Like most Gameloft games, it's easy to find games to compare Dungeon Hunter to. It definitely has a strong scent of Diablo to it, but the graphics seem straight out of the Microsoft PC game, Dungeon Siege. Regardless of what comparisons you make, Dungeon Hunter seems like a solid hack and slash that I could see myself spending a embarrassing amount of time playing.
On-screen controls once again are utilized, with a virtual D-Pad controlling movement and a series of buttons that handle your attacks and magic. Three classes are included that each have slightly different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. Dungeon Hunter plays a lot like Pixel Mines' Underworlds, in 3D, and could potentially have quite a bit of replay value as you play through the game as a knight, then a rogue, and finally as a mage. Also, along the way you will collect different fairies that assist you on your adventures, each providing a different offensive and/or defensive bonuses.
I was able to spend about 15 minutes playing Dungeon Hunter, which obviously is nowhere near the amount of time needed to even begin to sink your teeth into an RPG.
The story starts with the full motion video trailer we posted earlier, and your character waking up in his tomb. Where do you go from there? I'm not entirely sure, but it involves slaying countless evil minions, stuffing your pockets with gold, and customizing your character with the impressive equipment and skill system of which I was only barely able to experience the tip of the iceberg.
The following video is being played on a 2nd generation iPod Touch showing the first few minutes of the game:
Following that, you eventually exit the tomb, make your way to a nearby village, receive a quest, and head back down for more hacking, slashing, and most importantly, loot collecting. Gameloft has proven themselves as extremely capable of taking a game concept, adapting it to the iPhone, and making it work. I can't yet say if Dungeon Hunter is going to have the same timeless charm of the Diablo series (which I played for years) but I love what I've seen so far, and can't wait to play more.
The first title of the day is Gameloft's Blades of Fury, a game quite obviously inspired by Soul Calibur. Like most Gameloft games, while the concept isn't original, the gameplay is solid.
Blades of Fury has on-screen controls with a virtual D-Pad and array of buttons that cover two different kinds of attacks, blocking, and a special move usable when your power bar fills up. In my brief time with the game, I found the controls to be adequate to beat the first few opponents, although I could definitely see the lack of tactile feedback that comes from a real gamepad or arcade stick becoming an issue as the difficulty in the game ramps up.
The single player story mode is just as silly as most fighting games, told through a few sentences between matches. Since no one that I know plays fighting games for intense plot and character development, I wouldn't think this would be an issue for too many people. Also included is a standard arcade mode where you quickly just fight another opponent along with a survival and practice mode.
The graphics of the game are absolutely amazing. The test unit shown in the following gameplay video is a 2nd generation iPod Touch. As you can see, the framerate is great, the visuals are top notch, and Blades of Fury will easily join the ranks of games you will find yourself saying "This is running on my phone?" while playing.
I didn't have enough time with Blades of Fury to form much of an opinion on the game, but what I've seen so far has been fun to play and impressive to watch. I can't wait to see how it runs on my iPhone 3GS.
Blades of Fury is due to be released sometime this month.
I arrived in beautiful Seattle this morning, and after a somewhat expected rental car fiasco I've since spent my time wandering the floor, meeting with video game companies, and overall being completely immersed in PAX.
The really cool thing about PAX that seems significantly different from other events I've been to is that while there may be a lot of gaming conventions, PAX definitely feels like a gamer convention. The floor is flooded in people dressed in costumes playing soon to be released games. The hallways are packed with people playing various handhelds and I've spotted a silly amount of iDevices in use. Every table is littered with gamers surrounding board games, dice being tossed in Dungeons & Dragons games, and others playing card games like Magic: The Gathering.
We're not sure how much iPhone-specific content there will be, but the first flood of content coming soon is courtesy of Gameloft. If you're an iPhone developer at PAX, feel free to contact us. We will also be attending GDC Austin later this month.
We mentioned this in our previous sales update, but Firemint's Real Racing has now dropped its price from $9.99 to $6.99 and is expected to remain there for this weekend only.
Real Racing is considered one of the most technically impressive racing games on the iPhone. We reviewed it back in June and loved the great controls, intelligent AI, and its technical achievements.
The game has since been updated with 6-player local Wi-Fi multiplayer, new cars, new career modes, and control options.
Here are a couple of recently released games that might appeal to a specific audience niche:
RC Heli
RC Helicoptor fans may want to consider RC Heli which just came out yesterday. Multi-touch controls to control your helicopter around a house. The game offers free fly mode, race mode, and 3 camera views. Early reactions in our forums.
Described to be the strongest chess program on Palm and Pocket PC devices, it's also said to be the only handheld chess program in the world which has won Grandmaster tournaments. Serious chess gamers looking for a challenge will certainly want to consider this option.
The game is also said to be suitable for beginners as well, and includes adjustable playing levels, hints, and more.
In our discussion thread there is some debate about the strongest chess application for the iPhone, and it seems the free Glaurung Chess [Free] is a solid option as well. One blogger is going through the trouble of pitting iPhone chess programs against each other. His first round between HIARCS vs Glaurung, gave HIARCS the advantage.
Here are a few interesting sales over the past couple of days:
Silent Hill: The Escape ($7.99 -> $0.99) - Konami's first person shooting game set in a creepy environment has seen a massive price drop from $7.99 to $0.99. So, if you've been curious about this title, now's a good time to try it.
Resident Evil 4 ($7.99 -> $2.99) - The mobile edition of Resident Evil 4. There was some very split opinions between those who loved the game and those who felt it paled in comparison to the original console version. Regardless of your position, a $5 price drop certainly makes it easier to pick up.
Dirt Moto Racing ($4.99 -> $0.99) - A solid off-road racer that's easily worth $0.99.
Crash Bandicoot ($5.99 -> $2.99) - One of the original kart racers for the iPhone, it seems they are starting to feel the pressure with Konami's Krazy Kart Racing and the upcoming Shrek Kart.
And, we've heard of one major game that will be holding a sale soon. Firemint's Real Racing [App Store] will see its first sale this weekend dropping from $9.99 to $6.99 temporarily. The sale should be live by Saturday morning, so keep that in mind if you've been holding out.
Self Aware Games recently released their free online multiplayer word game Word Ace [Free] into the App Store.
For those familiar withe Texas Hold'em Poker, the game carries the same basic structure with 5 community cards and 2 hole cards, but instead of traditional playing cards, you get dealt letters. Using the letters you have in your hand combined with the community cards, you try to form your highest scoring word. Like Hold'em, each round involves betting based on the strength of your hand or if you think you can just bluff someone off their hand. It's a nice concept and works out quite well.
The game is available for both the Palm Pre and iPhone/iPod Touch with the ability to play against others across platforms.
The developer video is being demoed on a Palm Pre, but the iPhone version plays the same:
Tournament game structure is said to be in the works as well as a Pro version that is meant to help support the developers. Self Aware has said that the free version remains fully featured:
The main thing, though, is that the game's free. Word Ace has ALL the content of Word Ace Pro EXCEPT In-App purchases, which are forbidden by Apple for free apps. WAP is for you if you want more chips, or if you simply want to help support the game's continued development! But if you don't want to pay, Word Ace (the free version) is a complete game, and you can play as much as you like.
Our forum thread has ongoing discussion with developer participation.
The game appears to be Soul Calibur inspired. Here are some screenshots from MyApple.pl:
According to the site, the game offers:
- 10 Unique Characters, each with their own weapons and fighting style
- 10 different arenas
- 4 game modes: Story, Arcade, Survival, Practice
- Multiplayer mode via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
- 2 Control methods
Fresh off the release of Modern Combat, Gameloft has released a gameplay trailer for their upcoming role playing game Dungeon Hunter. While the cinematic preview was nice, it revealed nothing of the gameplay.
The new video shows gameplay, class selection, equipment upgrades, and more:
Back when rumblings of the iPhone hadn't even crossed the minds of Apple rumor hounds I rocked various cell phones and always knew Gameloft as "that company with lots of brick breaking games for all kinds of different phones". With the advent of the iPhone, the debut of the App Store, and Gameloft's first entries into said uncharted digital territory, I half expected this mental image of mine to persist. It is amazing to me that in the span of barely over a year Gameloft went from simple solitaire and match three games to providing us with one of the most immersive first person shooter experiences on the iPhone to date.
Modern Combat: Sandstorm [App Store] is by far one of the most impressive gaming experiences I've seen on the App Store, and easily is able to hold its own when compared to the technical accomplishments of other remarkable efforts in pushing the iPhone to its limits like Real Racing, Doom Resurrection, and others. Featuring multiple full motion video cut scenes all of standard Gameloft quality, complete in-game voice overs, impressive AI, top notch graphics, fluid frame rates, and controls that even surprised this skeptic of virtual analog sticks.
The game begins like a lot of console first person shooters where you're put through a "basic training" of sorts that gradually teaches you the different controls, weapons, and techniques of the game while making you feel like you're playing a game instead of a tutorial. The default control scheme works quite well, a virtual joystick is in the bottom corner that controls your movement, and swiping anywhere on the screen controls your view. In the bottom right corner is a button to fire, and whenever you can do context sensitive things like jump off a ledge or toss a grenade back at an enemy another button appears in the bottom center of the screen.
Framing the rest of the screen are buttons that allow you to crouch, zoom in to aim through the sights of your gun, throw grenades, change or reload weapons, and pause the game. Other control options include splitting the screen in half, touching the left side of the screen controls your movement and the right controls your view. Tapping on the right side of the screen also fires. You can also use dual analog sticks, then tap anywhere on the screen to fire. The sensitivity can be tweaked and the Y-axis can be inverted regardless of which option you choose.
If you follow Touch Arcade, you probably know by now that I'm generally not a fan of on-screen virtual controls. They usually feel clunky and often lack the precision required in a lot of games that come with them. It's completely refreshing, and honestly a little surprising how much Gameloft managed to nail the controls of Sandstorm. It's great to just be able to say the game is fun to play without the qualifier "...as best as can be expected with on-screen controls".
Sandstorm features the same generous auto-aiming system that appears in other Gameloft shooters. If this assistance grinds your gears, you will be happy to know that there's an advanced options screen where you can toggle it on and off along with the in-game blood, lefty mode, and screen flip.
The plot of Sandstorm won't be winning any awards for originality, as it's a fairly cookie cutter premise centralized around conflicts in the middle east, evil terrorists, and the trials and tribulations of your military squad as you fight your way through the various bands of enemy combatants standing between you and the various objectives. The story gets the job done, and your squad, complete with total voice-overs for all dialog really adds to the overall immersion of the game.
Official trailer:
One clever thing Gameloft did with voice-overs is the way the mission briefings work. Between each level, you're given an overview of the situation your squad is in, the objectives, and your rules of engagement that are all wonderfully narrated. As you're listening to the briefing of the upcoming mission, the next level is loading behind the scenes. When the narration is finished, you hit next and play the level. These sneaky loading screens make the game feel as if it almost has no load times at all.
The AI in Sandstorm is fairly challenging, with enemies often taking cover, advancing when you take cover, manning nearby stationary machine guns, and even tossing grenades. This really goes a long way in making Sandstorm actually feel like a game where you need to be intelligent about cover and which enemies you shoot first, as opposed to most first person shooters on the iPhone that feel a bit like a shooting gallery where you can basically just run and gun your way through most levels without much risk. If you decide to just run out in to the open, guns-a-blazin' in Sandstorm, you will quickly die.
Gameloft games are rarely very innovative, and Sandstorm is no different. If it came with the Call of Duty brand name plastered on it, you would be hard time knowing it was developed by Gameloft instead of Infinity Ward, makers of the Call of Duty series. Everything is extremely similar from the objective system to the arrow pointing you where to go next to the regenerative health system where all you need to do is seek cover for a few seconds to regain your strength to avoid dying. I don't really think this is a bad thing, because the Call of Duty series consists of excellent games, and Gameloft has really done the series justice in this highly inspired spin-off.
Included in the initial launch version of Sandstorm are 10 levels, and I've been averaging anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes per level as I make my way through the game on normal difficulty. Each level comes with a variety of checkpoints so if you die you never lose too much progress. What is quite confusing to me is that the game apparently only saves your progress as you complete levels. If you're 10 minutes into a mission and have passed multiple checkpoints, quitting the game to take a phone call or answer a text message forces you to start back at the beginning. This seems like a big oversight to me, and I hope that this would be fixed in an update.
Speaking of updates, Gameloft has promised a free future update to add online multiplayer to Sandstorm. We don't have any more details than that currently, but the game does give me some serious Counter-Strike 1.6 vibes. I have no doubt it would makes the dreams of countless gamers come true if the upcoming multiplayer update included squad-based objectives instead of simple deathmatch. After all, they've already practically got the texture and model set required for a fairly accurate reproduction of the Counter-Strike map de_dust in game already!
Hands on gameplay video (on easy, and with multiple takes):
Modern Combat: Sandstorm is an excellent game that raises the bar of what is to be expected of future first person shooters on the iPhone, as well as being added to the short list of games with fantastic on-screen controls. The three included difficulty levels should provide a fun experience for first person shooter veterans and newcomers alike, and while I'm not entirely sure how much replay value the game has, there is massive potential in the future multiplayer update.
If you're at all interested in shooters, or are just looking for a great game to flex the muscles of your iPhone, look no further than Modern Combat: Sandstorm.
Konami has finally released Krazy Kart [$7.99] in the U.S. tonight. The game was originally launched internationally just last week. The initial impressions were favorable but with some more mixed reviews as people spent more time with the title. Most seem to agree that it doesn't quite capture the magic of Mario Kart, but we're not even sure if that's a realistic measure of comparison.
Krazy Kart Racers features a slightly obscure cast of Konami characters such as Sparkster (from the SNES game of the same name), Robbie Rabbit (the mascot from an amusement park found in Silent Hill), and the frog from Frogger along with seven others. The controls work well and feature both tilt steering and touch controls. Acceleration is handled automatically, and there are virtual buttons on screen to brake and use whatever power-up you've managed to pick up.
16 tracks are included, based on themes of the games the characters are from. For instance, Power Stadium is a baseball diamond shaped track to go along with the baseball player racer from Power Touch Pros and there's a Antarctic themed track to go with the penguin racer from Penguin Adventure. These tracks can be played in grand prix, time attack, and free run modes as well as with friends or random people online in the included internet multiplayer modes.
Perhaps the most disappointing reports, however, from the early international adopters are the buggy multiplayer options and a lack of competitors to play against. However, since the majority of App Store downloads seem to come from the U.S., the selection of players should improve substantially with the U.S. release. The buggy and crash-prone online interface is unfortunate as online multiplayer is Krazy Kart's distinguishing feature from other App Store kart racers. With the U.S. release, we will continue testing to see how this influx of users affects game finding and online play.
Strangely the U.S. release is only compatible with iPhone, and not iPod Touch. While likely a mistake on Konami's part, one you should be aware of. Konami has addressed this issue and it is now compatible with both iPhone and iPod Touch.
Gameloft's much anticipated first person shooter Modern Combat [$6.99] has arrived in the App Store.
Modern Combat: Sandstorm, Gameloft’s new action-thriller will plunge you into the heart of modern war. Assigned to Mission Sandstorm, your duty is to locate and annihilate a new terrorist cell setting up shop and recruiting foreign insurgents in a remote desert hot spot. This jarring first person shooter will equip you with the most sophisticated and powerful modern day weapons.
The developer description includes:
10 missions featuring varied and highly polished Middle Eastern environments (city, hospital, sewers, port, lab, training camp etc...)
Intuitive iPhone controls offer unprecedented game fluidity. Choose among 3 different control systems: Default Controls, Screen Tap and Virtual Sticks
Use a wide range of authentic, advanced weapons (2 assault rifles, sniper rifle, RPG, shotgun, submachine gun, light machine gun, heavy machine gun mounted on a moving 4X4, explosive grenades, flashbang grenades, radiation detector) enriched with a leveling system that allows the player to progressively unlock weapons and use munitions from fallen foes
Aim and shoot with extra precision in Sniper and Ironsight mode
Highly polished 3D graphics provide full immersion into the military experience and high intensity combat
Cinematic snippets, military voice-overs and true-to-life situations increase game realism
First impressions and gameplay video coming shortly. Early raw impressions are being collected in our forums.
There is by no means any kind of shortage of tower defense games for the iPhone, and for a good reason. The genre works great with the touch screen controls, and most of the games are fantastic for playing for a few minutes at a time on the go. We've recently got word of two new contenders throwing their hat in to the tower defense ring:
Bloons Tower Defense - Playing on the success of the balloon popping game Bloons [99¢ / Free], Digital Goldfish recently released this trailer for their tower defense spinoff game. Similar to Bloons, Bloons Tower Defense also started as a popular flash game. Will Bloons Tower Defense see the same positioning on the App Store top ten as Bloons did? It's hard to say, but if they can recruit the army of Bloons players in to being tower defense junkies, they will really be on to something.
Moonlight Minions - Another 2D tower defense game with a few unique twists and a very nice art style. Each monster in game has their own abilities such as being able to teleport, spawn hatchlings, or even go in to stealth mode. To cope with these abilities, in addition to the array of towers there's also a bar along the bottom with three different powers you can use. The lightning bolt does heavy damage to a single target and stuns nearby monsters, the earthquake briefly stuns all the monsters when you shake the iPhone, and there's even a meteor shower that does periodic area effect damage. Also included are two different boss types which also have their own powers too.
Both Bloons Tower Defense and Moonlight Minions are coming soon.
Here are a few items of interest from the past week.
Puzzle Bobble (International Link) has finally arrived for customers outside of the U.S. Known as Bust a Move in the U.S and is a solid port of the classic title.
geoDefense Swarmwas rejected and has been resubmitted. Swarm is the open-field followup to the popular geoDefense tower defense game. We took an early look at the game back in August.
NaturalMotion announced their upcoming football game, Backbreaker Football: Tackle Alley a few days ago. They provided us a few screenshots that many were skeptical were even actually taken on an iPhone, insisting that they must have been prerendered. We received visual confirmation this morning that all of these screenshots are in fact real with the following trailer:
Backbreaker Football runs on top of the "morpheme" engine which boasts the ability to "produce animation of a quality not seen before on the iPhone and iPod Touch providing the on-screen characters with a fluidity of motion rivaling that experienced on home consoles." Likening the animations to home consoles might be a lofty comparison, but the way players are moving in the trailer certainly does look much more natural than most of the other sports games on the App Store.
Backbreaker Football is not a full football game, and instead is just a game of running down field and avoiding waves of defenders by sprinting, dodging, and spinning to rack up combos and score multipliers. Backbreaker Football is due to be released soon, and we will post more information as we receive it.
Like most Gameloft games, it's easy to find games to compare Dungeon Hunter to. It definitely has a strong scent of Diablo to it, but the graphics seem straight out of the Microsoft PC game, Dungeon Siege. Regardless of what comparisons you make, Dungeon Hunter seems like a solid hack and slash that I could see myself spending a embarrassing amount of time playing.
I arrived in beautiful Seattle this morning, and after a somewhat expected rental car fiasco I've since spent my time wandering the floor, meeting with video game companies, and overall being completely immersed in 
