Last weekend we took a look at a preview release of React Games' Archon Conquest and, as fans of the 25 year old EA original, we liked what we saw.  The game has since gone live in the App Store [link] and we've spent a bit more time with this variation on the studio's remake of the chess-like action strategy game.

Back in June, React brought a revamped take on EA's 1983 classic Archon [App Store] to the iPhone. Archon is an action / strategy game set on a 9x9 chess-like board arrayed with a variety of Light and Dark game pieces, each with its own set of battle attributes.  When two pieces come face-to-face on the same board square, action turns to the battle arena where the enemies do battle, arcade style.  The winner takes the square.

Archon Conquest stays close to the original formula, but in place of the chess board setting is a variety of different environments in which to play -- four maps or campaigns with 60 different quests or puzzles to complete in all.  As mentioned in our preview, Archon Conquest looks visually closer to EA's 1984 sequel, Archon II: Adpet, but the similarity ends there.  It's still a matter of controlling power squares or wiping out the enemy wholesale, but in new, obstacle-laden environments.

Archon Conquest allows the player to earn medals on each quest, depending on overall success and tracks skill through (Plus+) online leaderboards.  Power characters can cast spells, including new spells as compared to the original, and characters can level up and collect various power-ups in the combat arena.

The differing available characters through the game's various quests, along with the need to negotiate the new board environments, mixes the game up tangibly from the more ordered gameplay of the original.  It feels very much like the new take on Archon that it is, and as a big fan of the original, I find it pleasantly refreshing.  There's definitely more long-term playability here than in the classic title. In fact, the full play time is estimated at 16 hours to complete all four maps.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Those familiar and fond of the original should find the variety that Archon Conquest brings a welcome twist on a solid formula.  And, thanks to the variation that the game brings (not to mention a lower cost of entry), those who've never commanded the Light or the Dark before might just find React's latest to be more appealing than classic Archon. 

Wherever you fall, if a well-balanced fusion of action and strategy sounds appealing, you'd do well to give Archon Conquest a try.

App Store Link: Archon Conquest, $0.99

This week, 2XL Games' highly anticipated off-road racing game 2XL ATV Offroad [link] hit the App Store.  The game is a follow-up to the studio's 2XL Supercross, a technically impressive dirt-track racing title that, physics and visuals aside, felt a little shallow from an overall gameplay perspective.  We're happy to report that this latest from 2XL Games takes all of the "good" from Supercross and combines it with highly varied tracks, a proper career mode, and Wi-Fi multiplayer to deliver one of the very best racers in the App Store.

ATV Offroad features three different track types in which to compete.  Supercross tracks, much like those featured in 2XL Supercross are represented but, in addition, an array of Nationals (outdoor tracks) and Freestyle (it's like stunt racing in a massive fossile pit) tracks have been added to the mix.  Whatever track type you're racing in, the visuals are breathtaking -- especially in the two outdoor types.  From the impressive draw distance to the overall smoothness of the onscreen action to the clouds of dust kicked up by your competitors, the game is an iPhone eye-candy carnival that the PSP has reason to envy.  The visual experience takes me back to the ATV Offroad Fury series on the PS2, but with a better sense of speed.  Yes, this truly is one of the most visually impressive games available for the iPhone.  It is absolutely a full console experience.

The game features an Arcade mode, which allows racing among any of the 16 available tracks across Supercross, Nationals, and Freestyle, as well as a Career mode (which is really the core playmode) and a Wi-Fi multiplayer mode (with Bluetooth on the way).  Online leaderboards provide a skill incentive.

Career mode involves moving through a sequence of 11 Leagues which are events of varied track combinations.  Rank high enough and the next League is unlocked.  I've spent a great deal of time playing rather deep into the title and can tell you that, at Medium difficulty anyway, it's not a cakewalk.  The challenge is apparent and requires some real skill to League up.  But the journey to victory is a most satisfying one.  The requisite track replays to get the needed ranking are nothing but enjoyable.  Adding to the experience is an extensive achievement system that rewards players for skill on the track along the way.

The two available Freestyle tracks, in whichever mode you encounter them, are solo free-for-all's in a large, terraced pit.  The goal here is to perform as many tricks as possible to rack up points and medal up from bronze to gold.  It's kind of a Tony Hawk experience on an ATV.  The draw-distance and physics system exhibited here are impressive.

The game's default control mode is accelerometer tilt, but a virtual stick is available as well.  I find the former to be far superior to the latter in any mode of gameplay.  Tilt control in this title has been very well tuned and offers excellent vehicle control.

In any playmode you can choose from among 15 different drivers and 15 different ATVs to get the race done.  The variation that these choices provide are simply visual rather than physical, but it's nice to have choices.  And adding to the experience is an impressive sound system that does a great job of letting you know just where the encroaching competitors are on the track behind you.

See the developer's gameplay video for a closer look.

I am a particular fan of offroad racing games.  I enjoy the heightened in-game physics that they exhibit and don't at all mind a little travel on the Z-axis (jump, jump, jump).  That said, this is my favorite racing game available for the iPhone.  And the replay value is significant.  Anyone who enjoys a solid, well-rounded racer -- and offroad racing in particular -- would be a fool to let 2XL Offroad Racing pass them by.

App Store Link: 2XL ATV Offroad, $7.99

Rockcat Games' second title, Hook Champ [App Store] was approved and appeared for download last night. Since then, I've spent a good amount of time with the game and have really enjoyed everything about it.

In Hook Champ, you play as an Indiana Jones-like character equipped with a grappling hook trying to escape from various haunted ruins before you're eaten by a ghost. The core gameplay mechanic revolves around using your grappling hook and rope to swing through these ruins as quickly as possible.

The controls are simple and work well, touching the bottom right and left corners makes you run that direction, and tapping the top of the screen throws your rope in that direction. Releasing your finger recalls your rope, and you can immediately tap again to send your grappling hook flying back to the top of the screen to swing again.

Your time in every level is tracked and uploaded to an online leaderboard, and as you progress through the game you earn coins to buy various upgrades for your character. These upgrades tweak every aspect of the game from making your rope longer to making you run faster and everything in between. There are even superfluous upgrades like football helmets and headbands for your guy to wear.

The whole game is wrapped in wonderfully nostalgic pixelated graphics with chiptune music, and load times on my iPhone 3GS are nonexistent. It's very difficult to find anything about Hook Champ to complain about, although I do suppose the lack of mid-level checkpoints can be irritating on the more difficult levels. Still, all the levels are short enough that you never feel like you've lost that much progress when you die.

Hook Champ is an absolutely fantastic game that all fans of retro styled sidescrollers should own. It's currently on sale for 99¢ this weekend, which only serves to sweeten the deal. The thread on our forums are filled with enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive impressions of the game, and Lasharor has some excellent tips for newcomers.

App Store Link: Hook Champ, 99¢

Tap Fu offers a fun casual fighting game that can be played in short spurts or in more prolonged sessions when you’re looking for a little more action. While it isn’t a particularly deep game, Tap Fu provides an enjoyable enough gameplay experience that makes it worth considering.

The game has 4 modes: Story, Survival, 100 Rounds and Training. In Story mode, you play the role of a Tap Fu Trainee out on a mission to recover candy that the Sweet Tooth Clan has stolen from your village. Under the tutelage of the Elder Tap Fu Master, you gradually learn new skills. The story is told through cut scenes, dialogue boxes and muffled dialog. One of the things to keep in mind is that Tap Fu’s Story mode is a work in progress that currently only includes Chapter 1: Ninjas (7 levels). While additional chapters are planned in later updates, the content that is there right now offers just a glimpse into future installments.

Meanwhile, Survival mode offers high-scoring opportunities by battling a continual onslaught of enemies. A variation can be found in the other mode 100 Rounds where you must defeat the entire wave of enemies to move to the next round. Both modes provide the option of playing in two different locations: Mount Fuji and Sakaki Forest. Whether in the village or on the mountaintop, the colorful backgrounds look terrific even though they are limited in variety.

The big selling point for Tap Fu comes in your Tap Fu Trainee’s fighting abilities. These abilities—blocking, quick attack, jumping, spin kick, back kick, roll, and fireball—visually look great and the entire combat system is intuitive and well implemented.

Using either the virtual d-pad or specific finger gestures, these various moves can be performed. The easier of the two control options is the d-pad with specific action buttons that appear when available. The gesture-based controls require a bit of practice, but are also well implemented. Jumping for example can be accomplished by swiping upwards, while swiping downwards will result in a roll. In general, the quick punch/kick attack is activated by tapping the screen and will be your primary method of attack against ninjas.

Tap Fu includes a local and online scoring system which awards points for combo moves and style. The game also incorporates an achievement system for points scored, battle combos, damage inflicted, and length of survival.

In both Story and Survival modes, Ninjas do become more difficult to slay as you progress, as well as gain the ability to cloak their appearance and teleport from one place to another. While the gameplay can get intense, it is also becomes rather repetitious as there is a limited variety in the enemies. We also found the difficulty ramp up in survival modes to be very slow, making an average session drag out into more of a grinding experience than we wanted.

While the game's art and core fighting mechanics are wonderfully executed, the current version of the game noticeably suffers from the inclusion of only an abbreviated story mode. Tap Fu can still be fun a game for those looking for a casual fighting experience, but we expect that it will quickly grow old those hoping for a deeper game.

App Store Link: Tap Fu, $3.99

Yesterday I made it out to the Freeverse offices and sat down with their development teams to look at their lineup of upcoming games. The title closest to completion was Warpgate, which we have previewed in the past. I played through the first few tutorial missions, and the game has grown substantially from the initial screenshots we saw so long ago.

The concept of the game has stayed essentially the same since our preview, but since then Freeverse has added a tremendous amount of content and graphical effects. Each system that you can land on has their own economy which is in constant flux, along with a series of procedurally generated random missions that will allow you to play the game forever without running out of things to do.

In the graphical department, normal mapping has been added to every object in game. Normal mapping is a rendering technique used to fake shadows and lighting on objects to create much more detailed graphics while still maintaining a low enough polygon count to be rendered at a high framerate. (Wikipedia has an excellent article on the specifics of normal mapping, including an image that does a great job of illustrating what it can do.)

There have been other games for the iPhone that have used normal mapping, but all of these games have been sold as "3GS-Only" games. Warpgate is anticipated to be the first game for the platform that scales these graphical effects based on the device you're playing it on.

If you're playing on an iPhone 3GS, normal mapping will be enabled and you'll be able to see canyons and crags in planets along with the different details of the ships and warpgates. But, if you're playing on a previous-generation device, the game will gracefully degrade back to standard textured 3D models. If in the future you upgrade to a newer device, all of the graphical features you didn't have access to are instantly enabled without needing to buy a "enhanced" version of the game.

Here is a video provided by Freeverse illustrating the difference in graphical quality between devices:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version | Quicktime Movie]

Warpgate is still in development and Freeverse is hopeful to have it on the App Store in time for the holiday season. We've been playing different builds of the game over Warpgate's development, and the game seems to be rapidly progressing. Look forward to a more detailed preview and review of the game here as its release approaches.

Luc Bernard's long awaited online multiplayer update for Mecho Wars [App Store] is finally available this afternoon. If you've been waiting to get the game until the online component has been added, now is your chance to join in on some OpenFeint-powered turn based multiplayer action.

Mecho Wars is a turn-based strategy game that plays very similar to the Advance Wars games on the Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance. Since our review of the initial release, Oyaji Games has also added a second single player campaign and even more challenge maps to conquer.

The online component features a ranking system with an insignia that changes as you defeat more opponents, along with twenty different slots that concurrent multiplayer games can be played in very similar to UniWar [99¢]. There are 20 different maps to play on along with four different objectives that range from capturing all buildings, killing a specific target, killing all enemy units, and reaching a certain gold total. There are also options for turn time limits ranging from 5 minutes to 24 hours.

The online multiplayer seems to work equally well both over WiFi and 3G, although it would be nice if there was an even shorter turn limit to make games feel a little bit more real time.

If you have questions for the developers about the game, Luc Bernard started a thread in our forums.

App Store Link: Mecho Wars, $4.99

Lazrhog Games has just released a fully free version of Kento Cho's classic shooter Noiz2sa. A $0.99 version [App Store] has been floating around for some time, but the developer of that version allowed Lazrhog to release this much-modified and optimized version for free. [App Store]

The game is a classic kill-everything dodge-everything shooter adapted to the iPhone and iPod Touch:

Control the small red ship with your finger from any point on the screen and destroy all the aliens. Use multi-touch to direct your shots anywhere on the screen. There are 10 limited duration levels, and 4 endless levels to attack your high scores.

This one's 100% free. If you like the game and want to support the developer, you can check out his other games [App Store]. Lazrhog was also responsible for iPlutoid.

App Store Link:: Noiz2sa Free, Free

Ngmoco is wasting absolutely no time in taking advantage of the new policy allowing developers to release free apps with in-app purchases. Aside from announcing that their Eliminate game will be free, they have also released Rolando 2: Chapter 1 into the App Store for free.

The free version of the game offers the entire first chapter of the game and offers the remaining chapters as paid in-app purchases. So you can buy them as you need them.

The game serves as a Lite version for the game, but the Full game dropped from $5.99 to $4.99 [App Store], bringing it in line with the total cost of buying all add-on packs.

 

App Store Link: Rolando 2: Chapter 1, Free

Ngmoco has announced that their much anticipated first person shooter Eliminate will be free in light of Apple's announcement that free apps can now offer in-app purchases.

More details are said to be following, but Ngmoco has long announced that Eliminate would carry in-app purchases for energy that allows players to earn additional credits. Every player gets a certain auto-renewable source of energy, but once depleted, to earn more credits the player must either 1) wait a certain amount of time for your energy to recharge or 2) purchase more energy. If you don't care about credits, you may also continue to play but simply be ineligible to earn credits during those games. Credits are used for equipment upgrades and leveling up. We had a hands on with the game earlier this month which explains the system in detail and also gives impressions of the gameplay.

Based on comments by Ngmoco about the "aggressive" pricing of Eliminate, we long suspected that Ngmoco planned on making the bulk of its income in these in-app purchases. The move to a completely free game would expose Eliminate to a much larger audience of potential customers and also remove the issue of having a large enough user base to support an online multiplayer game.

Eliminate has been submitted and is awaiting approval from Apple.

Apple has emailed developers today that they have made a major change in the way they deal with in-app purchases or downloadable content (DLC). When Apple introduced the idea of in-app purchases, they restricted this to applications that cost $0.99 at a minimum.

Now, they have extended it to free applications as well:

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.

You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.

Visit the App Store Resource Center for more details about how you can add In App Purchases to your free apps.

This will result in some massive changes to the scenery of the App Store. A number of questions and possibilities arise. Developers could, for example, completely eliminate a Lite version altogether, and simply provide a Free version with the rest of the content as downloadable in-app purchases. This, however, also changes the dynamic of the top 100 lists. Such an app would be ranked only in the Top 100 Free and may never show up in the Top 100 Paid.

Dark Nebula is described as a "skill-based action game" which we previewed back in August. The game is brought to us in part by Anders Hejdenberg, the lead designer of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat.

Dark Nebula is a tilt-controlled ball roller, but one that adopts an action/arcade vibe rather than the more tedious precision work found in many others. In fact, it feels so different, I'd hesitate to put it in the same genre. The game proceeds across 10 levels of action-packed gaming. Each level is very well designed with a variety of obstacles introduced along the way. Your tasks include the avoiding of spikes, triggering switches, avoiding laser fire, and more. And despite no calibration options, the game's controls seemed perfect.

Each of the 10 levels are primarily vertical scrolling scenes with distinct start and end points. Your ball has a single shield that can be replenished along the way. Get hit with your shield down or fall off the level and you have to restart at the beginning of the level poriton you are died on. If you lose all your lives, you can restart at the beginning of any level you've unlocked. There are 10 levels in all.

In fact, it seems the developers have gone to special trouble to avoid user frustration in the game. For example, if you get killed by a laser shot or spinning spikes, these elements actually slow down so it's easier to get through on your next life. The result is a game that you will enjoy immensely to the end, though one that will end relatively quickly.

Dark Nebula is billed at offering an hour's play time to make it through the entire game. If you are particularly coordinated, you will be able to make it through in a significantly shorter amount of time, though going back to get gold stars on each level do offer a legitimate amount of replay value.

Overall, Dark Nebula offers a very fun, action-arcade experience that we loved every second of. The game's rather short length, however, is a legitimate point of concern, but at only $0.99 and high quality of the overall experience, we still recommend it.

App Store Link: Dark Nebula, $0.99

Jonathan Lanis has recently contributed a simple and fun bit of 3D obstacle-dodging tunnel madness to the App Store in the form of Boost 3D [link].

Boost 3D is about tunnels, and it's a rather simple affair.  You start out racing down the inside of an obstacle-laden tunnel and, before you know it, you're racing down the outside of an obstacle-laden tunnel, tilting left and right, trying to keep from careening into varying arrangements of colorful blocks.  There are boost pads that lend speed to your travel, as well as granting the ability to crash through an obstacle.  Granted, it sounds pretty same-old, same-old -- I mean, there're plenty of hurtle-down-a-tunnel games in the App Store -- but somehow, Boost 3D stands above the pack.  It has a certain stylized, simple charm that makes it feel unique.  Not to mention the glass-smooth framerate.

That said, it could be more of a game.  You start down the tunnel, racking up points the further you go.  The track and obstacles change along the way, but it's a one-shot run.  I think the addition of end goals and levelling would add significantly to the game.  But, still, among the iPhone tunnel games, Boost 3D is king, or close to the same.  It's genuinely hard to put down.

See the developer's gameplay video, which is silent, unlike the game.

App Store Link: Boost 3D, $1.99

While our NBA Live preview with video was definitely the main attraction for us at the EA pre-holiday "Naughty or Nice" press event in New York today, that wasn't the only thing they were showing off there. The event was segregated into the "naughty" games, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Dante's Inferno for the XBOX 360 and "nice" games like Spore Hero Arena and other kid-friendly titles.

The iPhone games were firmly seated in the "nice" department, and while they were also showing off Command & Conquer Red Alert and Rock Band (Two games we previewed last week.) we also got to pick EA's collective brain about several upcoming titles and a few new features being added to their old ones.

Need For Speed Shift is still in the works. We originally had hoped to see a preview today but EA had decided that the game needed some more work before they would be ready to show more than the few screenshots that had already been released. Need For Speed Shift is going to feature 20 name brand cars, each with customizable performance upgrades. Also, the aggression and precision analysis has made it to the iPhone from the console version, and you will be awarded different trophies depending on how aggressive or precise your racing style is.

They're spending a lot of time concentrating on making sure the graphics of Need For Speed Shift are as good as they can be, and EA is hopeful to see the game released later this year.

An update currently aimed at mid-November for Sims 3 is going to add a handful of downloadable content (DLC) packs to customize your Sim and their house. These DLC packs are segregated in to "live it" and "wear it" packs for furniture and clothing. Each bundle of content will include a few different hairstyles and outfits or pieces of furniture. The first three themes that are being rolled out are the "Castle," "University," and "Vampires and Werewolves".

The castle "wear it" pack will allow you to equip your sim in a suit of armor, and the vampires and werewolves live it pack will add things like coffins to your house. They weren't willing to discuss pricing, but acknowledged that they needed to provide a good value as you can buy an entire iPhone game for 99¢, the current lowest price point allowable by Apple for in-game purchases.

If teenage text-based adventures with a few mini games thrown in are appealing to you, Surviving High School may suit your fancy. According to EA, the original J2ME game was wildly successful on mobile phones, and they thought it was a "no brainer" to bring it to the App Store. Through various dialog choices you can become a jock, a nerd, or several other personality types. Surviving High School is essentially a very involved graphical equivalent to a choose your own adventure book, revolving around teenage life.

While I'm not sure how much the game will appeal to our readers, the comic styled graphics were very detailed and it looked like it might be good for some cheesy moments and ridiculous decisions. EA plans on releasing Surviving High School this November.

Also discussed were DLC packs that will be available through Rock Band. Songs will be sold in packs of two for 99¢, and while they wouldn't say how much content they planned on offering, if the console versions of the game are any indication, it wouldn't surprise me to see a decent amount of available DLC. And if you've been waiting for Rock Band, EA told me they're not holding it for a specific launch date, it will appear on the App Store as soon as Apple approves it, which could be any time now.

Command & Conquer Red Alert local multiplayer over both WiFi and Bluetooth is coming in a free update following the game's launch, and they're also planning on selling map packs via an in-game store. Again, no pricing has been announced, but it's nice to see EA planning on supporting their games with additional content.

Throughout all of this I can't help but be amazed by how much EA's iPhone catalog has progressed over the past year. This time last year EA's commitment to the iPhone was limited to simple tilting games like Spore and equally simple board game ports like Scrabble. By the end of this year we will have seen not one but two Need For Speed games, an entire collection of EA sports titles, and other great games no one would have expected to have ever seen on the iPhone a year ago.

At EA's Naughty or Nice press event this afternoon in the heart of New York City we were able to get our hands on NBA Live, the first fully licensed complete 5 on 5 basketball game available for the iPhone. My time with the game was somewhat limited, but I walked away impressed with what EA Mobile was able to squeeze out of the device.

As we mentioned in our earlier post with the bundle of screenshots EA released, NBA Live is a remarkably full featured game. All 30 NBA teams with complete player rosters are in game, along with each team's respective stadium. All of the team and player stat tracking is in place very similar to Madden 10, and there's even different season modes that you can either play or simulate all the way to the NBA finals.

Like most sports games (or other games with lots of action), the screenshots barely do NBA Live justice. Watching the game in motion with ten players on the court complete with shoes squeaking and the crowd either cheering or jeering really impressed me.

If you've ever played a basketball video game before, the controls will come naturally. A virtual analog stick controls your movement and a set of two buttons handle different functions whether you're on offense or defense. When you have the ball, one button passes while another shoots, dunks, and does other trick shots depending on how long you press the button and which way you flick your thumb afterward. When the opposing team has the ball, these buttons handle cycling through players and blocking.

A button in the top right corner momentarily pauses the game and allows you to issue commands to the rest of your teammates to support you through various plays whether you want to pick and roll or set yourself up for a three pointer. Free throws are executed via tilting. You tilt the phone back toward you, then flip it forward. How straight you were able to flick the phone backwards and forward controls your accuracy.

The free throw tilt mechanic felt a little gimmicky, but penalties seemed rare enough that shooting free throws likely won't be a main part of the game. One thing that really piqued my interest during my discussions today with EA was the inclusion of unlockable NBA legends. Buried deep inside of the game are NBA greats like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and others.

The following gameplay video is from EA's latest build of NBA Live, it's still a work in progress, so try not to pass final judgment on the game based on what you see here:

Overall NBA Live is working up to be a very promising title for basketball fans. EA was reluctant to give a firm date on when they expect to have the game ready for release, but were hopeful that it will be in gamers' hands later this fall.

EA released the first screenshots for their upcoming NBA Live game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is described as delivering the "most realistic 5-on-5 action" for the iPhone platform. Features include:

• Real NBA rosters
• 30 NBA teams
• 82-game Season mode, Exhibition mode, Playoff mode
• Virtual analog stick to control the game.
• 15 music tracks from artists such as Matt and Kim, Snoop Dogg and Xzibit.
• Announcer Marv Albert

We should have a hands on report with this game (and others) later today.