Among the giants in the mobile gaming arena, there are a few that stand out as being top-notch and well ahead of the multitudes of smaller developers that create content for the Android. Specifically, one of the best I have looked into is the company known as “Glu”, with a stylized lowercase G as their mascot. Their games, as you will see in this article, are some of the absolute best available as far as graphics, sound, and control are concerned. The three titles discussed here: Blood and Glory, Bombshells (Hell’s Belles), and Big Time Gangsta.
While Glu may not offer a lot of ‘outside the box’ innovations in Android gaming, they do refine and polish the concepts that have been around for a while into some of the most enjoyable and least frustrating games on the Android market, all without charging you a single mandatory dime. Bear in mind, as well, that most of their games also do have the F2P model where you can purchase extra content (better weapons, for instance) at a real cash price in a micro transaction. None of them are required, however, and there are numerous ways to get these ‘Glu coins’ for free, as well.
For the purpose of this lengthy look into mobile gaming, I’ve chosen three games from Glu that I feel best exemplify their high quality standards, as well as showcase the variety of interests they offer. These games are, in no particular order: Blood & Glory, Bombshells (Hell’s Belles) and Big Time Gangsta. I’ll take a brief look at each of them here and hopefully you’ll find something that whets your appetite for more from this company that I consider to be so great.
Blood and Glory
This one is an arena style fighting game that has two available versions; one with gore and one without (identical other than that) gore. The gameplay is pretty simple in concept but can become frantic and quite pulse pounding as you progress to bigger, badder opponents. You’ve got options as you go along to upgrade your armor, shield, weapon etc. as well as buying special things like potions. The actual fighting in the game is accomplished through a combination of taps, swipes and holds on the screen that are amazingly intuitive and quite easy to get the hang of quickly. The graphics in both versions are stellar and the sound is quite gratifying, with gore sounds and crowd sounds galore. Best of all, once you ‘complete’ this game you can compete online and there’s even a sequel out now, with even more of everything you will love about the first one!
Bombshells (Hell’s Belles)
Combines the concepts of fast dogfights, strafing runs, and cute cartoon chicks into one great game. The controls are based on the accelerometer in your phone so if you have an older model that doesn’t have one, this one won’t be for you. The game features tons of cool looking planes that you can fly, upgrading their weapons as you go along in mission based progression, beating up air pirates and evil armies alike. The sound is particularly good in this game, with a cool theme song and background music very reminiscent of Kenny Loggins’ song “Danger Zone” (used in the movie Top Gun) and the action is both fast-paced and well balanced. Both this game and Blood and Glory are modular enough in their play styles that they are easy to pick up and play for a little while and progress a bit before putting it down and going back to work or whatever other task you were shirking.
Big Time Gangsta
Is more of a strategy type game, and those familiar with the various gang-war games on Facebook will find familiar footing in this title. The graphics are quite good, considering that they are on a smaller screen than a PC or console, with the minute details being well rendered including things like tiny little bums warming themselves at a tiny burning barrel in the slums you will fight to control. As with the other Glu games mentioned here, there are options to upgrade your gang members and their equipment through both hard work or (the faster way) micro transactions. Personally I found it to be more gratifying to not pay anything and to get upgrades through hard work. The combat in this one is particularly well done, with the control being very simple but still exciting enough to keep you interested through a fire fight.
All three of these games are excellent examples of the quality you can expect from Glu and all of them are available for download to your Android from the Google Play store. I’d recommend them to anyone who is looking for a slightly better grade of gaming goodness on their mobile, and I do continue to play them myself. Each of them also has some online options to compare your scores and levels with others in leaderboards but that’s also optional rather than mandatory. So, if you’re looking for some new entertainment on your Android give these or any other Glu game a try, you won’t be disappointed. Until next time, my friends!