Consider this a small bit of news for a huge shooter on the App Store. As of now, you can begin downloading a brand new map pack in Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus [$6.99 / HD / Free], an FPS that takes a lot of its cues from Modern Warfare.
The pack, which weighs in at $1.99 via in-App purchase, will give you a total of three maps. As you’d figure, none are particularly inspired, but with names like The “Shanty Town,” the “Bunker,” and the “Battlefield,” I find it hard to believe the crowd eating these up at the moment care about the by-the-books approach taken here.
Nearly two years ago, EA released Tiger Woods PGA Tour [99¢] into the App Store. This game was remarkable at the time for providing a fairly robust golf experience that was akin to the Tiger Woods series on home consoles. While the graphics were fairly lackluster, the frame rate was incredibly smooth and it was exciting to have such a fully featured golf game in your pocket. The real standout feature, though, was the touch screen swing meter which offered a very direct and organic way to swing clubs in the game, which we talked about in our original review of Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
Now, after skipping a new release last year, EA is back with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 [$6.99/HD]. This iteration of the franchise brings with it several new features and greatly improved graphics, but the gameplay feels extremely similar to the last version. This isn’t necessarily bad, as the gameplay was the strongest aspect to the last iOS Tiger Woods, and if you enjoyed that game then you’ll likely enjoy this one even more. If you’re looking for a completely new mobile golfing experience however, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 doesn’t offer that.
The meat of this year’s Tiger Woods is again the PGA Tour which has you entering and competing in the various golf tournaments for cash prizes. Your winnings go towards buying better equipment to improve your game and entering subsequent tournaments throughout the year. Besides this mode, a Tiger Challenge mode has been added where you can play through a number of different types of mini challenges for money, which typically have alternate rules and are generally better suited for a quick play session than playing an entire round or multiple rounds of a tournament.
Yesterday the popular Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series made its debut on the App Store with Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard [$6.99] courtesy of Gameloft. We’ve given the game some thorough play time since then, and have come away pretty satisfied with how the series has translated to the iOS platform. The single player component offers some enjoyable tactical gameplay, but the part of the game we were most excited about - the online cooperative play - turned out pretty disappointing. Even still, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a competent FPS that’s in line with Gameloft’s previous offerings, and should satisfy fans of the series’ recent console titles looking for a fix on the go.
The single player campaign in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard spans 11 missions as your 3-man team works to take out a terrorist organization. The premise and storyline bits are fairly cliché, but the missions themselves are quite fun. Each mission is pretty lengthy and features several different ways to go about completing your goals, which requires much more forethought on how to approach them than your typical FPS game. You have two AI teammates in the game, a recon specialist and a demolitions expert, that you can direct them to take cover at specific areas or clear rooms for you. Taking cover behind walls or using a snake camera to peek under doors to see what’s awaiting you on the other side is imperative, as just barging your way through the game trying to run-n-gun will usually result in a speedy death, especially on harder difficulties.
The online portion of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is pretty good as well. It features online deathmatch or team deathmatch with up to 10 players spread across 5 specially designed multiplayer maps. There’s also an online cooperative mode that lets you team up with 2 other players and have a go at the single player campaign missions. This mode sounded extremely promising when it was announced, as there isn’t really anything akin to that on the iPhone yet. While it’s a technically sound mode, the lack of any sort of chat feature sucks the fun out of the experience. Playing cooperatively means being on the same page as your teammates, and without the ability to communicate with each other this mode loses almost all meaning.
Both the single player and multiplayer portions of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard let you earn experience for killing enemies which can then be used to unlock additional weapons and equipment. This is a nice touch and gives you more motivation besides just merely completing levels, though the extent of items and customization is lacking compared to something like Modern Combat 2 [$6.99/Lite/HD]. The graphics look quite good for the most part, though not mind blowing. It utilizes the same engine used in countless other Gameloft titles, giving it a somewhat generic look. Controls also work well though they can feel cramped on the tiny screen and there is very few options to suit them to your liking.
Overall, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard gets the job done. It’s not nearly as deep or strategic as the console titles it’s modeled after, but it feels similar enough that it should win over fans of the series or those looking for a more tactical FPS experience. The competitive online modes are very good, though not quite as strong as those found in N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99/HD] or Modern Combat 2. The cooperative play may serve you well while playing locally with some friends so you can discuss tactics with each other, but playing this online is largely forgettable. Surprisingly, the campaign is actually the star of the show in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard, and is much more engaging than the campaigns in either of the previously mentioned titles.
The best way to sum up Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is that it’s very competent in every area, but far from the killer app that many might have hoped it would be. Players seem to be enjoying the title in our forums, and if you’re looking for an entertaining new FPS experience then Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a pretty solid choice.
Back in January Gameloft revealed that they were working on a new entry in the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series titled Shadow Vanguard. We’ve previously posted the official trailer, a hands-on gameplay video, and an interesting interactive trailer that Gameloft created that takes you through part of the first level. After all of that anticipation, at long last Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard [$6.99] has finally gone live in the App Store.
The game features 11 single player missions where you lead a special elite group of soldiers in taking out a terrorist organization. Unlike your typical first-person shooter, Rainbow Six games rely on tactical gameplay choices rather than an all out run-n-gun approach. Taking your time to investigate each situation closely and determine the best plan of attack will get much better results than just bursting in and blasting anything that moves.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect to Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is the multiplayer options. It features a traditional deathmatch mode with up to 10 players in a game, but there is also the option to team up with up to 2 buddies and have a go at the campaign cooperatively.
Gameloft has proven they can create competent FPS experiences with games like N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99/HD] and Modern Combat 2 [$6.99/Lite/HD], both of which feature great single-player campaigns and robust online multiplayer options. In the case of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard, we’ll be holding off our full review for a bit so that the servers can populate with other players first and we can get a good feel for all the online functionality in the game.
Until then, there is a forum thread filling up with early impressions of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard if you’re interested in hearing what your fellow gamers have to say about the game. We’ll put it through its paces as well and report back with a review soon.
With the iPad 2 slated to hit consumers’ hands later today, developer’s are already beginning to release updates to their games that take advantage of the extra graphical processing power that we talked about in-depth yesterday.
Dead Space™ for iPad, $9.99 - First out of the gate is an update for Dead Space for iPad that features enhanced graphics and a couple of other user requested improvements. You can now freely adjust the look sensitivity, which was a sticking point in our review, and can also invert the Y-axis for gamers who prefer to play with that option. These latter two control options are also included in an update for the iPhone version of Dead Space [$6.99].
Check out these newly release screens for Dead Space for iPad that show off the improved iPad 2 visuals:
This update is already out and ready to go, and in addition Dead Space for iPad is currently on sale for $6.99 down from the original price of $9.99.
Infinity Blade, $5.99 - Also getting updated today is Chair’s epic sword battling game Infinity Blade. It was just last week during GDC that Infinity Bladereceived a huge update that practically doubled the content in the game, adding a new dungeon; new enemies, arenas, and items; and the ability to start a new game+ and continue leveling up to your heart’s content. Now Chair is already at it again with an update that optimizes Infinity Blade for the beefier hardware of the iPad 2.
The update for Infinity Blade is just starting to go live, so you may not see it in your updates tab right away as it's still propagating through Apple's servers, but keep checking as it should be available for you sometime today. Along with this Infinity Blade update, the update for Dead Space for iPad, and the just released Real Racing 2 HD [$9.99], there should be more than enough visual stimulation to show off to your friends if you're planning on picking up an iPad 2 today.
Back in early December, Gameloft revealed the latest entry in their series of highly inspired takes on established franchises called Starfront: Collision, a real-time strategy game that takes more than a few cues from Blizzard’s insanely popular Starcraft series. After hitting a slight delay from its intended release date last week, Starfront: Collision [Free] is now live in the App Store. Like Gameloft’s previous release Sacred Odyssey [Free/HD], Starfront can initially be downloaded for free and provides a short taste of the game, with a $6.99 IAP to unlock the full version.
Typical of many RTS games, Starfront features 3 playable races who are all in a battle over the rare resource Xenodium that is found on the planet of Sinistral. There is the human race known as the Consortium, a hostile alien race called Myriad, and a sentient robot race called the Wardens. The full version of Starfront features a 20 level campaign that is split into 3 sections which has you playing as a different race during each one.
Additionally there is a skirmish mode with 7 maps to play on and a multiplayer mode that features both local and online play for up to 4 people. Unfortunately, since the game has only been out for a few hours I haven’t been able to find an online match to test it out. Hopefully in the coming days the servers will fill up as more people buy the game. While a decent sized campaign and a skirmish mode are nice features on the single player front, strong multiplayer is what will really give Starfront longevity.
One of the biggest issues with RTS games on the iPhone is being able to have controls and UI that work on such a small screen. I’ve only spent limited time with Starfront, but it seems that they’ve nailed it pretty well on this front. Navigating the terrain and setting up any of the 8 different structures is a snap. There are 10 different unit types for each race, and for the most part they are easy to control. It can be a bit difficult to select certain units because they appear so tiny on the screen, but there are some nice advanced features like assigning units to groups for quick selection or creating a selection box by pinching the screen with two fingers. With a bit of practice and some forethought, navigating and commanding your army isn’t a problem.
A game like Starfront is really hard to judge off of brief impressions, since it will take many hours of play to determine how balanced each race is and stress test the online multiplayer servers. That said, my first impressions of Starfront are really good. We’ll definitely put the game through its paces in the coming days, but seeing as it’s free to download initially I can definitely recommend checking it out. Just be aware that it’s a 680mb download and requires a 3rd generation device or above.
The free version of Starfront gives you access to 4 tutorial levels that do a wonderful job at explaining how to play, and the first mission of the campaign. A $6.99 in-app purchase will then unlock the remaining 19 campaign levels, skirmish mode, and multiplayer. There are a ton more impressions rolling into our forums which have been largely positive, and there is a dedicated thread to finding online opponents and discussing strategies. I like what I’ve seen of Starfront so far, and it’s worth trying out the free version if you’re a fan of real-time strategy games.
You have to hand it to the Telltale Games’ crew behind Back to the Future Episode 1. Not only did it manage to create a terrific licensed-based game, it also innovated within the IP without stomping on what makes it great. From the voice work to the music, to the clever writing and look, this is faithful, though more light-hearted, extension to the series.
I tend to imagine of this game as a virtual melting pot filled to the brim with the stuff that makes Back to the Future great -- the dialogue, the boyish adventure, the characters, the audio, and the inventions of a madman scientist. Telltale stirs this all together and makes a harmonious whole.
The audio in particular tickles me. The voice work from the sound-alike part of the cast is stunning, and while Christopher Lloyd can expose his advanced age with some of his exasperated deliveries, he does a great job reprising his role as Doc Brown. The original series’ music also gives the game a satisfying movie vibe, which is fitting as a result of its strong point-and-click roots and cinematic flair.
One spot I would have liked to see a bit more oomph in would be the tale itself, as its has a much lighter tone than the movies. The repercussions of the time-splitting shenanigans of Brown and Marty seem distant, the dialogue is less crude, and Biff isn’t as dark of an antagonist. Overall, the tone mimics the cartoonish and rubbery visual style.
That said, I dig the story for what it is: a gleeful romp filled with Telltale’s signature warmth and humor on top of the franchises’ own blend. And while Telltale does take some artistic liberties by heaping in new, quirky characters and unique situations, there's plenty to enjoy as a Back to the Future fan. You’ll hear the lines you’ll want to hear spill out in natural ways, and see the characters you love react as you’d imagine they would. Good, fun stuff all around.
The plot goes something like this. Marty, six months after the events of "Back to the Future III," is beginning to miss Doc Brown. And soon after he goes back to peruse Brown’s old lab, he finds himself attempting to save the old man once again. This time, though, the rescue is in a swingin’ Prohibition-era version of the series’ fabled town featuring a young Doc Brown.
The puzzles in Back To The Future are shaped for a wider audience, no doubt. Most are disposable, easily passed by with a dash of thought and basic game-side item use logic. In stark contrast, the more action-oriented puzzles linger beyond their welcome and feel as if they’re artificially elongated to milk a certain scene. And that's not to say that the puzzle experience is bad; I didn't mind the lean back kind of adventure experience, but Monkey Island-style involvement this does not require.
On an unrelated note, this probably isn't an port of the PC version in the traditional sense, but the mouse-centric menu navigation leaves much to be desired on iPad. However, Telltale's slick virtual stick interface rears its head in this game providing a native-like movement experience. You can walk or run wherever by dragging your finger or, optionally, by pointing and clicking on an item of interest.
So, yeah, if you’re in the market for a great Telltale Games point and click joint or an actual, quality Back To The Future game, hit iTunes and get playing. There's a ton to like about Back to the Future.
Note: On performance: there's some slight frame rate chugging in some of the action-heavy sequences. Also, while the characters and the prominent textures look fine, you'll notice a smattering of low-res texture work on unimportant objects. This stuff is distracting to some degree, but it never kept me from enjoying the game.
If you've been following TouchArcade, you've seen that we've been closely keeping up on Gameloft's Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden [Free] since before it even had a title. Early on we suspected it to be an action oriented game with Zelda-like mechanics, and that turned out to be true. I also mentioned that I'll play any Zelda game and any game that vaguely resembles a Zelda game without issue, regardless of how good or bad it is. So, I've fulfilled that blood oath by spending a ridiculous amount of time yesterday and today powering through Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden.
Before I get carried away, it's probably a good idea to discuss Gameloft's new approach to how they're selling their games now. They're labeling it "freemium", which seems to differ from everyone else's definition of the word. Instead, it seems more along the lines of a demoware, with the rest of the game available via a single in-app purchase. Basically, now instead of a paid and lite version of the game, there's a single version. In Sacred Odyssey, you're able to play through the first few missions (which more or less amounts to the tutorial) and get a good handle on what's coming in the rest of the game. This takes about 15 minutes. After that, a screen comes up asking you to make a one-time in-app purchase of $6.99 to continue.
Reactions on our forums have varied wildly from people who think this is an interesting approach to people frothing with rage. Personally, this kind of thing is what I always hoped for when I first heard about in-app purchasing coming to the App Store. The benefits of this are massive. Instead of downloading a lite version, getting 15 minutes in, hitting the end of it, and downloading the full version only to do that 15 minutes over again you can just keep on truckin' after making your IAP. It also helps to remove clutter from the App Store since separate lite and paid versions of Sacred Odyssey aren't needed. Sure, the download size may be a little bigger than your average lite version, but you're actually saving time and bandwidth by not needing to download a second game if you decide you like it.
The opening of Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden takes a cue from many other RPG's and begins with a dream sequence where a mysterious princess is calling out to you. After doing some dirty work around your village, you start off on your adventure, and believe it or not actually end up meeting this mysterious princess inside the first 15 minutes of playing the game. She sends you off on your first task which involves visiting the first dungeon, snagging your first piece of loot, fighting the first boss, and discovering that you're not just some mild-mannered townsperson-- You're a grail seeker. You then return back to your home town only to find it ravaged by orcs and burnt to the ground. From here, the plot takes a curious turn down Star Wars street, and if this cut scene doesn't remind you of Luke returning to Uncle Owen's farm on Tatooine, nothing will.
This brings me to my first issue with Sacred Odyssey-- It's like the writers couldn't really decide if this is supposed to be a serious fantasy game, a pop culture parody game, or a comedy game. Dialog varies wildly from heavy-handed RPG cliches of foretold prophecies, to your fairy companion telling you that a mythical sword of the gods is "uber-sharp" and "begging to slice and dice". Meanwhile, you've got two horses, "Miya" and "Moto." It feels incredibly disjointed. The good news is, Gameloft's voice acting seems significantly better than previous offerings, so even though dialog is cringe-worthy at times, at least it's voiced well.
Solid dialog and plot lines have never been Gameloft's strong points, but thankfully, the actual gameplay in Sacred Odyssey is awesome. The game is controlled using a virtual joystick and variety of virtual buttons. Like most Gameloft games, these are all completely configurable, although I've had no issue with the defaults. Fighting works well, and unsurprisingly has a Hero of Sparta feel to it, with virtual buttons for swinging your sword as well as blocking or dodging if you hit the block button while holding the virtual joystick in the direction you'd like to roll. Combat is actually really fun, and you'll often find yourself in situations where you'll need to be evasive and defensive instead of just mindlessly mashing your attack as if it were an "I Win!" button.
Progressing through the main storyline involves taking various quests, which inevitably lead you to people who have other quests, and then eventually a dungeon. These dungeons often have puzzles which much like other Zelda-esque games involve sliding blocks around or using whatever item you just received to overcome obstacles. Of course no dungeon would be complete without loads of bad guys, and a massive boss at the end, two things you'll also find in Sacred Odyssey. Boss battles are a lot of fun, even though they can sometimes feel like going through the motions of "Oh hey, I just got this ability, time to use it over and over on this dude until he dies," but that seems to be the case for any game following this formula.
Aside from the main quest line, there are an ample amount of side quests too, although none of them that I've come across have been particularly engaging or offer good rewards. Still, it's cool that they're there, as they provide a bit of a distraction from just running from dungeon to dungeon. Along the way you'll also collect blue orbs, as seemingly everything spews them. These are used to purchase things from a vendor who follows you around. You can buy everything from simple potions, to potions that heal a larger amount of life, to extremely expensive power-ups.
While Gameloft isn't treading on any kind of new or original territory (as at times, Sacred Odyssey feels like a direct carbon copy of Zelda, Darksiders, or both) but there just isn't anything else like this on the App Store. We'll likely never see a real Zelda game either, so I suppose I don't really mind playing Gameloft's "highly inspired" version of it. If you love Zelda-style games, this isn't one you should pass up, especially to see what you think of Gameloft's new payment method.
What's going to be fun to watch is where Gameloft goes from here, as although I had a bunch of fun with Sacred Odyssey, it's hard to dispute the fact that the graphics do look a bit dated compared to more recent releases-- Especially those utilizing the Unreal Engine. Also, it will be curious to see whether or not Gameloft sticks with this payment method for several reasons: They're now competing on the free charts, which is substantially more competitive than the paid charts. Sites like AppShopper don't (and can't) track sales of items purchased via IAP, as Apple doesn't offer this data as part of their third party App Store API. This means that all the people who save Gameloft games to a wishlist and wait for sales aren't going to get any notification. Last, but certainly not least, the IAP transaction requires an active internet connection on your device, which may be an issue for iPod touch users.
Regardless, I had a ton of fun with Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden, and highly recommend any Zelda fan give it a try. You'll have a great idea of whether or not you want to continue by the time you hit the pay wall, and hopefully you're somewhere with connectivity so you can proceed past it.
With a week to go before the month is over, we're just now finally seeing some major iOS game releases after seemingly every developer fired off everything they had in to the 2010 holiday season. Tonight's treasures are Dead Space for the iPhone and iPod touch as well as Dead Space for iPad. Dead Space is currently available in New Zealand, and will be appearing in various international App Stores throughout the day until it finally shows up in the US at 11:00 PM EST.
We'll have our full review up later today, but for our friends abroad I'll offer some brief impressions- The graphics and sound of Dead Space are incredible, and really nail the look and feel of the series. This is a game you'll want to play in the dark with headphones. I've found myself preferring the game on the iPad, as your thumbs obscure a little too much of the screen on the iPhone. (It's still a ton of fun on smaller devices, don't worry.) There isn't any kind of aim assist or control customization which makes combat feel clunky and more difficult than it should be, which can be irritating in a game with limited ammo where every shot counts.
We have other minor criticisms which we'll get in to in our full review later today, but even with the few issues Dead Space has, this isn't a game you should miss. With around 6 hours (in our playthrough) of playtime, Dead Space provides an experience that fits perfectly in line with its console counterparts. We just wish they titled the game something differently, as it comes loaded with its own unique story line and will likely be a part in any discussion of Dead Space lore... Things are going to get confusing with Dead Space (for consoles) and Dead Space (for iOS) sharing the same name and being completely different games.
Stay tuned, and in the meantime swing by the Dead Space and Dead Space HD threads in our forums for more initial impressions from international forum members who have already purchased the game in their App Store.
We'd like to extend our thanks to TouchArcade forum user Crex who worked tirelessly over the holidays to put together an epic thread. Originally asking everyone to list their top games of 2010, Crex went through and compiled the top ten games in to a poll which closed last night.
Epic Games' Infinity Blade [$5.99] put up a fight, but in the end, the unofficial TouchArcade Forums Game Of The Year award goes to Crescent Moons' ambitious and expansive open-world RPG Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$6.99] for the iPhone and iPad.
Aralon grabbed the award with 22.8 percent of our user votes in the unofficial message board poll. Infinity Blade came in second with 20.15 percent, while Real Racing 2 [$9.99] was third with 14.6 percent.
In our review, we noted that Aralon is unlike any other experience you'll have on the iOS so far. In brief, the game is wicked big and boasts tons of customization, quests, and areas of interest. Solid character movement, helpful quest logs, and the game's combat are just some of its other positive features that our forum readers have come to love.
Aralon is a Galoobeth Games joint, but back in May, Crescent Moon stepped in and gave the RPG a well-document makeover, helping generate even more interest in our upcoming games thread, as it reached more views than any other thread in TA forums history. Now that it's out, the threads on Aralon continue to grow.
Crescent Moon is still working on Aralon, by the way, and our message board is undoubtedly proving vital. The studio is implementing forum suggestions and is obviously dedicated to listening to what you guys have to say. Keep it up! Also, congrats to Aralon and Crescent Moon!
It's a good time to be a fan of Telltale Games. If you haven't noticed already, the prices of most of Telltale's games are now a mere 99 cents on the App Store.
What's the occasion, you ask? The cuts are in celebration of the release of Monkey Island Tales 1 HD [$6.99] for the iPad, Telltale tells us. And while the sale doesn't actually include the new release, it's nice to save some cash on the companies' other solid titles.
I think I think that Puzzle Agent is the most remarkable game on this list. It has its share of logic flaws, technical baggage, and interface woes, but it rises above all of it with sheer strength of character, oddness, and unique gameplay. I also think that most Sam & Max fans would agree on this same point in regards to The Penal Zone, too. That game, for sure, has tons of technical issues, but Telltale successfully turns the adventure game formula on its head with Max's newfound time-travel power. You'll see solutions before you see the puzzles and then have to work backwards to solve them. Wild stuff!
We've been having a great time with Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$6.99] as evident by our review from last week, but there is no denying the fact that the game's initial release was a little rough around the edges. It didn't stop us from enjoying it, but we're extremely happy to see Crescent Moon Games hard at work releasing updates to tweak the game. Animations have been approved for both fishing and pick pocketing, in addition, NPCs also have gotten some new animations and greetings.
Graphical and performance enhancements have been made which makes the game run and look better, and spell effects have also been improved. In the additional content department, there are new quests, crafting recipes, items, and more. Also, in your travels you will come across both mage and troll henchmen that will aid you. Two new shops have opened as well, one in the city and one in Taryn Ridge.
Various improvements have made to the game's dungeons including souping up boss battles, and Crescent Moon addressed some of the crashes players were experiencing along with implementing a bucket full of other bug fixes and balance tweaks. If you were waiting to pick up Aralon to see what happens with future updates, now is your chance. We've also heard from Crescent Moon that they're hard at work on another update, and plan to implement as much as they can from the Aralon suggestions thread on our forums.
Given the incredible success of Street Fighter IV [$9.99] since its release on the App Store, I've always wondered if its 90s arcade competitor Mortal Kombat would ever grace our touch screens. Just a few days ago, it was confirmed that indeed an iOS version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was in the works from the folks at EA Mobile. And just like that, yesterday Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 [$6.99] was released in the App Store.
I'm a diehard Mortal Kombat fan, going back to the very first release in arcades almost two decades ago. I've since owned just about every version of every Mortal Kombat game for every console over the years. I even bought and suffered through the abomination that is Mortal Kombat Advance on the GBA, so I can definitely recognize a terrible MK game when I see it. And Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for iOS is far from terrible, and in fact it's pretty good. It gets a lot of things right, and even does some interesting new things, but some of the changes will alienate longtime fans who are looking for a trip down nostalgia road, and the poor execution of the controls can make the game difficult to enjoy.
The most significant thing to notice about Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is that despite its name this is in no way a direct port of the arcade game. The biggest change is that the game is completely rendered in 3D. Purists will likely cry foul at this design choice, but I have a more positive feeling towards it. The characters are comprised of fairly basic 3D models but they look like their originals for the most part, and this also allows them to appear extra crisp, especially on the Retina Display. I can't imagine the old digitized sprites looking especially great on iOS screens, and the many frames needed to animate them would likely cause performance issues. Because of these points, I understand and accept the decision to go 3D.
One huge disappointment though is the lack of available characters. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in the arcades boasted a healthy roster of 22+ fighters, whereas the iOS version only has a selection of 11 including two unlockable characters, and I believe the two bosses are playable though I have yet to verify that myself. Hopefully they take a page out of Street Fighter IV's playbook and offer frequent updates with new characters, because as it is now the roster feels lacking.
The best part about the game being in 3D is that the redone backgrounds look downright gorgeous. Again there is only a selection of 10 stages from the original arcade game's 16 or so, but the ones chosen here are the best of the bunch and contain all of the levels with stage fatalities. There's really nothing like knocking someone in front of a subway train or into a pit of spikes in 3D. On that note, all of the fatalities, babalities, friendships, and animalities are included for each of the characters. Some of these look better in 3D, and some I would prefer the original, but either way it's still hugely satisfying to pull off a finishing move on a defeated opponent, and that's what's important.
Regardless of your feelings about the graphics, none of it would matter anyway if the game didn't control well. Here is where Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 slips up the most. It offers two control schemes and the ability to move the buttons for each wherever you want on the screen. The joystick remains fixed, but it's in a pretty good default position anyway.
The first “pro” control scheme has all 6 buttons of the original arcade game, and all the moves are performed just like in the original. This is my preferred way to play because it's what I know, but it also makes it difficult to pull of moves that require multiple buttons to be held down at the same time, like Sub-Zero's slide for example. The second “easy” control setup features only 5 buttons - punch, kick, block, run, and special. This scheme changes all the special moves and fatalities into simple combinations of the special button and joystick directions. Both setups have their strengths and weaknesses, and neither is completely ideal, but they are both competent enough to get the job done.
The real problem with the controls has to do with the responsiveness. It's a strange phenomenon, really, because at the beginning of the match they work just fine. But as the match prolongs they stop responding as well. Button presses have a way of getting bunched up, and moves that you were trying to perform will play out much later than you intended. There's no way to stop this from happening either, so you'll just have to sit there until the string of button presses is completed before you can focus back on the action of the current moment. It doesn't render the game unplayable, but it's a frustrating problem that definitely needs to be addressed.
Content-wise, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 contains an arcade mode with 4 tiers of difficulty, a local multiplayer mode over WiFi or Bluetooth (complete with the 6 symbol code entry functionality of the arcade game), a survival mode, and a Shao Karnage mode. Shao Karnage mode is brand new, and is actually pretty neat. It pits you against Shao Kahn using the character of your choice, sans health bars for either character, to see how many points worth of damage you can do to him in 99 seconds. There are supposedly online leaderboards for both survival and Shao Karnage modes, but for some reason I have yet to get them working.
Initially I was turned off by Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, but I stuck with it and the game grew on me by leaps and bounds. I've had a lot of fun playing it, and there's all sorts of potential here for it to be a stellar Mortal Kombat game. Assuming you can get past the lack of characters and the new look of the graphics, the only actual problem with the game is the laggy controls. They're workable now, but I'd really like to see them improved in the future. Of course, adding more characters couldn't hurt either. For being the first Mortal Kombat game on the App Store, I ended up being pretty impressed, and there's a lot of positive impressions of the game in our forums as well.
If you're a fan of Mortal Kombat then you'll likely get enough enjoyment out of this version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to justify the purchase, but if you're looking for a comparable fighting experience to the iOS version of Street Fighter IV then you may want to hold off and see how this game evolves over time.
In 2009, Telltale Games resurrected the Monkey Island series with the first Tales of Monkey Island, a classic point-and-click adventure game. Since then, original Monkey Island creator LucasArts has started rereleasing Monkey Island classics and Telltale has finished its series based on the highly-regarded IP. Both series' (including the rereleases) are successes, so it's only natural that we're seeing them on the iOS.
The first Tales game, Launch of the Screaming Narwhale [$6.99], just hit the App Store for the iPad yesterday, actually. And like its' PC and Mac brethren, it successfully combines all the wit, the character, whimsy, and braininess of its SCUMM forerunners.
But I often think that Telltale's greatest accomplishment in Launch of the Screaming Narwhal specifically is that it manages to make you feel like the franchise never died. It starts at the end of a game that was never made with an inventory filled with exotic items and dialogue that references adventures that we'll never see. Telltale pulls this off smoothly with reverence and an informed idea of what the MI series is.
There's a careful balancing act going on in Narwhal. On one side of the proverbial scale are character and the accoutrements of the MI franchise. On the other end of the scale are the game mechanics and systems -- all of the stuff that makes the game spring to life, work, and operate as a logic-focused puzzle game.
To Telltale's credit, it manages to balance this stuff pretty well. The puzzles are fun and original and the logic fueling them are often bursting with MI-typical absurdity and wit. Of course, there are problems with this puzzle formula inherently; game-side logic is often frustrating because it's not conventional. Take, for example, the lighting of a bomb, which requires not a match, but an actual full-on open flame. Ridiculous. However, once you get a handle on how the game wants you to think about combining items or flat-out using them, you'll do just fine within the its confines and have a good time -- at least, you'll never look at a flower pot in the same way, that's for sure. And as far as the game world and systems are concerned, they mesh well with all of this, complimenting the absurd puzzles and providing few hindrances to the experience, which overall, is pretty damn well-written and goofy.
In Narhwhal, You control loveable buffoon Guybrush Threepwood, a man who thinks he's a pirate and often stumbles into situations that make him seem like he's an actual pirate. In this iOS version of the game, you scoot him around by pressing onto the screen and activating a virtual joystick that allows for three-dimensional movement. You can also click an interactive object and he'll automatically move to it.
Item combination and item management are bigger deals than movement, and these key components translate well to a touch screen. On the right-hand side a giant bit of UI activates an item screen where you can click and drag to combine, equip, and examine your loot.
This all works well for the most part, but there's a couple of catches. The Jungle Puzzle, for example, will make you want for more precision as you crawl to maze exits in an attempt to pick the right one. While timed puzzles, like the Boarding Puzzle, will undoubtedly have you desiring a snappier interface. I want to be real clear here and note that these puzzles are do-able. My point is that the UI is sluggish and movement wasn't made a priority. And for further clarification, I've yet to spot problems on the scale of Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone for iPad [$4.99] yet.
On the technical side, Narwhal for iOS looks like a medium resolution port of the other versions of the game. Textures are rich, vibrant and as detailed as the game's aging engine allows. This isn't blow-your-mind quality stuff, and really, it doesn't need to be. The game's bubbly art style reflects the tone and captures the spirit of the game so well that you won't be desiring more. I'll note that you'll encounter a few visual oddities here and there, as well as some slow down, but I think you can suffer through it.
In large part, you can deal with this stuff because the world is so rich. Characters don't have real depth, sure, but each dweller you'll meet has a quirk and a touch of wit and absurdity that mirrors the game's vibrant, offbeat world. The dialogue in particular (voiced) is great. There are obvious references to past games in the series within it, as well as neat culture references, jokes, and the unusual buffoonery.
End of the day: I've always felt like Narwhal was a great start to a new MI series and it still is on iOS platforms. Ticky-tacky problems aside, I can't recommend this game enough to adventure game fans or logic puzzle lovers. This game is good and deep. Also, the ghosts of the series' past are alive in this recreation, making it an easy pick-up for anyone who grew up with MI (or, strangely, are just now getting their start via rereleases). Check it out.
The story behind the creation of Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$6.99] is almost as interesting as the game itself. Aralon started as a project by the two developers, Jason and Sam, that comprise Galoobeth Games. They created an incredible RPG game engine for the iPhone that was more robust than anything previously seen on the platform, allowing for multiple character races and classes, the ability to mount and ride animals, a touch of alchemy and item combination, and oh so much more. All of this functionality was set in the expansive open world of Aralon, but as exciting as the framework for the game was the visuals were completely lacking.
Then back in May of this year the guys at Crescent Moon Games, who had previous experience in open-world action games with their own Ravensword [$2.99/Lite], stepped in to give the entire Aralon game a complete visual makeover. The stunning transformation can be seen in the comparison screenshots we posted in June, but it really hits home just how far the game has come when you watch the original trailer side-by-side with an updated one. All of this pre-release hype had caused Aralon to be one of the most anticipated game releases of this year, which was reinforced by an upcoming games thread in our forums that has achieved more views than any other in the history of TouchArcade.
Today that anticipation comes to a head, as Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD has finally been released in the US App Store. It's a moment that's bittersweet in that as happy as I am to see the game finally arrive, I'm equally as sad due to how much fun it has been following along with the game's progression. Any feelings of sadness quickly fade away, however, because as soon as you fire up the expansive world of Aralon on your iOS device you realize that you're in for an experience that's unlike anything you've ever seen on the platform before. I could literally write for hours about all the different aspects to Aralon, but instead I will try to touch on the major points as well as my feelings about playing this masterpiece of an iOS game.
You start off in Aralon by choosing one of three races - a human, elf, or troll - and from there you further refine your character by choosing its class. Both humans and elves can be male or female and pick from warrior, rogue, ranger, and mage classes. Trolls can only be male and either a warrior or a rogue. Each class has its own skill tree to master as your character levels up, and they all play quite differently from one another giving plenty of reason to play through the game as each. You then customize the look of your character model using a decent selection of hair and face choices, and although the options here aren't as robust as what you would find in a console game, it's certainly the most extensive on the iOS platform.
The story of Aralon then begins, and follows a tale of betrayal and a Kingdom on the brink of collapse. As fate would have it, you are the key element to solving these problems and restoring The Kingdom of Aralon to its previous state of peace and harmony. It's certainly the kind of story that follows clichés of the role-playing genre, but it's interesting nonetheless and serves as a good motivator to carry on and see things through.
After you're introduced to the premise, a very nice tutorial gets you acquainted with the controls in Aralon. A small directional stick controls character movement, and contextual buttons handle interacting with people and objects in the environment. You can scour chests spread throughout the environment or the bodies of fallen characters to collect items. There's an impressive amount of weapons and armor to equip, each of which will actually change the look of your character.
The real fun begins when you are let loose into the world of Aralon to explore and complete quests. The expansiveness and detail of the lands is jaw-dropping. The draw distance is limited and you'll notice an occasional wonky texture here and there, but by and large the huge world of Aralon is wholly impressive. There are main quests that pertain to the storyline as well as a number of side quests to complete, all of which are neatly tracked through a helpful quest log. The log will give you plenty of information on where to go, who to talk to, or what to do in order to complete each quest. This is aided by a map that points out the different areas in the game and your location relative to them, and at no point during Aralon did I feel lost or have a hard time figuring out what to do if I'd taken a break from the game for a while.
During your exploits you will run into countless enemies roaming the land. Battles take place in real time, and while they are largely button-mashing affairs there are some strategic elements to consider. A single button performs an attack based on what your character is equipped with, like a sword or a magical attack, and a second button handles defending or parrying. The defense system is timing based, and it's quite fun to work out the correct rhythm of attacking and quickly holding up a shield to block an attack. You also have a number of special skills which you slowly unlock and enhance through the skill tree as you level up. These skills, along with practically any other item or ability, can be assigned to up to 10 quick slots at the bottom of the screen. This ensures easy access to them and lets you mix up your tactics when taking on the enemies in the game.
For as much as I could wax lyrical about all the great thing in Aralon, the reality is that it does have some problems. The most glaring of these is the sometimes sketchy animations and behaviors of the graphics in the game. You'll notice things like when you mount a horse that it immediately teleports the creature to the correct position for you to hop on, or that as you're running through the world the game will occasionally freeze for a moment while it tries to catch up with drawing the environment. Given the incredibly expansive nature of the game, these are largely forgivable and don't hinder the experience too much, but they are there.
My other issue has to do with the controls. For the most part they work incredibly well, and the ease at which you can navigate menus and the many options contained within turns something that could easily be frustrating and overwhelming into something that is pleasantly simple. The problem comes with how the game highlights characters or objects in the game world that you can interact with. The range at which it highlights something is much too far, and it will remain locked on a character even if I'm in a building and on a completely different floor than they are. Also, if a character is standing close to an object like a chest, the game has trouble determining which one you want to interact with. You can remedy this to a degree by actually touching the object you intend to engage, but it still causes some cumbersome moments when navigating through the game.
Finally, it has to be said that with the incredible amount of quests associated with the main storyline as well as the many side quests, a lot of them can tend to feel repetitive. Don't get me wrong, they're still very enjoyable and the developers do a great job of trying to add variety to them. But in the end the majority of quests boil down to fetching or delivering items, killing a certain character or stable of enemies, and the like.
There is so much more to Aralon that it isn't even funny, like joining guilds, combining and creating items, or becoming an outlaw. But these things either don't fit within the scope of this review or are things that can only be experienced firsthand, like the first time the sun sets and gives way to a breathtaking night sky overlooking the vast land before you. I used to look at my iOS device as a small window into new worlds and fun experiences, and with Aralon I feel like I actually have a fully realized living and breathing universe sitting snugly in my pocket.
Even with some of the warts that come with an initial release, Aralon is one of the most enjoyable games I've played on the App Store. Additionally, Crescent Moon has an excellent track record with collecting player feedback when considering game updates. They have already created an Aralon suggestion thread in our forums, and are monitoring the feedback in the official release thread as well. I have no doubt that a game of this magnitude will continue to evolve and improve over time with new content, gameplay tweaks, and bug fixes. Still, it's a thoroughly enjoyable game as it is now, and I don't only suggest Aralon for fans of Western RPGs or expansive open-world action games, but I think every iOS gamer needs to pick up this title just to experience what is possible on this constantly expanding mobile platform.
Consider this a small bit of news for a huge shooter on the App Store. As of now, you can begin downloading a brand new map pack in Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus [$6.99 / HD / Free], an FPS that takes a lot of its cues from Modern Warfare.
Yesterday the popular Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series 
If you've been following TouchArcade, you've seen that we've been closely keeping up on Gameloft's Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden [
We'd like to extend our thanks to TouchArcade forum user 
It's a good time to be a fan of Telltale Games. If you haven't noticed already, the prices of most of Telltale's games are now a mere 99 cents on the App Store.
In 2009, Telltale Games resurrected the Monkey Island series with the first Tales of Monkey Island, a classic point-and-click adventure game. Since then, original Monkey Island creator LucasArts has started rereleasing Monkey Island classics and Telltale has finished its series based on the highly-regarded IP. Both series' (including the rereleases) are successes, so it's only natural that we're seeing them on the iOS.
The story of Aralon then begins, and follows a tale of betrayal and a Kingdom on the brink of collapse. As fate would have it, you are the key element to solving these problems and restoring The Kingdom of Aralon to its previous state of peace and harmony. It's certainly the kind of story that follows clichés of the role-playing genre, but it's interesting nonetheless and serves as a good motivator to carry on and see things through.
