Uppercut Games's ridiculously awesome cover-based shooter, Epoch [$2.99], is seeing its first price reduction since its November launch. For a limited time, you can grab it at $2.99 instead of its usual $5.99. I ran this deal past a few of our math wizards, and they're telling me this is 50 percent off the regular price, so that's cool.

Epoch was a big hit with us. We awarded it a lot of stars, and loved how it made cover actually feel good. That's a rare thing in third-person shooters, even though there's a billion-plus-two of them out there on shelves at the moment. Give it a shot if you didn't grab it yet, or hey, read our full-length review and decide.

If you've been wanting some additional control functionality in Space Tripper [$3.99], you got just that in the game's latest update. This morning, the crew behind the free-roaming shoot 'em up added in tilt calibration alongside "relative" touch controls, which let you touch the screen and move around your ship with momentum-heavy flicks.

Developer Luke Ryan let us behind the curtain a bit. He was initially worried that this new scheme wouldn't work, but then he realized "we could just add momentum so that you can flick the ship the same way you would flick a scroll menu." Ryan adds that he thinks this works "surprisingly well," and our forums are back that up.

In addition to this, a new Easy Mode has been integrated into the experience, giving users more lives to work with and no level restarts after death. If you want it less intense, give it a spin. Heck, give the game a spin in general. It's pretty good.

Fans of the excellent Battlezone-like Vector Tanks and Vector Tanks Extreme titles will be excited to hear that Black Powder Media has taken the baton from original developer Peter Hirschberg and is creating the next installment in the Vector Tanks series, Vector Tanks 3, on iOS. Larger in scope, Vector Tanks 3 will try to introduce competitive local multiplayer to the franchise, as well as "bold new graphics," new vehicles, and configurations. One problem: it needs funding, and the creators are crowd-sourcing that via Kickstarter.

Some of its goals might change based on hitting different levels of funding. The best example of this is in the multiplayer arena. Depending on the cash received, the team might or might not be able to incorporate world wide, Internet multiplayer. Or consider platforms like the PC or XBLA.

If this project succeeds, chances are that we'll see more Vector Tanks in the future. On the game's funding page, it's mentioned that this is just one chapter of up to seven in the series, all following the adventures of Vic Vector.

We're huge fans of the first two Vector Tanks games, so we'd love to be able to get our hands on Vector Tanks 3 at some point in the future. Extreme, in particular, was a sharp, focused, and really well-executed iteration that amped up the action in glorious ways. If the trend of bigger and better continues with each new game, Vector Tanks 3 could be really special.

In mid-November, True Axis finally released Space Tripper [$3.99] into the App Store. This was a big deal for a couple of reasons. First, Space Tripper was a straight up awesome indie shoot 'em up that released a decade ago, and not only does it hold up extremely well today but it also makes a fantastic fit for the iOS platform. The second reason Space Tripper's release was a big deal was that the development of the port hit just about every type of snag you can think of, and with what seemed like a black cloud looming over the game's progress there was a strong possibility it would never see the light of day on the App Store.

However, determination won over, and even though it took more than 3 years True Axis completed their goal of releasing Space Tripper for iOS. And spoiler alert: it kicks major ass, as evidenced in our review. But it wasn't all happy times and rainbows, as the one glaring omission from Space Tripper was any sort of option for touch controls. As it stood, the game only offered a tilt control scheme.

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Hey, here's a thing: both Space Miner [Free] and Space Miner HD [Free] are totally free right now. Back in February of last year, Venan Entertainment released Space Miner to the masses and pretty much took everybody by surprise with the amount of depth, humor, personality, and most importantly stellar gameplay found within the title. It was almost as if they took the core mechanics of the classic Asteroids arcade game and built a fantastic, fully realized universe around it with copious amounts of RPG elements, space shooting, and a gripping storyline. In fact, that's exactly what they did.

We loved Space Miner in our original review, and Venan kept the love flowing during 2010 with a huge update in April which enhanced the visuals for the then top-tier hardware and added a hardcore difficulty mode. With the arrival of Retina Display devices, Space Miner eventually jumped on board the high resolution gravy train and in December of last year an iPad native version of the game was released. All of this post-release attention didn't go unnoticed either, as we chose Space Miner as our iPhone Game of the Year for 2010. In fact, if you ask Brad Nicholson, he'll tell you that Space Miner is an even better game than Game Dev Story [$3.99/Lite]. That's high praise!

Now, to celebrate the release of their latest title Book of Heroes [Free], Venan has gone and not only made the Space Miner games free through the weekend but have actually made their other games free as well. Don't hesitate to jump all over Ninjatown: Trees of Doom! [Free/HD] while you're busy mashing away at the download button on Space Miner.

The Space Miner games have seen several sales during their time on the App Store (and really what games haven't), but this is the first time it's ever gone completely free, although there is a free-to-play version called Space Miner Blast [Free] which is a more arcade-focused affair and is also totally worth a download as it offers a slightly different experience. But seriously, while you have the chance, grab the real-deal Space Miner for free during this weekend. I don't want to sound like a jerk or anything, but if you don't own Space Miner, we totally can't be friends.

Judge Dredd vs. Zombies [$.99] is what you think it is, which is to say, it's an over-the-top dual-stick shooter that pits the equally over-the-top dystopian cop against hordes and hordes of the undead. Despite all signs of the End Times have come pointing to "Yes," Dredd is as moronically meat-headed as ever. The slick Versace-wearing, line-slinging judge, jury, and executioner has his hands full with himself throughout the entire experience. It's as if, in a weird twist, this game is more about Dredd's need to stroke his own ego than his desire to purge his precious and pure Mega-City One of zombies.

Hearing "I am the law" or some other ridiculously chest-puffing line every 15 seconds isn't this game's biggest problem, though -- the free-to-play model is. It comes across as much too pushy and needed and, as a result, it consistently strikes me as gross.

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While the iOS device's multitouch screen has introduced a whole new way of interacting with software and enabled game developers to rethink the fundamentals of game control, there are definitely areas where it falls short. One such area is in the on-screen approximation of a physical control stick or D-pad. Ever since we first mentioned the iControlPad, three and a half years ago, button mashers particularly frustrated by virtual controls began eagerly waiting for such physical controller accessories to arrive. This summer, the iCade and iControlPad did arrive and developers wanting to go that extra mile began adding in support for these controllers, where it made sense.

Gametel controller

In a short time from now, the controller market will be gaining another iOS-compatible unit for gamers to choose from in the form of the Gametel Bluetooth controller from Fructel AB. News on this one began spreading a couple of weeks back, but we only just learned of the device, likely due to the Android-centric PR that surrounds it; there's scant mention of iOS devices on the product webpage. Luckily, C64 for iPhone [App Store] developer Stuart Carnie of Manomio pinged me to let us know that the unit works quite well with iOS devices (by way of an iCade emulation mode, the addition of which was driven by Stuart, himself), and that he is particularly impressed by the unit's ergonomics.

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The Bearded One attended a somewhat clandestine Activision event a while back to see a very mysterious game. We didn't know anything about it at the time other than it rhymed with "Mall of Beauty," and we were especially not allowed to say anything about it. We weren't sure when it was coming, so we've spent the time since waiting for the high sign that we can let the cat out of the bag on the whole thing.

Well, apparently it is coming tonight. Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies is the $6.99 sequel to Call of Duty: Zombies [$4.99 / HD] which as you may recall similarly just appeared on the App Store randomly one day. Kotaku has the skinny on all sorts of details on the game, and mirrors our experiences in that it plays like an updated version of its predecessor. The biggest improvement are in the controls, making the game feel a lot more playable. Oh, and there's voice chat too, so you can scream at your teammates in true Call of Duty fashion.

Just like the original, Activision plans on supporting Black Ops Zombies with additional map packs and updates. Awesome, right?

Like it or not, more and more games in a wide variety of genres appear to be taking the freemium route in an effort to be more profitable. Rather than simply taking a binary stance as to the merits of freemium, I’d prefer to look at each game on a case by case basis to see if the developers manage to strike that balance of freemium elements versus playability and, most importantly, fun. Bullet Time HD [Free], the latest title from Kiloo Games, hits that balance perfectly and leaves me hoping that future developers will create freemium games like this.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Bullet Time follows John Irish, a man out to rescue his family from the mutated creatures inhabiting the land. You’ll lead John through a variety of locales that look striking and definitely give off a Borderlands sort of vibe. The game looks great and runs amazingly well on an iPhone 4S, although there was some minor slowdown on a 4th generation iPod touch.

Control-wise, Bullet Time plays like your standard dual stick shooter, with no significant positives or negatives to the standard formula. In addition, from a gameplay perspective, you’ll always have a primary mission to accomplish, but the game also throws a few side missions and secret locales at you if you’re willing to look for them. Bullet Time also features a lot of excellent ambient sounds and hard rock music that do a great job setting the tone of the game. From a presentation standpoint, Bullet Time simply rocks.

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Zombie games may not be all the rage right now with gamers, since we've been relentlessly bombarded with them over the past few years, but that might change again with Extraction: Project Outbreak [$0.99], the latest game published by Chillingo and developed by ShortRound Games. A top-down shooter with loads of unlockables, a well done control scheme, and great visuals, Extraction looks to offer something for nearly everyone, as long as you can get past a mild case of monotony in the later levels.

The world has grown bleak in Extraction. Experiments on prisoners of war and military personnel have created a viral outbreak turning everyone into a zombie-like state. As a member of a private military contractor, you’re brought in to run a variety of missions that include rescuing scientists, escorting soldiers, defending sentry technicians and simply killing zombies (don’t worry, you get to kill zombies in all the other missions as well). Also, like any good government contractor, you’re rewarded handsomely with tons of cash at the end of each successful mission, which can be used to unlock and upgrade weapons.

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Needing no introduction for any iOS Action fans, the Gangstar series has been Gameloft’s answer for folks looking for the city sandbox experience popular on gaming consoles. While we enjoyed the previous two Gangstar titles, there were outstanding issues in both games that prevented each from becoming a truly ‘must-own’ title. With Gangstar Rio: City of Saints [$6.99], Gameloft looks to up the ante in all aspects from the new location to cleaner graphics to even a new character advancement system. While Rio falters in its voice overs and the overarching story, everything else makes this the best Gangstar yet.

Gangstar Rio continues the tried and true gameplay of previous titles that closely mimics the gameplay of sandbox games like the Grand Theft Auto series. All the elements from previous games – from the mission based main story, to the large amount of collectibles, to even the side jobs attached to various vehicles – make a return. However, Gangstar Rio improves on its predecessors by making everything just a little bit better. For example, the Rio de Janeiro locale seems to be bigger and is a lot more unique compared to the previous locations. The entire world just feels more alive than previous titles. In addition, the developers have improved the controls by adding a few new options and tightening the existing schemes. However, I was extremely disappointed in the lack of cloud saving/syncing as that should be an essential requirement for lengthy games such as this (moreso since Rio is a universal title).

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Recently, we mentioned that Space Tripper [$3.99] - the iOS version of Astro Tripper - has finally been released by True Axis the makers of the popular game: Jet Car Stunts [$1.99 / Free]. After being released on various other platforms over the past decade, it's finally our turn for an iOS port of this top-down arena-based shoot'em-up, which features a main campaign plus score attack and challenge modes to unlock.

Although I'm happy to recommend this game now, my initial impressions were less favorable. You see, Space Tripper offers tilt controls as the only option for movement, but strangely, it appears no auto-calibration occurs at the start of the game, so the craft was unresponsive to tilts and left sitting like a lame duck. However, after discovering the tilt calibration and tilt-sensitivity options and testing a few different configurations, the craft became very responsive, ducking and weaving around enemies.

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We had a great time with Limbic Software's Zombie Gunship [99¢] when we first reviewed it, and it's already been updated since then. If you check your pending updates, you'll see that Zombie Gunship 1.3 is waiting for you, which adds a whole new scenario featuring cool environmental objects (like trains) and AirPlay support.

I got a look at the AirPlay functionality back at GDC Austin, and the way they implemented it is actually really cool. Instead of just simply mirroring the display, you will have a radar display of sorts on your device while you see the video output on the TV. What will be interesting to see is whether or not players who play this way have any kind of advantage score-wise from players who play normally. It'd seem to me that a radar display would be pretty powerful, but we'll have to see what happens.

If you haven't grabbed Zombie Gunship yet, now seems like a great time. If you have, make sure you snag this update, it's solid.

Does the world really need another big, brawny, cigar-chomping, generic-looking hero? Adult Swim says yes. Major Mayhem [99¢] is Adult Swim's latest contribution to the mobile marketplace and… a rail shooter, I guess.

Closer in tone to Duck Hunt than Counterstrike, Major Mayhem bears more than a passing resemblance to games like Virtua Cop and Time Crisis. Here, movement is largely independent of the player. You'll be transported to the next zone automatically once you've killed a sufficient number of enemies.

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Back in 2004, CAVE released the manic shooter Mushihimesama (Bug Princess translated) into arcades to a warm reception from shmup fans, and two years later released a sequel called Mushihimesama Futari, which was also ported to Xbox 360 in 2009. Then, as most of you probably know, an iOS spinoff based on the Mushihimesama series called Mushihimesama Bug Panic [$6.99/Lite] was released late last year to critical acclaim. It wasn't the typical CAVE scrolling shooter, and instead was more of a dual-stick action game with similar bullet hell craziness and over-the-top enemies.

Today, CAVE has released a teaser video for their new forthcoming iOS game, and it looks like they're going back to that original title from 2004 Mushihimesama and bringing it to the App Store as Bug Princess this winter.

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