Luc Bernard has released to TouchArcade the first screenshots and details about his next iPhone game SteamPirates.
SteamPirates is described as a turn based RPG with the following quirky storyline:
The story follows Kat a human who was raised by the Cat Empire. After she found out that she wasn't a cat (she just thought that she didn't have any fur or a tail), she went out to the seas to find herself (it left her deeply traumatised). A few years later once she comes back, the Cat Empire is now ruled by Captain Purrrrrrrkos who is trying to take over the oceans.
Kat must then decide to either stay loyal to the ones that raised her, or join Ze Pug Rebellion.
Bernard doesn't expect the game to come out until the first quarter of 2010 but it will deliver the following features:
Ship Battles (upgrade your ship and fight with it)
Ground Battles (normal character battles like in a final fantasy)
Travel to different weird locations (such as Cat Cove, Neo Orlans, Beaches, Mermaid Lairs)
Fully Hand Drawn Animated game
Go on various quests such as saving rockstars from sea eating monsters, getting flowers for dog smelling bars, etc...
Classic JRPG with Western Influence
Funny ridiculous storyline
The game is being developed by the same team as Mecho Wars and will again feature an orchestral soundtrack by Sean Beeson. In fact, the main theme has been provided in MP3 format (download) and sounds pretty epic.
The game carries the same distinctive artwork as Bernard's other games:
Bernard, of course, was responsible for the turn based strategy iPhone game Mecho Wars that has long been promised an online multiplayer update. He reassured us that the long awaited update is set to be submitted within the next few days and it will feature 4 different online modes, push notifications, Open Feint integration and the ability to play up to 20 matches simultaneously.
The best way to think of Game Resort'sCastle Warriors is as a hybrid that takes the visuals of ngmoco’s Star Defense and blends it with the real-time strategy of Phil Hassey’s Galcon. And, that’s how you get this entertaining and immersive offspring.
Presented in a series of letters between you and Queen Mynera, the storyline involves a kingdom under a cloud of darkness as evil foes plunder the land. You command an army of warriors, warlords and giants in the war against an overgrown gang of orcs, trolls, ogres and demons who are just as conniving and intelligent as you are. The objective is simple: prevent the enemy conquest of the land by taking control of all the castles on the battlefield.
With 3 levels of difficulty—easy, normal and hard—you’ll do battle through 12 maps in a single-player campaign. The maps themselves look amazing, and each has physical geographic features that can both hinder and help depending on how wise you are.
On each map, a series of castles exist with the base of operations for each side located on opposing sides. Castles in your control bear a blue flag while those of the enemy have a red one. Each flag shows the number of troops stationed there. Empty castles do not have flags and are usually ripe for the picking. A mini-map in the upper left corner shows the location of castles and is color-coded accordingly. Attacking an enemy tower is as simple as sending troops to that tower. Battles take place automatically with the outcome determined algorithmically. In this way, the relatively simply strategic gameplay is very similar to Galcon. Unlike Galcon, troop production is not done in real time. At the end of each day, you are awarded reinforcements based on the outcomes of the day's events.
The game controls are simple. As in Star Defense, you can pan across the map by dragging the screen, although there is some noticeable sluggishness on first generation devices. Also just like Star Defense, however, some players may not like the constant need to pan back and forth to properly manage your troops -- though, arguably it does add to the overall experience. To move troops, you tap on the castle where the troops are located, and then tap on the destination of the other castle. The game does a terrific job of showing troop movements and skirmishes when opposing forces cross each other in the field. As for selecting the amount of troops, Castle Warriors provides some pre-set options which you can click through fairly quickly (e.g. move some, move half, move more than half). One issue introduced with this interface, however, is accidental castle selection while panning across the field. This can result in unintentional troop movement which can be frustrating.
When attacks occur on your castles, an event tab appears at the bottom of the screen identifying the castle in distress. Simply tap on the event tab and you’re automatically taken over to the castle. As you conquer castles and the days pass, additional troop reinforcements are made available since you’ll lose a fair amount of troops in battle. Castles also physically upgrade at the end of the day to provide additional defenses and capabilities. While you have no direct control over these upgrades, the more troops you have stationed in a given castle, the faster the upgrades will come.
The gameplay requires some quick thinking and even faster actions since you’ll often find yourself defending your castles against marauding enemies. One of the best parts of the game is the in-field skirmishes which unfortunately are not something you can reliably plan. Visibly, it’s rather entertaining to watch with blood and accompanying sound effects. The element of time also adds to the challenge of this game. Since battles can only take place during the day, and you have a limited number of days to complete your mission, the onus is on you to plan ahead. Keep in mind that the farther away troops have to travel, the more impact time will play since they have a greater distance to cover.
Castle Warriors is a simple and attractive strategy game that should appeal to a broad range of players. While the 3D panning interface allows a rich graphical experience, it does introduce some potential performance and usability issues. Still, it delivers an immersive experience that does make you want to play "just one more time".
iChromo's 2.5D flight action title Aera [$2.99] was one of the many new games to recently arrive in the App Store. Aera is a sort-of casual flight simulator / side scroller at heart. At least, that's how iChromo describes it -- but it's a little more side scroller than flight simulator. Granted, that description might be a little hard to picture. Think Pandemonium! -- or closer still, NiGHTS Into Dreams -- but in an airplane.
Aera puts you in tilt control of a variety of aircraft across a range of different play challenges. There's Aerobatic / Solo, which is a run through the hoops and between the floating mines to collect a set number of balls within a time limit, Dog-Fight, which is, well, an aerial dog fight, and Race, which is a pylon to pylon (and back) run against the clock while dodging those pesky mines. The various challenges can be played in a Campaign mode which features two tutorial levels and 10 missions (three Solo, three Race, 4 Dog-Fights) or a Quick Game mode that varies the challenges based on the difficulty level selected. There's a no-pressure Free Flight mode, as well. There are two unlockable locations and 3 unlockable planes.
The game features fluid animation and excellent graphics which combine to make a truly enjoyable tilt-centric gaming experience. And there's lots of tilting. Left / right tilting controls the plane's atttiude, a jerk forward or back performs a 180-degree roll, and a delicate dance of forward / back jerks files the plane in a blade formation (think of the Duke boys' best moments in the General Lee) which is useful in dogfights, as enemies cannot hit your craft when flying on end. Sensitivity adjustments are offered through the settings panel.
And speaking of dogfights, that's all about weapons, of course. In dogfight mode, your plane has a forward gun with unlimited ammo as well as a limited amount of heat-seeking missiles that auto-lock if an enemy is well lined-up in your path. When enemies are destroyed they release slowly falling point bonuses that can be collected to increase score. But be careful collecting those close to the ground.
The game also features a local Wi-Fi multiplayer mode (with Duel and Capture the Flag modes) which I was not able to test.
As far as negatives, there seems to be a freezing bug in the game affecting some players. This forced the following warning from the developer:
IMPORTANT: please unplug your iPhone/iPod from computer when playing Aera, otherwise game can freeze occasionally; this issue is being addressed, will be fixed in the update.
As well, with only 10 distinct levels of progressive difficulty without a global leaderboard, long term playability is a legitimate concern. The game, however, does deliver such a fun and unique experience, that there can still be a lot of joy in replaying the included levels. The developer also indicates that they do plan on rolling out additional levels and locations over time.
Overall, Aera is a beautiful and enjoyable game that lived up to our expectations.
Vogster Entertainment's Robocalypse delivers a military strategy game wrapped up in a Saturday morning cartoon. Ported from the Nintendo DS, Robocalypse takes advantage of the touch controls on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform to provide a humorous and engaging experience. While the production values are obvious from the gameplay screen shots, what is really done well is the story and how it’s presented. In Robocalypse, you must defend the world from the evil Demolisher robot and his army of henchmen with your own army of robots.
The big attraction of Robocalypse for many will undoubtedly be the visuals which are well-animated with a good dose of self-deprecating humor. From the robots and structures to the explosions and weapons fire, this is a good looking game. Dialogue bubbles appear throughout where characters spew humorous one-liners, and coupled with the funny cut scenes, you’re bound to chuckle here and there. From an audio standpoint, the game sports occasional voiceovers accentuated by a workmanlike soundtrack.
The interface can look a little strange since the HUD takes up a third of your screen space, though the information provided is more than necessary. The game will automatically orient itself to landscape and portrait modes, and you can swipe the HUD to bring up primary and secondary mission objectives. The primary ones are necessary to complete the mission while the secondary ones provide additional energy and resource boosts.
In the upper left corner is the mini-map showing your location as well as the location of bots. Unexplored areas are blackened out, but you can easily maneuver around through by dragging within the mini-map or in the actual game area. And a graphical summary shows the number and types of bots in the field at any given time as well as available scrap metal and battery power. The status of heroes is located down the left side of the screen and tapping on them will instantly locate them.
The game has a considerable amount of depth with 17 campaign missions and three modes of difficulty—easy, normal and hard. It also includes local Wi-Fi multiplayer and a beta of online multiplayer with 18 multiplayer maps. The single player missions themselves are quite varied in their objectives that can be as straightforward as destroying the enemy’s headquarters and as complex as preventing a certain number or enemy bots from entering an area while also destroying specific structures. We had not tested the multi-player options for this review, although reports indicate that the online multi-player community has already started ramping up.
Before building your armies, know that scrap metal is the foundational resource to accomplish that, which means you’ll need an infrastructure in place. First and foremost is the construction of buildings since this is essential for building up troops and heroes for offensive attacks.
Headquarters—Base of operations that must be protected at all costs; game is over once destroyed
Robot Factory—Produces soldiers and medics
Hero Factory—Produces heroes and can only be built after a Robot Factory is operational
Workshop—Allows for upgrading soldiers up to 2 times
Resource Bank—Increase the production of scrap metal
Radar—Allows views of uncharted areas
Turret—inflicts major damage on enemies
Heavy Turret—longer range and inflicts massive damage
As with typical RTS games, there are heroes who bring a little something extra to the warfare table. Robocalypse doesn’t disappoint with 6 unique heroes along with 20 weapons.
Joe Commando (assault hero)—elite fighter with dual machine guns; more brawn than brains
Sergeant Payne (leader hero)—born leader with gauntlet gloves that smashes heads
Spyder Scout (scout hero)—fast mover good at infiltrating installations and uses the Converter Cannon to freeze enemies
Pyro Assault (assault hero)—fascinated with fires armed with the flamethrower aptly called Melter
Viper the Sniper (sniper and scout hero)—good at infiltrating and long-range sniper attacks
Warlord General (leader hero)—strong leader who leads by example through his Chainsaw weapon
The game also includes RPG elements where the heroes abilities can be customized. Through victories and enemy kills, heroes level up and life points can be applied in the areas of toughness, energy, armor and weapons. These are earned through kills and can be used to boost their weapons in between missions. And what would heroes be without an army of robots… the game has four basic bots (Builder, Soldier, Medic, Heavy Soldier), each essential if you’re to succeed.
A slight learning curve comes with the controls especially in terms of managing bot movements. An individual bot can be moved by first tapping on him, and then the desired location, but moving groups can be a unorthodox. In general, bots roam around and behave on their own such as scouting areas, repairing structures or even battling enemies. Two buttons appear at the bottom of the screen: Action and Defense. Action enables you to set a spot where you want as many as 5 troops to move as a team. Defense is used when you want a certain location defended at all costs. You tap on the appropriate button and then tap on the location. The action flags serve as destination points and troops will move into the area where the flag is located. When placed in enemy territory, they will attack. The action flag system isn’t the most intuitive and can be frustrating since troops will occasionally wander off and get killed, but in general, the AI seems to work well with the system.
The action can be intense and rather addicting. The game seems to have a balanced AI with a fair share of attacks on your camp thrown in for good measure. Exploration is also encouraged since secret upgrades are hidden throughout. Specific controls points are located throughout both for your side and that of the enemy. These locations can be captured and in some cases, unlock hidden mission objectives.
Overall, Robocalypse brings a refreshing take to the iPhone RTS category. While the action flag system takes some practice mixed in with a bit of frustration, Robocalypse is an entertaining and humorous game that any strategy gamer should check out. The inclusion of multiple difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) as well as online multiplayer should also give the game plenty of long term play.
In celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day, Muteki Corporation's The Battle of Pirate Bay is available for Free from the App Store. We reviewed the game back in July and really enjoyed it.
The game places you in command of three different ships to defend your base against incoming pirates. Each of the three ships have a different size, speed, attack radius and ammo supply. The largest ship is the slowest and has carries the least amount of ammo but has the longest attack radius. Meanwhile, the smallest ship is fast but needs to be right up against a pirate ship to fire its cannon. Using Flight Control-like multi-touch swipe controls, you direct your ships to cover their respective areas on the playfield. Incoming pirate ships are automatically fired at when they come within range of your ships.
Since the initial release, the game has seen continuing updates with new powerups and maps. Get it for free while you can -- today only.
LucasArts'Secret of Monkey Island has been put on sale this weekend for only $3.99 (down from $7.99) [App Store].
Originally released in 1990, and having seen several revisions following the initial release including a port to the Sega CD, this Special Edition of The Secret of Monkey Island [App Store] is the best version of the game yet. It has been completely re-imagined with new art, complete voice-overs, and a new live instrumental musical score. The iPhone version really is an impressive effort.
The game has also seen a 1.1 update which fixes a number of 3GS related issues (graphics, crahes), audio bugs, and tunes the control acceleration and sensitivities.
2XL Games announced their upcoming 2XL ATV racing game. The new game promises:
16 unique ATV Supercross and Outdoor Nationals tracks
2 Freestyle levels
Up to 16 unique stunts
Massive career mode and achievement system
Freestyle mode with advanced scoring system
Multiplayer mode
Adjustable level of difficulty
Their teaser video looks particularly impressive:
2XL Games were also the creators of 2XL Supercross which we felt was visually stunning, but ultimately a bit shallow. Specifically, a lack of career mode kept us from really falling for their debut title. Based on the spec sheet, it seems they have added a career mode in their upcoming release.
For some reason, Apple decided to unleash a massive number of new games into the App Store over the past 24 hours. The releases keep coming, with many games we've been talking about for some time. We've already covered a number of them, but here are a few more that may be of interest.
We will come back to the best over time, but if you've been particularly awaiting any of these, here's your chance. Each game title is linked to the App Store, and forum discussion threads area also linked to provide you with early impressions.
Aera ($2.99) - And impressive flight game that is set in a 3D world, but controls closer to a sidescroller as horizontal movement is controlled automatically. Join the discussion thread.
Indie developer Zach Gage has really gotten our attention. Gage's first iPhone application SynthPond [$1.99 / Lite] was a creative music application that can generate some very interesting results (video). His second iPhone application is a game that is a true multi-touch puzzle game that requires quick thinking and multitasking in order to succeed.
Unify is structured as a cross between Tetris and color matching games but with a multi-touch twist. Differently colored blocks "descend" towards the center of the screen from both sides. Simple touch controls allow you to move the pieces up, down or towards the center while tapping rotates them.
The combination of moves is pretty natural in practice but effectively lining up combos requires a bit more planning. The developer's gameplay video shows the game in action:
The game comes with a "normal" mode which is 40 evolving levels with added colors and progressive music. Also included are 3 endless modes (easy, medium, and hard). Unify also supports OpenFeint to provide global high scores.
Our primary criticism of the game might be that some of the background colors in the center bar can make it hard to distinguish blocks from empty spaces. There have also been some early crash reports, though we haven't experienced these ourselves, but the developer is active in the discussion forum and is working to address the issues.
Those looking for a different kind of iPhone puzzler, should definitely give Unify a try.
While there is no shortage of card games for the iPhone, Lost Token'sDurak [$0.99] seems to have distinguished itself over time, generating a loyal following along with a couple of glowing (one, two) TouchArcade user reviews.
Durak is a popular Russian card game typically played between two to six people (two to four in the iPhone version). Each player receives six cards and the objective is to get rid of all your cards. The game is a trump-card based game where players take turns being on the attack. Attacking involves placed a card down face up. The defending player must place a card of higher value with the same suit or a trump card. Attacks can continue if you have additional cards in your hand whose face values that match any of the cards in play. If the defender can't defend, then they must take all the cards into their own hand. If the defender does successfully defend the attacks, all the cards get swept into the "graveyard" and remain out of play. The goal is to get rid of all your cards.
The iPhone implementation of Lost Token's Durak really is top notch, with a natural touch interface, as well as clear efforts to make the game accessible to new players. At any time during a game you can tap on a help icon to tell what you are supposed to do. Durak also offers local multiplayer over Wi-Fi, 3 levels of difficulty, and customizable cards based on your photo library.
In fact, there really only has been one thing that has held us back from really diving into Durak. Like most multiplayer card games, the real fun and challenge tends to come in playing against other people. While Durak does offer local Wi-Fi play, if you don't happen to have iPhone wielding friends nearby willing to play against you, you are left playing against the computer.
Lost Token has let us know they are about to address this and open the game up to worldwide players with an imminent online multiplayer update. The update will feature both online and Bluetooth multiplayer, Facebook integration, buddy lists, and push notifications. Here's a teaser video showing the online feature:
And in anticipation of the release, they've dropped the price of Durak from $2.99 to $0.99.
So, if you're looking for a great card game that's well implemented on the iPhone, Durak is a safe bet, and the upcoming online multiplayer update should guarantee long term replayability.
Square Enix, the studio best known for their Final Fantasy series and who brought us Crystal Defenders and Vanguard Storm for the iPhone, has today announced a new forthcoming iPhone title, Sliding Heroes.
Sliding Heroes is a real-time strategy game where you control units by tilting your iPhone or iPod touch and making them slide across the screen. Your units are of classic fantasy classes, like warriors, clerics, and mages. The dangers that they face aren't only fearsome monsters (of which there are plenty!), but a great number of insidious traps and obstacles that bar the way to each map's goal! The gameplay is simple, but you'll need to use your wits and dexterous hands to lead your troops to victory!
The studio has just setup a Facebook page for the game that's presently rather sparse of information, but we'll keep an eye on it and make sure readers stay in the loop.
Tonight, Vogster Entertainment's award winning Robocalypse real time strategy game has finally made it to the iPhone. Originally a Nintendo DS game, Vogster has been hard at work porting it to the iPhone. We first heard about the game at E3 in June, where Vogster was already showing a very solid looking version of the game.
At the time, they said that while they were working on online multiplayer they couldn't promise it in the initial release. Well, it seems they took the time to get it working as the online multiplayer feature is available in this 1.0 release. The game features 10 unit types, 20 varieties of weaponry, 17 campaign missions, and 18 unique multiplayer maps. 1-4 players can play on the multiplayer in head to head or coop modes.
This video from June does a great job explaining the gameplay and interface. Note that there may be elements that are different from the final release due to the age of the video. Of particular note, online multiplayer is available:
The Nintendo DS of Robocalypse was very well reviewed and the developers seem to have ported it to iPhone with care. Early impressions are being gathered in our discussion forum.
Zenonia fans will be excited to hear that Gamevil's latest game Hybrid: Eternal Whisper [$5.99] has arrived in the App Store.
Hybrid is a hybrid of action, adventure and RPG genres. It is an action fighting game at its core but with an extensive skills upgrade system, RPG elements and is tied together with an in depth story line. You play the role of Grey a young kid with a mysterious history who is looking to defend his land and avenge his brother. The story walks you through your training which teaches you how to fight. The D-Pad offers movement and an action button for attacks. Grey also has two different sword grips: standard and reverse. The two grips are more effective for different scenarios and can be combined together to form longer attacks.
Additional special attacks and skills are introduced over time and there appear to be a massive number of possibilities. The game is a series of fights strung together with a story. Surviving the fight is, of course, the ultimate goal, but you also get graded on your style and performance with each fight. As you level up and pick up items from enemies, you can upgrade your personal stats and equip stronger weapons and defensive items.
The game features 70 battles, 10 hidden stages, and an endless mode. Some of the skills and attacks are demoed in this video:
We do plan on offering a full review of the game, but, in the meanwhile, the early forum impressions are being collected in this thread.
At GDC Austin, we also met with Appy Entertainment, creator of Face Fighter [99¢ / Free], a fun fighting game where you create your opponent based on any photo on your phone. In the game you can beat up co-workers, loved ones, pets, or anything else. Face Fighter has been out for a while, but if you've never heard of it, there's a free version a try. [App Store]
While Face Fighter might be a difficult act to follow, Appy Entertainment may be on to something with their latest game, Zombie Pizza, a strange cross between matching and time management games. In the center of the play area there is a pizza with four quadrants that can be filled with the various toppings coming down a conveyor belt. Since you're making pizzas for zombies, these ingredients are things like brains and hearts, each with a different score value associated with them.
These toppings must be arranged on the pizzas in matching pairs, and an in-game cookbook guides you through the acceptable pizza types. As you go through the unlockable levels, you will have access to more pizzas, and you will eventually find yourself managing multiple different pizzas at once to feed a gang of zombies that grow even more restless with each new level.
Here is the trailer for the game provided by Appy Entertainment today at GDC:
Zombie Pizza has a great art style to it, and the cartoonish zombies combined with the ridiculous premise of needing to feed them pizzas was actually a lot of fun.
Zombie Pizza is due to be released on the App Store very soon.
Godzilab Games' new physics puzzler has finally arrived in the App Store tonight [$1.99]. We loved what we saw in our preview, and that sentiment carried through after we had more time with the game.
In iBlast Moki, the goal is to get the Mokis from point A to point B through the use of bombs, ropes, balloons, wheels and more as you traverse through the 6 worlds and 70 levels. The early worlds involve simply placing bombs in the proper location to propel your Moki to the goal. Soon, multiple bombs are provided that can be set to detonate on a delay. The proper combination of bomb locations and timings are essential to blast the Mokis to their goals. As you go through the worlds, more tools are introduced that can be combined to solve the levels.
In each level, you are given a limited number of these tools, so there is generally one intended solution. I find this approach more satisfying then some of the more open physics puzzlers where you're never quite sure if you're approaching it correctly. That's not to say the game is without challenge. There are certainly levels that require some thoughtful planning and trial and error to solve.
The entire interface is very iPhone appropriate with pinch/zoom and drag implemented to pan around levels. Bombs and tools are placed by a simple touch and drag interface and even adjusting the bomb timers is a very intuitive touch dial interface (see video). The game's interface, menu system and transitions also exude a very high level of quality and attention to detail that is typically only seen from the big name iPhone studios.
See our gameplay video for a sampling of some of the levels.
The game comes with 70 levels and many of them can be short. Perhaps the best part of the game, however, is that Godzilla Labs has already included a full level editor and a sharing system (powered by Plus+) that gives you access to a potentially endless supply of levels. As of this writing on launch night, there are already 53 downloadable user-created levels. User levels can be rated, so you can easily find the ones that others have rated highly.
Overall, iBlast Moki is a fun, high quality physics puzzler with intuitive controls and a full level creation and online sharing system for only $1.99. We highly recommend it.
Luc Bernard has released to TouchArcade the first screenshots and details about his next iPhone game SteamPirates. 
The game features fluid animation and excellent graphics which combine to make a truly enjoyable tilt-centric gaming experience. And there's lots of tilting. Left / right tilting controls the plane's atttiude, a jerk forward or back performs a 180-degree roll, and a delicate dance of forward / back jerks files the plane in a blade formation (think of the Duke boys' best moments in the General Lee) which is useful in dogfights, as enemies cannot hit your craft when flying on end. Sensitivity adjustments are offered through the settings panel.
At GDC Austin, we also met with Appy Entertainment, creator of Face Fighter [
