The App Store seems to go in cycles with releases and upgrades coming in waves. Tonight a number of long awaited game updates have appeared, including Duke Nukem.
Here's a partial list:
Duke Nukem 3D ($2.99) – The long awaited control system update is now available. This fixes the issue with the analog controls. The controls are fully adjustable and many find them to be too sensitive on the default settings, so be sure to adjust these until you find a liking. The controls are still perhaps not ideal, but are much improved.
Samurai: Way of the Warrior ($2.99) – Stability and performance improvements and…. "minor game balancing" including that of level 3.
Archon ($2.99) – New 1 player campaign mode called "Conquest" which is said to add hours of individual play.
Wild West Pinball ($0.99 – New missions, music, tilt, and fixed camera option.
The Deep Pinball ($0.99) – OS 2.x compatibility, and fixed camera option
Back when rumblings of the iPhone hadn't even crossed the minds of Apple rumor hounds I rocked various cell phones and always knew Gameloft as "that company with lots of brick breaking games for all kinds of different phones". With the advent of the iPhone, the debut of the App Store, and Gameloft's first entries into said uncharted digital territory, I half expected this mental image of mine to persist. It is amazing to me that in the span of barely over a year Gameloft went from simple solitaire and match three games to providing us with one of the most immersive first person shooter experiences on the iPhone to date.
Modern Combat: Sandstorm [App Store] is by far one of the most impressive gaming experiences I've seen on the App Store, and easily is able to hold its own when compared to the technical accomplishments of other remarkable efforts in pushing the iPhone to its limits like Real Racing, Doom Resurrection, and others. Featuring multiple full motion video cut scenes all of standard Gameloft quality, complete in-game voice overs, impressive AI, top notch graphics, fluid frame rates, and controls that even surprised this skeptic of virtual analog sticks.
The game begins like a lot of console first person shooters where you're put through a "basic training" of sorts that gradually teaches you the different controls, weapons, and techniques of the game while making you feel like you're playing a game instead of a tutorial. The default control scheme works quite well, a virtual joystick is in the bottom corner that controls your movement, and swiping anywhere on the screen controls your view. In the bottom right corner is a button to fire, and whenever you can do context sensitive things like jump off a ledge or toss a grenade back at an enemy another button appears in the bottom center of the screen.
Framing the rest of the screen are buttons that allow you to crouch, zoom in to aim through the sights of your gun, throw grenades, change or reload weapons, and pause the game. Other control options include splitting the screen in half, touching the left side of the screen controls your movement and the right controls your view. Tapping on the right side of the screen also fires. You can also use dual analog sticks, then tap anywhere on the screen to fire. The sensitivity can be tweaked and the Y-axis can be inverted regardless of which option you choose.
If you follow Touch Arcade, you probably know by now that I'm generally not a fan of on-screen virtual controls. They usually feel clunky and often lack the precision required in a lot of games that come with them. It's completely refreshing, and honestly a little surprising how much Gameloft managed to nail the controls of Sandstorm. It's great to just be able to say the game is fun to play without the qualifier "…as best as can be expected with on-screen controls".
Sandstorm features the same generous auto-aiming system that appears in other Gameloft shooters. If this assistance grinds your gears, you will be happy to know that there's an advanced options screen where you can toggle it on and off along with the in-game blood, lefty mode, and screen flip.
The plot of Sandstorm won't be winning any awards for originality, as it's a fairly cookie cutter premise centralized around conflicts in the middle east, evil terrorists, and the trials and tribulations of your military squad as you fight your way through the various bands of enemy combatants standing between you and the various objectives. The story gets the job done, and your squad, complete with total voice-overs for all dialog really adds to the overall immersion of the game.
Official trailer:
One clever thing Gameloft did with voice-overs is the way the mission briefings work. Between each level, you're given an overview of the situation your squad is in, the objectives, and your rules of engagement that are all wonderfully narrated. As you're listening to the briefing of the upcoming mission, the next level is loading behind the scenes. When the narration is finished, you hit next and play the level. These sneaky loading screens make the game feel as if it almost has no load times at all.
The AI in Sandstorm is fairly challenging, with enemies often taking cover, advancing when you take cover, manning nearby stationary machine guns, and even tossing grenades. This really goes a long way in making Sandstorm actually feel like a game where you need to be intelligent about cover and which enemies you shoot first, as opposed to most first person shooters on the iPhone that feel a bit like a shooting gallery where you can basically just run and gun your way through most levels without much risk. If you decide to just run out in to the open, guns-a-blazin' in Sandstorm, you will quickly die.
Gameloft games are rarely very innovative, and Sandstorm is no different. If it came with the Call of Duty brand name plastered on it, you would be hard time knowing it was developed by Gameloft instead of Infinity Ward, makers of the Call of Duty series. Everything is extremely similar from the objective system to the arrow pointing you where to go next to the regenerative health system where all you need to do is seek cover for a few seconds to regain your strength to avoid dying. I don't really think this is a bad thing, because the Call of Duty series consists of excellent games, and Gameloft has really done the series justice in this highly inspired spin-off.
Included in the initial launch version of Sandstorm are 10 levels, and I've been averaging anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes per level as I make my way through the game on normal difficulty. Each level comes with a variety of checkpoints so if you die you never lose too much progress. What is quite confusing to me is that the game apparently only saves your progress as you complete levels. If you're 10 minutes into a mission and have passed multiple checkpoints, quitting the game to take a phone call or answer a text message forces you to start back at the beginning. This seems like a big oversight to me, and I hope that this would be fixed in an update.
Speaking of updates, Gameloft has promised a free future update to add online multiplayer to Sandstorm. We don't have any more details than that currently, but the game does give me some serious Counter-Strike 1.6 vibes. I have no doubt it would makes the dreams of countless gamers come true if the upcoming multiplayer update included squad-based objectives instead of simple deathmatch. After all, they've already practically got the texture and model set required for a fairly accurate reproduction of the Counter-Strike map de_dust in game already!
Hands on gameplay video (on easy, and with multiple takes):
Modern Combat: Sandstorm is an excellent game that raises the bar of what is to be expected of future first person shooters on the iPhone, as well as being added to the short list of games with fantastic on-screen controls. The three included difficulty levels should provide a fun experience for first person shooter veterans and newcomers alike, and while I'm not entirely sure how much replay value the game has, there is massive potential in the future multiplayer update.
If you're at all interested in shooters, or are just looking for a great game to flex the muscles of your iPhone, look no further than Modern Combat: Sandstorm.
Gameloft's much anticipated first person shooter Modern Combat [$6.99] has arrived in the App Store.
Modern Combat: Sandstorm, Gameloft’s new action-thriller will plunge you into the heart of modern war. Assigned to Mission Sandstorm, your duty is to locate and annihilate a new terrorist cell setting up shop and recruiting foreign insurgents in a remote desert hot spot. This jarring first person shooter will equip you with the most sophisticated and powerful modern day weapons.
The developer description includes:
10 missions featuring varied and highly polished Middle Eastern environments (city, hospital, sewers, port, lab, training camp etc…)
Intuitive iPhone controls offer unprecedented game fluidity. Choose among 3 different control systems: Default Controls, Screen Tap and Virtual Sticks
Use a wide range of authentic, advanced weapons (2 assault rifles, sniper rifle, RPG, shotgun, submachine gun, light machine gun, heavy machine gun mounted on a moving 4X4, explosive grenades, flashbang grenades, radiation detector) enriched with a leveling system that allows the player to progressively unlock weapons and use munitions from fallen foes
Aim and shoot with extra precision in Sniper and Ironsight mode
Highly polished 3D graphics provide full immersion into the military experience and high intensity combat
Cinematic snippets, military voice-overs and true-to-life situations increase game realism
First impressions and gameplay video coming shortly. Early raw impressions are being collected in our forums.
If squad-based first person shooters are your thing, StarByte's NEX [App Store] may just be the game you've been waiting for on the App Store– featuring a variety of different objectives, ammo types, and menacing aliens at every turn. But how does NEX stand up against the existing shooters for the iPhone?
Your movement in NEX is controlled either by using a on-screen D-Pad, the accelerometer, or a combination of the two. Without any way to adjust the sensitivity of the tilt controls, I found them to be far too touchy and bordering on unusable. Deciding to stick with the D-Pad also created some issues because the control area is positioned so far to the left of the screen that often when I meant to hit the arrow to turn left, I ended up just tapping off the iPhone's screen. The control method I found to be the most effective was just keeping my thumb on the forward arrow and just ever to slightly rocking it to the right or left to turn.
First of all, if you haven't already, I'd give some serious consideration to picking up Doom Resurrection [App Store] as today is the final day of the $2.99 sale. If you need some help clicking the "Buy Now" button, check out our review of the game.
Doom Resurrection is an on rails shooter that utilizes the graphical assets from Doom 3 to creating a gameplay experience that feels like a Doom game, despite the inability to control your character's movement. Since the $2.99 sale started, more and more people who were initially hesitant about the rails aspect of the game have seemed to since come around to enjoy Doom Resurrection for what it is, rather than what it isn't.
Over the weekend, Doom Resurrection 1.1 landed, bringing a new bonus map and a challenge mode with 40 available challenges. I completed the original version of the game shortly after it was released, and challenge mode has definitely breathed some new life in to Doom Resurrection for me as it once again has first page icon status on my iPhone.
Challenges range from scoring, accuracy, speed, and other goals. For instance, the first challenge asks you to score at least 300,000 in the first level. Each kill you make without taking damage increases your scoring multiplier that resets back to zero as soon as you get hit. Reaching (or exceeding) the target score requires you to maintain a score multiplier, which will involve some memorization of the levels to be prepared to take out some of the surprise attacks before getting hit. Another challenge that uses the first level of the game has you beating the section with 100 health, 75% accuracy, while grabbing all secrets and items.
The new bonus level is called "Gooey Reactor" that is absolutely loaded with all kinds of enemies throwing things at you. I've been slowly progressing through it on the marine difficulty level. I've got to seriously tip my hat to anyone who can beat the new level on the nightmare difficulty level, as four hits basically kills you and there isn't ver much health spread around.
The new update combined with the $2.99 sale has rocketed Doom Resurrection up to the seventh spot on the overall App Store top ten. At the sale price, Doom Resurrection provides a significant value, and an even greater one if they continue adding new levels and challenges.
There must have been a memo sent out to developers this week. While we try not to post about every random game that goes on sale, this week we've seen a number of notable games drop to free including Saucelifter, TowerMadness, Dropship and Mevo & The Grooveriders. iFPS Online joins the list of temporarily free games that is worth a download.
iFPS Online was the first online deathmatch game for the iPhone released back in April. The game was a bit rough with less than ideal controls, and limited play areas. It has seen a couple of updates since it was originally released, but is one of the few games that offers online deathmatch play — and as a first person shooter no less. The game has dropped to free for a limited time.
Here's the developer's original gameplay video:
The game allows you to host and join multiplayer deathmatches and also provides a single player mode.
In honor of QuakeCon this weekend, Id Software has significantly dropped the prices of both Doom Resurrection [App Store] (Originally $9.99, now $2.99) and Wolfenstein 3D Classic [App Store] (Originally $2.99, now 99¢). If you were holding back on getting either games, now is the time to buy as the sale will only run until QuakeCon is over on the 16th.
Doom Resurrection utilizes Doom 3 assets to create a game with visuals that hold their own even when compared to the graphical giants of the App Store like Real Racing. Not quite a traditional first person shooter, Doom Resurrection is on rails and is controlled using the accelerometer to move a targeting reticule around the screen. In our review, we found Doom Resurrection to be "pretty awesome" and at this price hopefully some of the rails naysayers will take the leap of faith and give the game a try.
Wolfenstein 3D, first released in 1992, is the game that popularized the first shooter person genre. In the iPhone version, all six original episodes are included with 60 total levels and four different control layouts. The controls in the iPhone Wolfenstein 3D are generally regarded on our forums to be among the best for first person shooters, so if nothing else the game is worth checking out to see John Carmack's idea of how games like this should be controlled with the limited input methods available on the iPhone.
Mobila Interactive posted a brief video on YouTube tonight showing a very early build of Rise of the Triad for the iPhone. Originally developed by Apogee Software (now known as 3D Realms), Rise of the Triad was meant to serve as the sequel to Wolfenstein 3D.
With simple shoot everything that moves gameplay, it was released in 1995 and saw several re-releases before the source code was eventually released under the GNU General Public License. Since then fans have ported the game to nearly ever platform imaginable, and as of tonight the iPhone joins that list.
Here is the development video, also the developer notes the control scheme is just for testing and will be changed in the future:
For questions, or more information, head on over to the thread posted by the developer in our forums.
A few minutes ago we received a provisioned copy of the Portal clone built in Unity that we posted about last week. There have been suspicions since the original video was posted that the entire thing was an elaborate hoax, but we can now confirm that it actually does exist.
The game in its current state is rather buggy, I've fallen through the world a few times and the way gravity is handled when going through portals needs some tweaking. Also, according to the developer, the controls are not as good as they'd like them to be, a sentiment I can get behind as playing the game right now feels rather clumsy.
Here is a short video of me playing through the first room and entering the second room of the first level:
All in all though, we're looking at a very promising Portal clone that still needs a good bit of work before it's ready for prime time. Also, it remains to be seen what Valve's reaction to this project will be as ultimately they hold the keys to the castle and needless to say, this Portal clone is treading on some extremely thin legal ice.
This evening we got tipped off on a strange video that appeared on YouTube showing a test build of a pretty convincing basic clone of Portal built in Unity running on an iPhone 3G:
It's unclear what the future of this project holds. Normally I would say producing something like this is the quickest way to get a cease and desist letter, but Valve has had rather unexpected reactions in the past to spin-off projects.
Yesterday, we got our first contact with the french community manager of Valve. Yes, Valve. The marvellous company that brought Portal and so much more to us for years. Don't take me wrong, I'm not trying to seduce anyone, but believe me, it was huge. I was so happy and so scared at the same time. For your information, they don't seem to bother about us doing a prequel for Portal. They're even sending us their congratulations and they seem to enjoy what we're doing.
Will this demonstration of a Portal-like game running on the iPhone receive the same blessing from Valve, or is the project legally doomed? We anxiously await Valve's response.
The App Store seems to go in cycles with releases and upgrades coming in waves. Tonight a number of long awaited game updates have appeared, including Duke Nukem. 
