EA announced an iOS version of the latest console release of their massively popular Battlefield franchise way back in August of last year. Since then, we've gone hands on with early preview versions of the game this past October and again the following month. At both events the game felt extremely early in development, and despite Battlefield 3 launching on consoles in late October, EA really didn't seem to have any idea when the iOS version would hit. And then today, pretty much out of nowhere, Battlefield 3: Aftershock [Free] popped up in the US App Store.

Unfortunately, early impressions of the game aren't pretty. Well actually that's not quite accurate, as the one thing that everyone can seem to agree on is that Battlefield 3: Aftershock's visuals are indeed quite pretty. However, it doesn't seem to contain any of the previously promised features or modes. There is no single player to speak of (only online multiplayer), no "Horde-like" wave mode, and there is a paltry 3 different weapons to choose from (4 if you count the knife).

I might not mind an online multiplayer only game, but so far the actual online performance is underwhelming. It takes forever to match with someone, and even when you do the match that follows lags to the point of it being completely unplayable. I'm almost certain this is just due to the game being new and there not really being a decent pool of people to play against yet, but what should I do while waiting for the lobbies to fill out? There's no single player component to speak of, and not even a local multiplayer option.

However, the most baffling thing about Aftershock is its pay model. The game is free and comes with the online multiplayer mode, and that's it. There does not seem to be anything more to buy in the game (yet at least), and there are ads in the menu screens which it does not appear you can pay to disable. Apparently the game is sponsored by 'Act of Valor' (you know, that movie that uses real Navy Seals as the stars) and if you watch an in-game trailer for it you can unlock an additional weapon.

So, that's really what I don't get about Battlefield 3: Aftershock. It feels strange that EA would relegate the mobile version of one of their biggest franchises to an advergame for an upcoming movie. The lack of modes makes it feel woefully incomplete, and all I can really think is that there's a ton of new content waiting in the wings to be released as future updates or in-app purchases. If not, then Battlefield 3: Aftershock stands as a considerable step down from 2010's Battlefield Bad Company 2 [$2.99/HD], which itself was fairly average.

Battlefield 3: Aftershock doesn't seem to be in international markets just yet, but if you're in the US you can give it a try for free if you're curious and can spare a few hundred MB of space, and be sure to leave your thoughts in the game's thread in our forums.

Star Warfare: Alien Invasion [99¢] is a first-person arena-shooter from Freyr Games, which features wave after wave of relentless attacking alien creatures. The aliens emerge from holes in the wall and from underground, or come flying, bounding or waddling straight towards you from all sides. And once you've shot them, the next wave arrives immediately. It's almost as if you don't even need to explore, as the aliens will come straight for you.

The single player campaign includes five maps, each with six levels of increasing difficulty to unlock (30 levels in total). A progress bar indicates how many of the enemies have spawned and if you survive to the end, your reward is currency to spend in an in-game store. The sixth level of each map is a "survival" level.

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TouchArcade Rating:

In early February of this year, we learned that a rogue developer named Daniel Blezek was spending his spare few minutes in-between a full time job and a full time family life toiling away at bringing Bungie's seminal FPS Marathon to Apple's iPad. The port was in progress at the time and looking great, but there was still a bit of uncertainty whether or not a release of Marathon would completely jive with some of the rules of App Store and the open source licensing of the codebase.

Then in June, Bungie sort of shocked everyone by announcing that they had picked up the project and would be officially supporting its release. Just a couple of weeks later, on Bungie Day no less, Marathon 1 [Free] launched for the iPad and we thought it was pretty dang awesome. Perhaps the best part was the choice of business model, as the entirety of Marathon 1 was available for free, with the ability to purchase hi-res assets or a cheat mode as optional IAP. While having the entire first entry in the Marathon trilogy literally at my fingertips was fantastic in its own right, we still couldn't help but wonder if the second and third entries in the series would make it to the App Store too.

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Did you love shooting galleries as a kid? Ever pretend that you were a Wild West sheriff? Have you ever rationalized killing hundreds of people by pretending that they’re just plywood target practice cutouts? If you answered yes to at least one of the above, you are going to love McGyro [99¢]!

McGyro is a first-person shooter that utilizes your device’s internal gyroscope to aim at bad guys. You play as Sheriff McGyro (originally leading me to hope that this was some kind of Blazing Saddles/MacGyver hybrid; alas, no), a small town Wild West law enforcement officer who can’t handle the idea of killing actual living things, so he envisions them as plywood cutouts instead. (Kind of like when people tell you to imagine the audience is naked before you give a speech, but with more murdering and less nudity.)

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TouchArcade Rating:

When Call of Duty: Zombies hit the iOS app store way back when we praised it for what was, at the time, a great adaptation of the console secondary game mode. Now, over two years later, the zombies have finally returned with Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies [$6.99], the first true sequel to iOS CoD Zombies (strange psuedo-sequel notwithstanding). While Black Ops Zombies does succeed in providing improved visuals and extra variety in the addition of the excellent Dead-Ops mode, a frustrating selection of controls, spotty multiplayer, and a very limited map selection on the onset may make some fans hesitant to purchase now.

For the uninitiated, Black Ops Zombies is a first person shooter zombie survival game based off of the survival mode found on some console versions of Call of Duty. Zombies is map-based, with each map typically featuring numerous rooms and weapons that must be unlocked in order to provide the player with better weapons and defense. There are some small secondary objectives, but the primary goal of each play through is to simply survive as long as you can. Zombies come at you in waves, and you earn money for each one you take down, giving you the currency needed to unlock everything. There are also power-ups, such as extra ammo or double currency, which can randomly drop from the slain undead.

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First there was Modern Combat: Sandstorm [$4.99 / HD] which we described as one of the most impressive gaming experiences on the App Store at that time.  Next came MC2: Black Pegasus [$6.99 / HD /  Free], which we called " A new standard in online multiplayer". Now, Gameloft has released their much anticipated third installment, MC3: Fallen Nation [$6.99], which although not revolutionary, is easily one of the best first-person shooters available for iOS devices.

This release is named "Fallen Nation" because America is under attack. The enemies are KPR (Korea, Pakistan and Russia), who have declared war on America and invaded US cities, reportedly destroying Chicago. Anyone familiar with the earlier games will find more of the same non-stop action in this military shooter, but Gameloft have extended their previous efforts to ensure this latest release is the best in the series.

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TouchArcade Rating:

The mobile division of Nexon Co. is readying an iOS version of their popular free-to-play online first-person shooter Combat Arms. Known as Combat Arms: Zombies, the title has been developed using Unreal Engine 3 and is based off of the zombie themed cooperative Fireteam Mode from the original game. There aren't many details regarding Combat Arms: Zombies at the moment, but Nexon Mobile hints that they are interested in supporting the game post-release until it almost equals the full scale of the original Combat Arms online game.

I've never played Combat Arms, but this Zombies edition sounds like a cooperative survival mode similar to the popular Call of Duty: Zombies [$4.99/HD] that's been a pretty big hit on iOS the past couple of years. The first trailer for the game looks pretty darn impressive, and although it doesn't appear to show any actual gameplay, it does seem that the entire video was rendered using an in-game engine.

Combat Arms: Zombies will first be unveiled in playable form at the G-Star 2011 expo in South Korea on November 10th. The release date is expected sometime shortly after, though nothing specific has been confirmed. We'll of course be keeping our eye out for Combat Arms: Zombies as it gets closer to release, and bring you any new information or media as we get it.

We sat down with EA at yesterday's Naughty or Nice games event in New York and had a look at a number of upcoming iOS titles, one of which should put a smile on the faces of all the real-world FPS fans out there. Coming this winter, for iOS only, is a spin-off of the imminent, big-news home console title Battlefield 3, entitled Battlefield 3 Aftershock, which we first covered back in August.

Battlefield 3 Aftershock is a single- and multi-player FPS that will feature a range of battlefield locations around globe. The early demo version I played with was set  in Iraq (only) and the additional play locations have not yet be revealed.

Single player mode, EA explained, is being built around powerful 3D visuals, great gameplay, ragdoll physics and a wave system of enemy attacks designed to provide the best mobile wargame possible -- with an emphasis on mobile. The combat system is built around incoming hordes of enemies -- 150 waves per map -- designed to deliver relentless FPS action that can, on the go, be played just one wave at a time in 3-4 minute sessions.

There are four different character classes with heavy weapons variation (over 50 in all) and a high degree of player customization options. The multi-player game is expected to support matches with up to 10 players and character experience gained in single-player mode will translate over to multi-player, allowing for solo build-sessions between matches.

Battlefield 3 Aftershock is controlled via two on-screen "sticks," movement on the left and aiming on the right. There is also an aim-assist button on the right that helps lock down targeting for those wanting a bit of help with the headshots. A few minutes of gameplay showed an impressive degree of detail and action on the demo iPad's screen. In this early build of the game, there's still room for some shader work, it seemed, but striking visuals are on EA's list of priorities for the final release, so I expect that will get tightened up before release. Even still, as is, it's one of the best looking iOS shooters I've seen.

Battlefield 3 Aftershock will arrive as a universal application (for iPhone and iPad) in late '11 or early '12 and will feature integration with EA's own Origin online network. You can count on a review of the title, closer in.

Remember WAAYYYYYY back, oh I don't know, like, 9 hours ago when we told you that the Unreal Engine powered first-person shooter Warm Gun was hitting the New Zealand App Store and slowly worming its way throughout the world? Well, those sentiments have just a bit more meaning now for those of us in the good ol' US of A as Warm Gun [$4.99] and its free spinoff Carnival of Bullets [Free] are now available in our little neck of the woods.

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We’ve been looking forward to Emotional Robots debut iOS release Warm Gun since we first caught wind of it way back in January of this year. Then this past July, the anticipation was kicked up a big ol' notch with the release of a proper trailer showcasing Warm Gun running on iOS hardware, and it was an impressive sight.

While the release of that trailer optimistically labeled August as the intended release window, that month promptly came and went with no sign of the game. Emotional Robots did however keep their promise of submitting the game before summer’s end, getting it sent off to Apple on September 22nd. Since then we’ve been waiting to hear of the game’s approval and a proper release date, and now we finally have that.

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Gameloft made a splash back in February when they announced that they were hopping on the Unreal Engine bandwagon. This summer it was revealed that March of Heroes would be their first Unreal-based game… And it'd be playable at E3. Naturally, we had our greasy hands all over it at E3, and we even took home some gameplay video:

This information comes courtesy of the Gameloft twitter account, mere moments ago:

With that out of the way, maybe it's the custom designed tin foil hat I'm wearing right now, but something seems a little fishy about this announcement. First off, Gameloft's Twitter is notoriously meticulous when it comes to capitalizing things, even to the point of capitalizing "GALAXY" in "Samsung GALAXY," using all the proper periods in "N.O.V.A." instead of just typing "NOVA" like the rest of the world, and more. Secondly, the link they're linking to is just their generic Facebook page which contains no information on the matter.

So is this a prank, hoax, publicity stunt, or a little of the three? Who knows. I was looking forward to Gameloft throwing their hat into the proverbial Unreal Engine ring, so this is a bit of a bummer if it's actually true.

Update: Well, it turns out my tinfoil hat was reading tea leaves again, something it really loves to do. Gameloft's Facebook was just updated with this snippet:

Hi everyone, we know we have a big community of FPS fans here... so we are very sorry to announce that we will not be releasing March of Heroes.

Our developers will be focusing on developing various awesome games in the months to come and working on making them even better. Fans of March of Heroes should definitely look forward to the powerful Modern Combat 3. We are however, not cancelling our work on the Unreal Engine! We are expecting to release these games starting 2012.

So, I suppose, now is the time for rampant speculation as to why it was cancelled instead of just released as-is. The version I saw at E3 seemed very complete.

Just when you thought you were safe from homicidal children’s program puppets, developer Twindigo has released a massive Episode 2 update for their twisted arena shooter Puppet War: FPS [99¢]. Just for a bit of backstory, Pupper War: FPS was released in June of last year, and we really liked it in our review. You played a janitor trapped inside the studio of a popular children’s show trying to fend off endless waves of puppets, who are normally the friendly stars of the show but have decided to turn against humanity.

What really made Puppet War: FPS so much fun was the juxtaposition of the sugary sweet characters and scenery set against such violent gameplay. The variety of weapons was also quite fantastic, featuring things like a mop and wrench that you’d expect a janitor to have handy, right on up to wackier items like a plunger crossbow and razor sharp katana sword. The gameplay itself was good too, featuring solid FPS controls and nearly endless replay value.

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IGN recently got their hands on Gameloft's upcoming modern military shooter Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation and aside from a new gameplay trailer, also have tons of details on the game itself. First off, you really need to watch this:

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Gameloft has had a recent track record of enjoyable titles (9mm [$6.99] and BackStab [$6.99] come to mind). Silent Ops [$6.99], the latest part-stealth, part-third-person shooter looked to extend Gameloft’s streak of decent titles that provide a good iOS alternative to a variety of genres usually reserved for console and PC gamers. Unfortunately, Silent Ops, with its generic story, poor presentation, and lacking gameplay definitely takes the genre back quite a few steps and should be avoided in lieu of other, much more deserving titles.

At first glance, Silent Ops looks to take a lot of its inspiration from the popular Splinter Cell series --there’s a lot of sneaking into buildings, a lot of silenced weapons, and a lot of double-crossing.  Take a closer look, however, and you’ll quickly see that any comparison to an actual stealth title is only skin deep. While you may be doing quite a bit of sneaking, your cover is almost always blown every time you take a shot at the opposition, silenced weapon or not. In addition, the whole ‘sneaking’ mechanic is just poorly done, as not only is the cover system poorly implemented, but once you’re spotted, you’re basically in guns blazing mode for the rest of the level.

Not that getting spotted makes the game any harder. The AI in Silent Ops is atrocious. I lost count how many times I’ve seen several enemies just stare at me for seconds on end while I took my time reloading in front of them and then proceeding to empty my clip.  In fact, the only threat I ever encountered was running out of bullets. Not to worry, however, as when that happened I would simply just run up to a group of enemies and they would immediately put their guns away and face me in hand-to-hand combat, each taking their turn in an organized, civilized fashion.

The whole combat system is just bizarre and not done very well. Other gameplay elements include simplistic quick time events as well as a few sniping sections that worked as well as they could within the context of the rest of the game.  Overall Silent Ops' gameplay, like its aged graphics system, just seems to be lackluster.

In addition to the single-player mode, which takes place across seven different levels (coupled with three separate difficulty levels), Silent Ops also features a barebones multiplayer mode. Players can create or join servers with up to 12 total combatants. Stat tracking does exist, but is restricted to games played, total deaths, and total kills. Admittedly, multiplayer was a much more enjoyable experience than the single player mode, but that’s mostly due to the fact that you’re playing against other live players and has nothing to do with anything that the game actually offers.

As iOS has matured as a gaming platform, games in the style of the typical first or third person shooter have become readily available. In this day and age, there’s no reason to flock to a new one just because it fits in this mold, but that’s the impression I get with Silent Ops. There are far more better titles than this one, some even published by Gameloft itself. I’d suggest you stick with one of those other alternatives, and stay away from this game.

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Here’s something I wish I had on-hand when Phosphor Games and its partners announced its FPS-slash-horror game, The Dark Meadow: an actual web site that you can go to and then see videos and images of the game in action. I’ll let that beef slide though, now that there is an actual web site and it happens to be so handy. After gazing at the newly released teaser trailer and the images, I feel like I know the game a little better and that’s always a plus, for good or bad.

In this case, it’s for the better. The Dark Meadow has a wonderfully moody look, which will do wonders for its horror underpinnings. I’m still not so sure on how the marriage of long-range combat and Infinity Blade-inspired [$5.99] melee action has been implemented, buy hey, I guess you can’t have it all early in a marketing cycle no matter how much you stomp your feet.

One thing we didn’t know last time we covered The Dark Meadow was how it would manage movement in the world. Turns outs, Phosphor will be using nodes to help guide the player, similar to how Chair implemented movement in Infinity Blade, I’d imagine. I can hear you groaning from here already. Stop it. It’s not that bad, especially since there will be some sort of open-ish exploration element.

Dark Meadow is scheduled for a release this month. Wait, what? Neat! We'll of course have more from the title as soon as we can get our greasy but relatively germ-free hands on the game. There is a thread in our forums where you can get in on some Dark Meadow discussion, and keep your eyes peeled towards the App Store for the game to drop sometime in the next several weeks.