 is an arcade-style golf game modeled after Sony’s popular Hot Shots Golf franchise. Features include cartoony players, clean 3D graphics, six 18-hole courses, and both Career and Challenge modes.
Initially Let’s Golf 2 launched with two broken Achievements, though a subsequent patch fixed one of them. Unfortunately, the ‘Secret Code’ Achievement remains unattainable by design. That’s right, the Achievement’s requirement of inputting a special code in order to unlock the ninth golfer is simply impossible in the Windows Phone version of the game. Still, if you can overlook that blunder, Let’s Golf 2 remains a lengthy and fun title.
The Oregon Trail (Windows Phone 7 only)
Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 59 MB Store Link
Oregon Trail was not compatible with Windows Phone 8 initially. Then in December we reported that it became available for WP8 again. Unfortunately, the WP8 compatibility appears to have been a mistake on Microsoft’s part. The game is only available on WP7 once again. Too bad, ‘cause I’d totally buy it at this price.
The Oregon Trail is an edutainment title, focusing on the emigrant trail used by thousands of American settlers to travel from the Missouri River to Oregon during the 1800s. It features a lively cartoonish art style and several minigames. Plus you get to die of dysentery! The Achievements are mostly easy, but one is semi-glitched. Make sure you follow the instructions in this Achievement Guide to unlock it.
Real Soccer (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 40 MB US Store Link - International Store Link
Like Asphalt 5, Real Soccer was supposed to be a launch title but came out super late – September 2012 in this case. And unlike Real Soccer 2013, this entry is a traditional soccer game unmarred by an overly greedy freemium pricing model. Buy it and play as much as you want.
The Achievements from the US and international versions even stack, so players who buy both versions can earn them all twice. BUT both versions suffer from an Achievement that is impossible by design. ‘Man of the Match’ is tied to a mode not found in the WP game.
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Windows Phone 7 only)
Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 160 MB Store Link - Review
Conviction is a port of the excellent Xbox 360 game, sharing the same premise and much of the fully voiced story. Series protagonist Sam Fisher must investigate the death of his daughter and eventually save the president of the United States from terrorists.
The level designs are different from the console version, but this one still plays like a Splinter Cell game with lots of sneaking around and killing enemies from the shadows. Despite the rudimentary 3D graphics and a few annoying difficulty spikes, Splinter Cell is a fun and easy 200 GamerScore overall. Too bad it doesn’t run on Windows Phone 8 though.
UNO (Windows Phone 7 or 8)
Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 59 MB Store Link
Nobody NEEDS a single-player Uno game, and in fact Gameloft still has the multiplayer Uno & Friends in the works for Windows Phone 8. But there is one very good reason to buy this early Windows Phone release: easy Achievements! Seriously, you can get them all in just an hour or so. Given the simplistic core gameplay, I doubt it will keep anybody busy beyond that.
