Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Stranglehold has been a big property for Midway that they have been touting since late 2005. The new property brings together the game design of Midway, the directorial talents of John Woo and the acting of Chow Yun Fat to create a Hong Kong action movie experience on the PC, 360 and PS3 starting in August. The Midway guys were nice enough to invite us in to check out their new game as it is nearing release.

First off, I got a chance to play the game on the PC and the first thing that was pointed out to me is that the controls can be used by either the mouse/keyboard or a gamepad. This way, the experience is customized for both styles of play. Normally I am a mouse/keyboard guy, but I wanted to see how the 360 Controller for Windows worked with the game and if things like aiming could be done easier with the controller.

The game starts me off working my way through a marketplace that had tons of bad guys that would become cannon fodder. As I walked into the market place, guys start coming out of doors all around the marketplace. The control of Tequila in the game with the controller is easy to grasp. Move with the left stick while aiming with the right stick. The Right trigger shoots while the X button jumps. I did not get a chance to find out what the other buttons did.

In the marketplace, I start unloading bullets. As I get close to certain surfaces, I can use the jump button to activate special attacks. For instance, when I got near a countertop, pressing jump would have me sliding across the counter while the game would slow down into Tequila time. Everything slows down, but I can target like normal. As you make your kills more stylish, you get more Tequila time to use for these special moves.

At another point in the battle, I am confronted by three enemies that have surrounded me. This takes me into a mode called Standoff. The standoff plays out as a mini-game. You have to use the right stick to dodge bullets, while you shoot at the bad guys. You switch to the next bad guy when you kill the first attacker. Continue until you either win or lose the standoff.

The game was running really smooth on the PC. One of the worries I had was that the game would be a port of the 360 game, but it has been optimized and supports all the Games for Windows components, like widescreen resolutions and gamepad support. No mention of whether the game supports Games for Windows Live so I cannot tell you if there are achievements present or not. No one would spill the beans on it either. Look for it in August.