The G Spot: Your Go-to Destination for all Things Android Gaming

The upcoming summer months could be very exciting for Android gamers. Google Stadia, E3, and some long-awaited, big-name game releases have all been penciled into my calendar. One of these major game releases is Elder Scrolls: Blades. I’ve been singing the praises of this title for the last couple of months, so I felt that it was high time to do a quick play-test of the early access version.

Figure 1 - You will need a constant Internet connection for playing the early access version

Right out of the chute, this early access version of the game requires that you have an Internet connection. Even though the game is a fairly reasonable 120Mb download, the initial startup of the game will require another 880Mb download along with an additional 380Mb update! Furthermore, each time you start a gaming session, there is a lengthy delay while the version numbers of the updates are verified with the Bethesda servers.

Does all of this online access make Elder Scrolls: Blades a worthwhile gaming experience? That answer is a mixed bag. Granted, many of the visual effects are stunningly rendered and richly animated, but the actual game play leaves a lot to be desired.

Relying on a point-touch-move interactive exploration/navigation format, the similar combat actions in Elder Scrolls: Blades featuring a point-touch-stab attack mode seem amateurish and poorly developed. Coupled with the basic, wooden dialog voiced by various antagonists you encounter throughout the game, this early access version seem like a half-baked effort that isn’t even close to being ready for prime time.

Figure 2 - Not much of a threat here—eight pokes from my finger/sword will quickly dispatch ye

Ailment

In this free action title from BeardyBird Games, you are an astronaut who wakes up on a spaceship full of problems and inhabited by enemies. There is a whole rash of questions that you must answer. Why are they trying to kill you? Who are they? And, most importantly, where are you? Ailment is part puzzle-solving game and part epic shoot ‘em up combat game. The result is a game that includes hidden references to classic science fiction alongside the final goal of figuring out what happened on this spaceship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2inRVXYRNU

Figure 3 - You’ll be talking to yourself a LOT in Ailment. Image courtesy of BeardyBird Games.

Despotism 3K

Featuring a unique take on the Sim IV game concept, this release from Konfa Games is much more mature and much more fun(ny). Reduced to a new $3.49 purchase price, Despotism 3K offers an Artificial Intelligence (AI) master being who controls a throng of subservient humans to do its bidding. And many of these chores can be fatal. But pity not the humans or you’ll lose this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT3QJZ_mrJo

Cool Android Game Summer Picks

Asphalt 9: Legends – FREE Crashlands – $4.99 Riptide GTP Series – $2.99 Shadowgun Legends – FREE Elder Scrolls: Blades – FREE. PLEASE try before you buy this one.