Monster Galaxy Exile tops Android Games of the Week

This week didn't give us very many major releases, but through my endless hunting and sifting, I managed to find some solid titles for our list. Most notable is Monster Galaxy Exile, the follow up to this years popular monster battler. We've also got the latest in the Destroy Gunners series, a third-person space-themed shooter, an interactive novel, and the latest from Gamevil. Here are this week's top Android games.

Monster Galaxy Exile (Free)

The original Monster Exile from Gaia Interactive was a hugely successful Poke'mon-alike that was popular way before this latest trend towards monster battling we're seeing in mobile gaming. Well coincidentally, we now get the follow up to that game just as a wave of other Poke'mon-alikes hit Android, and it's great. You play the same tamer as the previous game, however you have been banished to a prison dimension by the last games villain, and all of your tamed monsters, called Moga, didn't go with you. So now it's time to start this tamer adventure thing all over again. It's a solid follow up and worth playing even if you're new to the series.

Destroy Gunners Z (Free)

While there have been many, many, many iterations on the Destroy Gunners intellectual property over the last couple years, they always seem to make incremental improvements that really stand out. This Gundam style (Not to be confused with Gangnam Style!) mech-battling game is packed with mech types, plus different kinds of weapons and equipment. Z introduces a new strategic territory capturing game-type, along with some much-requested social gaming components. For example, you can take your friends' mechs with you into missions as wingmen and even trade special parts. This series is a lot of fun, and thankfully, has become much less expensive over the years.

Star Warfare: Alien Invasion ($0.99)

This is the first Android title from Freyr Games. While they've released a great new runner on iOS, we get a port of this fairly well done third-person shooter. It's similar in style to Call of Minis - Zombies in terms of character proportions and general gameplay, though the visuals are just a smidgeon more realistic here, and there is a lot to do. You can play in the seven arena maps and the 42 levels by yourself or online in co-op mode. There are a lot of guns and armor suits to unlock, too. Sadly, this Android port has been rather buggy so far, but nothing too bad.

Choice of the Star Captain ($2.99)

For those not in the know, Choice of Games is a highly specialized and almost gimmicky game developer, always releasing interactive novels along the lines of Choice of Zombies, Choice of the Vampire, or Choice of the Dragon. This latest game takes that concept and zaps it with a sci-fi twist. The games have varied in quality and price points, but one thing has always remained consistent. The actual writing has always remained clever and engaging, and while this is the least game-like game on this list, it's still worth playing if you like a good story with some fun choices.

Fantasy War (Free)

This is the latest freemium affair from Gamevil. It's a big-time battle RPG not too dissimilar from the various monster battlers we've been seeing. You can choose from three main factions, being the humans, elves and orcs/goblins. After choosing your side, you can build your forces up in the story-based conquest mode, and also enjoy some solid dungeon crawls in dungeon mode. You can also take on enemy players and plunder their goods, which is always fun. The art, music and such are all pretty well done, but some devices are seeing some really nasty bugs, and the gameplay itself is really not very engaging.