Remember back when Freeverse used to make traditional games instead of freemium titles? The ngmoco acquisition and the shift to free to play almost seems like ancient history with how fast the App Store moves, but Warpgate [Free / HD] was one of the final gamer games released by the studio. How long ago did Warpgate come out? Well, our review is centralized around it being an original iPad launch title. See, I told you, ancient.
Warpgate is a space trading game, and a damn fine one at that. There's tons of content to delve through, and the dynamic in-game economy is something that can basically keep you busy for eternity if you get immersed in it. In addition, there are 35 star systems to explore, 172 different ships, and over 100 main quests. It's also had graphical updates since the initial release to add antialiasing, making Warpgate look even better than before.
Be sure to snag Warpgate and/or Warpgate HD while it's free. It's not for everyone, but if it gets your hooks in you, you can dump hours into the game without even realizing it.
It's Wednesday again, which for me means another week where I debate drafting up a template to use for these weekly New Zealand release posts instead of coming up with something new each week. Work smarter, not harder like Scrooge McDuck always says... But, I digress. This week's releases include a couple highly anticipated HD versions of iPhone games, as well as Army of Darkness Defense which, like all things to do with Bruce Campbell, seems almost too awesome for words.
If this is your first Wednesday with an iOS device, or if this is the first Wednesday that has come since you discovered TouchArcade, the App Store works a little something like this: Developers can set a specific release date for those apps, and they then get released worldwide in each region as it becomes that day in that particular region. New Zealand is the region nearest to the international date line, so they get their games first. What does this mean for us Americans? All of these games should be available at 11:00 PM Eastern tonight:
The indie house that created Tilt To Live [$2.99 / HD] has been teasing a brand new project for some time. Until this afternoon, we only had this little nugget to go on: it was a multiplayer-focused, turn-based strategy game. Now, we’ve received our first in-game peek of the new IP, which has been dubbed “Outwitters.”
According to One Man Left, the vision of Outwitters is to strip strategy to the bone and package it as something fun and inviting. It even hopes to capture a few casual hearts out there with Outwitter’s tedium-snipping tweaks and simplicity.
In a nutshell, Outwitters is a class-based, defend-the-castle kind of joint. The twist here is that movement is turn-based, so the action isn't simply a rush and defend free-for-all. As of now, there are six different character classes to choose from, each with its own respective duty on the field. And like Rock, Paper, Scissors, I’d imagine each has a weakness to the other. The end goal is to, of course, pummel your opponent’s base.
Remember Battle Chess? If not, no worries; it’s an easy pitch. Battle Chess is classic variant of chess in which its stylized pieces kill each other. It’s like the Mortal Kombat of chess basically, minus the skin and copious gore. Also, less “K."
I bring up Battle Chess because it’s coming back to PC, iOS, and “more” in the future, according to a new posting by developer Subdued Software. Specifically, you’ll see the PC version a little later this August and the iOS version “soon after” the fact, according to a Joystiq blog post about the revival.
Subdued Software’s Web site is not without content about Battle Chess -- plenty of shots of the new game are available to gawk at and, hey, there’s even a features list towards the bottom of the page. According to it, expect the game to support online play, training, skill challenges, and a “combat vault” that’ll allow you to view your chess fatalities. What else could a man require?
Released in July of last year, Villain’s Archetype [99¢] was easily the most robust online first-person shooter available on the App Store at the time. It featured smooth Team Deathmatch multiplayer for up to 10 players over WiFi, 3G, or EDGE connections. We really liked the game in our review, and in the months following release Archetype received several updates adding Capture the Flag and Free For All modes, new maps and game types, and loads of other enhancements. An iPad native version, Archetype HD [$2.99], was released as well.
While other FPS games have since offered similarly impressive online multiplayer functionality, Archetype has remained a popular choice among fraggers on the go. Now you can test drive the game for free with the recently released Archetype Cadet [Free/HD]. Archetype Cadet gives you access to 5-on-5 Team Deathmatch on 2 available maps, Invidia and Pride Rocket Arena. Check out our gameplay video of the release version of Archetype to get an idea of the gameplay:
The full version of Archetype has you creating a persistent profile that is tied to your device. Archetype Cadet simply assigns you a generic gamer tag that is unable to earn experience or rank up in any way, so there’s no hassle with trying to sync profiles between the two versions if you decide to upgrade to the full. If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about with Archetype but haven’t yet been able to pull the trigger on purchasing the game, then grab Archetype Cadet for a free glimpse of the gameplay.
You may recall back in November when Beeline Interactive (formerly Capcom Mobile) released Smurfs’ Village [Free] into the App Store. It was a Farmville-like freemium sim game that was themed after the popular 3-apple high blue folk many of us remember from our childhood. We actually quite liked Smurfs’ Villagein our review, noting that it did incredible fan-service to fans of The Smurfs and had gorgeous Retina Display graphics that brought everything to life.
Unfortunately, the freemium aspect sucked a lot of the joy out of the Smurfs' Village. Crops would wither and die if you weren’t constantly attentive of them and purchasing the IAP Smurfberry currency was basically required to obtain some of the cooler items in the game.
The IAP currency didn’t just suck the joy out of the game, though, but also sucked the money out of many unhappy parents’ bank accounts. The IAP system in Smurfs’ Village allowed you to make multiple purchases with just a few clicks, and in the weeks following the game's release Apple had a huge number of requests for refunds by parents whose younger children had accidentally bought hundreds of dollars of Smurfberries in the game.
Last month 2D Boy’s World of Goo [$2.99] finally arrived for the iPhone and iPod touch following the highly successful launch of World of Goo HD [$4.99] for the iPad this past winter.
The World of Goo experience translated surprisingly well to the smaller screen, but due to an unfortunate bug that slipped in at the last minute the game didn’t support Retina Display graphics as intended. Today 2D Boy has issued an update to correct this problem, and the game looks fantastic on the Retina Display.
If you’re somehow wondering “what is this World of Goo you speak of?” then be sure to check out our original review of the iPad version, as not only is World of Goo one of the most critically acclaimed indie titles on Mac and PC but it actually feels and plays even better utilizing the iOS touch screen.
Both the universal World of Goo HD and the iPhone/iPod touch only World of Goo have received the Retina Display fix, so be sure to grab the latest update to give your eyes some high-resolution love.
It’s official: Cthulhu is about to get its tentacles all up in your mobile devices. Indie developer Red Wasp Design has just announced that it's behind Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, an upcoming 3D turn-based strategy RPG for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and Android.
I suppose at this point, Cthulhu is more notorious as an Internet meme than it is as an object of author H.P. Lovecraft’s tortured mind, but just as a refresher, the hulking, tentacle-faced monster first appeared in a short story published in 1928. The monster has been used in many a video game since. I’m thinking his most famous usage was in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, a Bethesda joint.
Burrito Bison, on the coolest, most vibrant, and certainly most stylized ‘fling’ games this side of Berzerk Ball [Free], is coming to iOS in the future. Developer Juicy Beast confirmed as much on its blog the other afternoon, stating that work had just begun on the first build.
If you’re unfamiliar with Burrito Bison, give it a shot over at Kongregate. The forthcoming iOS version will be a port based off this flash build, so you’ll be able to get your head around the game as a whole before you see it on touch devices.
The first time I played Dance Dance Revolution, it was on Dreamcast. I didn't have a dance mat, so I used a controller. It wasn't quite the same experience, but it was still surprisingly fun. That's how it feels to play Step Evolution's first iOS release, ReRave [1.99]. It's like playing a dance game with your fingertips, and it doesn't lose much in translation.
Step Evolution comes from a dance game background, having worked on series that include In the Groove and StepMania. But this isn't a dance game crammed into an iPhone. They put a lot of care into ensuring ReRave makes sense on a touch screen.
You’d figure it’d be all hands on deck for the supposed Alan Wake continuation, but the minds and hands at Remedy Entertainment are still finding the time to support their racer Death Rally [$2.99] with a stream of post-release content. This morning’s update is a good one, too, as it adds a new level, a brand new mechanic, and a lot of fixes and tweaks.
Digging right into it, version 1.3 ushers in a brand new track called “Eureka.” It’s set in a frozen environment and features a “unique” camera angle. It also boasts a new mechanic: the studio has created and implemented a new track unlocking system that’ll allow you to collect pieces of new levels as you race. This is similar to how you put guns together and then earn them when you grab all the individual pieces via campaign play.
Oh, and no worries about losing all your save data again during an iPod switch -- a key value add in this latest update are back-ups that restore game progress based on what you’ve unlocked in Game Center. Not perfect, but it’s better than nothing, right?
As for the tweaks and bug fixes, there’s a lot. The one that jumps out at me is the random challenge bug fix, which now prevents the game from crashing in some cases. Also, the menus in the game have been “improved” for the iPhone 4 and original iPad, new sound has been added for the Stryker and the level Velodrama, and “further” support has been added to older iPod Touches and iPhones due to “reduced memory consumption.”
Death Rally, if you didn’t know, is a particularly sharp over-the-top racing game as noted in our review. The game hit first in March, but we actually featured it in our April game listings after upping the review to a five-star rating as a direct result of these awesome updates. Check it out!
Ever dream of managing your own baseball team? How about wishing you could run out on the field and yank that lousy pitcher off the mound yourself? Out of the Park Baseball 2011 [$4.99] has finally come to iOS devices, and satiates both those desires and more. Developed by Out of the Park Developments, iOOTP is a text-based baseball management sim originally released for the PC back in 1999. Despite shockingly low user ratings, the 2007 version of OOTP Baseball actually holds the title of 2nd highest rated PC game of all time by Metacritic. The reason? This is the baseball management franchise to own.
Sports management simulation games are all about statistics and strategy. Instead of getting in the game and taking direct control of the players, you sit on the sideline and make all the game changing decisions playing as the teams owner or manager. With a pile of statistics at your fingertips, it's up to you to make the right calls. Because of how technical most aspects of iOOTP are, if you're not an absolute baseball fanatic it's probably safe to steer clear. However, for those of you that pour over every line of your fantasy lineups season after season, dying to make those crucial trades, and can't get enough of running their own franchise-- This game was made for you.
Last Summer, we were treated to a fun and unique title called Plunderland [$2.99] by developer Johnny Two Shoes. Plunderland is a side-scrolling game that lets you control a ship full of pirates as you battle enemies on the open seas and pillage unfortunate island inhabitants. There's elements of Pocket God [99¢] in how you can manipulate characters and environments, and combat is similar to artillery games where you set the trajectory of your cannon fire to take out enemy ships and sea creatures. This is all topped off with incredibly charming graphics and sound.
We really liked Plunderlandwhen we reviewed it last July, and in the months following release the game was updated with new modes, Game Center integration, universal iPad support, and many tweaks that ironed out all of the issues we originally had with the game in regards to finicky controls and camera zooming.Things have been pretty quiet on the Plunderland front for the past several months, but over the weekend a substantial update was released that adds a brand new campaign to the game.
This new campaign, dubbed Revenge on Ice, takes place in icy waters and adds 8 new levels to play through as well as new enemies, weapons, and improved graphics and sound. You’ll need the new Ice Breaker ship to access these new levels, which you can purchase with in-game gold after completing the 3rd campaign. Alternately, if you're feeling lazy, you can buy a 99¢ IAP that will unlock every level in the game and give you the Ice Breaker ship.
Other new additions in this update include proper rotation based on your device’s orientation, a welcome new pause method where you can touch and hold the upper left corner of the screen to pause rather than tilting the entire device, and optional touch controls for the iPad if you felt tilting the larger device to play was a pain. I enjoyed the heck out of Plunderland ever since its release last year, as did many players in our forums, and it’s nice to see it getting some update love all these months later.
If you already own Plunderland make sure to get this latest update to check out the new Revenge on Ice campaign. If you missed out on the game before or just haven’t decided to take the Plunderland plunge yet, then it’s definitely one worth taking a look at.
By this point, we’re all pretty familiar with Gameloft’s process. They take a popular franchise from the PC or console gaming space and come up with their own strikingly similar version for iOS. Some people take offense to how liberally Gameloft borrows ideas, but for the most part their games are competent facsimiles of the originals that we would otherwise not be able to play on our iOS devices.
With their newest game, though, Gameloft has actually taken inspiration from an incredibly popular franchise that’s already on the App Store. Green Farm [Free] is the Gameloft version of Zynga's Farmville [Free], the freemium farming sim that took over the Facebook world and has since been ported to various other platforms, including iOS.
At any rate, Gameloft’s Green Farm seems to be a decent rendition of the Farmville formula. Your farm is saved server-side and you can choose to work on it on either your device or on the Facebook client that has been available for some time. In fact, Green Farm requires a Facebook account and an internet connection in order to play. The game is free to download, and there is an assortment of IAP currency packs should you wish to drop real dough in favor of speeding up the timer-based farming processes.
I’m not really a big fan of the farming sims, or most freemium sim games for that matter, but if that’s something that interests you then there’s no reason not to at least check out Green Farm as an alternative to the official Farmville game.
Alright, so here's a weird one for you- Our forums are filled with all walks of life, including people who apparently read every last detail of end the user license agreements that 99.999% of the planet just scroll through as quickly as humanly possible before clicking "I Agree". Forum member Starjimstar just tipped us off to the following Duke Nukem Forever info-nugget that's got me scratching my chin.
If you check out the Duke Nukem Forever page on Steam, you can scroll all the way down to the view the manual link. Like most modern PC games, there's basically nothing in there aside from a list of system requirements, and a whole bunch of legal text. Reading this legalese to the bottom gets you to the "Apple App Store Additional License Terms."
Strange, right? The original Duke Nukem [99¢] is already on the App Store, but could Gearbox potentially be planning an iOS release of Forever as well? What reason could there possibly be to include App Store licensing terms in a document for a PC game? Here's where things really get crazy- Per the FAQ, Gearbox isn't specifically stating which engine they're using, but it wouldn't be much of a leap to suggest they're using the Unreal Engine. ...Which also is available for iOS.
Alternatively, they could be referring to the Mac App Store, which is newsworthy as well as the previously mentioned FAQ specifically states the lack of announcements for a Mac version. ...But then there's the line that specifically states:
The license to the Software is a non-transferable license to use the Software only on an iPhone or iPod touch that you own or control.
The first time I played Dance Dance Revolution, it was on Dreamcast. I didn't have a dance mat, so I used a controller. It wasn't quite the same experience, but it was still surprisingly fun. That's how it feels to play 
You’d figure it’d be all hands on deck 
