Mafia Wars meets CityVille (sort of) with Urban Warfare on Facebook

Enjoying CityVille, but in search of more competition? Well, Blue Shell Games' first effort on Facebook hopes to bring social gamers the best of both worlds with Urban Warfare. With both city-building elements and Mafia Wars-style battles with friends, Urban Warfare is a jack-of-all-trades of sorts, allowing players to both maintain a sprawling town while defending it from invaders. However, this game is certainly not without its flaws. In fact, it has those in spades.

Take a look behind the break to get a detailed look at whether this game might interest you (but probably not).
Urban Warfare Battles
Urban Warfare throws players into a war-torn world where every city is required to have a full-blown military to defend itself, which would be absolutely badass in most situations (fictional, of course). It's too bad that this game doesn't bring much in the fun department. Sure, Urban Warfare is functional, but that's about where development seems to have tapered off to a point. For instance, the image above is what every battle looks like. And that's it. (Well, aside from a blank loading screen that simply reads, "Battling!")

So, don't think you're preparing for full-scale war here. Battles operate almost exactly like those in Mafia Wars, but with less detailed artwork and it's the bland soldiers you train that decide the outcome rather than collected items. Not to mention that Battles can be repeated over and over again with no real benefit or penalty. You'll almost immediately catch on to the trick of finding a weak player pummeling him repeatedly to level up at lightning speeds (due to the lack of animation), but what's the point?

City building
Not much really, though in order to compete at later levels you'll need to build out your city with coin-generating businesses, residencies that boost your population and barracks to train more soldiers--all of which cost coins. The balance between generating coins and population via plopping buildings on the grid and training an army is simple enough. In fact, it's probably too simple. In my short time playing the game, there are really no perceivable setbacks aside from losing a Battle and the excruciatingly long time it takes to train soldiers.

Despite its many shortcomings, Urban Warfare does get a few things right. Take Quests, for example. While they've surely been done before, it's somewhat reassuring to know that Blue Shell at least realizes that these have essentially standard to guide players along in social games. Taking a cue from games like CityVille, players can visit their friends' cities to provide them with boosts to supplies. Alright, I'll admit it: that's all I can think up. For Pete's sake, the game allows players to pay coins for decorations that have no benefit whatsoever besides a sliver of XP. I can get more XP in an instant by pummeling Random Newbie #27.

The game offers a paid currency known as Reward Points (sound familiar?), but I would strongly recommend you not spend your hard-earned dollars on a game with little to no animation or interesting artwork and a gameplay dynamic that doesn't feel complete before really getting to know it. It's a shame too, because the initial premise is spot-on and has loads of potential for the next big social game, which Blue Shell deserves credit for. Unfortunately, it's in the execution that Urban Warfare goes AWOL.

Click here to play Urban Warfare on Facebook now>

Pocket God on Facebook spooks pygmies in 'Clash of the Frightened'

Well, not any more spooked than they are on a daily basis, really. We're not terribly sure why the first major update to Pocket God is titled "Episode 2: Clash of the Frightened," but we are sure of the changes it brings. Quebec-based Frima Studio brings plenty welcome changes like more solo quests for when the friends aren't around, the ability to pay for items and powers with either Pocket Change or Sacrifice Points (the game's two currencies) and the option to unlock Powers early with either currency.

The iPhone-turned-Facebook game is enjoying mild success with nearly 140 thousand monthly players and is one of the more gorgeous and inventive games I've seen on Facebook. Unfortunately, the update doesn't include my most wanted change: A completely Facebook-connected Pocket God iPhone app in vein of the FarmVille app.

There's always next time, but until then check out a full list of the exciting changes after the break.
Here's what you can expect in the first Pocket God update:

        Social Quests: Combine forces with your Facebook friends to compete with rival deities across the world! Team up and take down powerful foes with a host of your favorite powers.
        Taunt Your Friends: What could be better than having a shark bite the head of your boss, or frying your roommate to a crisp with a bolt of lightning? Why, rubbing it in their face afterward, of course! Tease the friends you have sacrificed with all-new power-themed taunts.
        Choose Your Currency: Upgrade your godly presence any way you want. Acquire new powers, powerful items and glorious idols with either Pocket Change or Sacrifice Points, the two forms of currency in the game.
        Unlock Powers Early: Can't wait to unlock exciting new powers and get the drop on your unsuspecting friends? Now you don't have to! For a little Pocket Change or Sacrifice Points, players can catch up to their friends in the game by unlocking powers early.
        New Idols: New idols to represent the rival gods
        More Solo Quests: Players have spoken and Frima has listened – five brand new quests, one of the most popular features in Pocket God, have been added with this update to give you plenty to stay busy!