Fans of Starfox or just very pretty space shooters are in for a treat as Brad and I sit down with Arc Squadron, the new release from Psyonix. Unfortunately, there is no annoying frog incessantly whining or a bunny rabbit yelling at you to "do a barrel roll!" Oh wait, did I say unfortunately? I meant fortunately.

While the surface similarities are there with a game like Starfox, Arc Squadron is very much its own thing, and it's also very good based on my time with it. You can do barrel rolls, and the control scheme is a very clever and intuitive touch-based one that gives you a very hands-on feel with your ship, and also allows you to make quick reactions to the bullets or general space debris that might will definitely end up in your path.

Arc Squadron looks absolutely fantastic, and more importantly it's a lot of fun. Plus it appears to have a whole lot of content to play through. It should be hitting with tonight releases, so be sure to check it out when it finally barrel rolls into the App Store.

Borderlands Legends [$4.99 / $6.99] hit the New Zealand App Store very early this morning, and we've got our greasy mitts all over this game. Unfortunately, once you get it on your device, all the strange things 2K was doing like revealing the game in a strategy guide starts to make a lot of sense as the game is just not good. The best way to describe it is by likening it to the "GameBoy version" of popular video games, and anyone alive in the 80's should know exactly what I mean.

If not, the trend at the time was to take popular IP, and due to either the limitations of the platform or due to development budget restraints, water it down to the point that the only recognizable elements that remain is the name on the box and the characters used inside the game. That's certainly the case here, as they've removed basically everything we like about Borderlands games in exchange for... Having a game on the App Store with "Borderlands" in the title, I guess.

We'll have a full review of the game up to coincide with the US launch at 11:00 PM Eastern tonight, but it's not looking good. In the meantime, you can join the launch day party in our forums where initial impressions are similarly not positive.

International App Store Links: Borderlands Legends, $4.99, Borderlands Legends HD, $6.99

At the beginning of the week, we told you that Cave's Dodonpachi Maximum would be heading to the App Store, and as of today it is now available worldwide. Dodonpachi Maximum [$11.99] is an original shooter created specifically for mobile, arriving exclusively on the Windows Phone 7 platform back in April. It takes elements from previous Dodonpachi games and slaps them into a "bullet simulator" to offer sort of a best-of-Cave compilation.

We've noted before how Cave's earlier shooters, like the original Bug Princess [$4.99 / Free], are great entry points for newbies since their scoring systems are generally less complex. However, I'd now argue that Dodonpachi Maximum is the best place for a bullet-hell beginner to start. Since it's an original title, it uses sharp, colorful visuals rather than the pixel art of their previous games, which are often designed for much different hardware and resolutions, so can look a bit rough on iOS screens.

This means that Dodonpachi Maximum has a nice contrast and fantastic clarity that can really help you see exactly where bullets are and exactly where to avoid them with your ship's hotbox. It may not have the same kind of charm that their pixel art games do, but it's definitely more functional and actually feels like a "bullet simulator" as the game implies. Plus, it's pretty cool to see a Cave game in such a different style.

That doesn't mean Dodonpachi Maximum is strictly for the beginner, though. There's still multiple difficulty settings and 16(!) different Game Center leaderboards to compete on, one for every level and a grand total leaderboard. Players in our forums seem to be really enjoying it so far, and we'll continue to put it through its paces. Right now it appears to be another winner from Cave, though definitely quite different from their past releases. The game will be on sale through the weekend for $6.99 before jumping up to its normal price of $11.99, so if you're interested you can save yourself a few bucks by grabbing it while it's on sale.

Earlier this morning, Eli and I spent some time with yet another zombie game, NY Zombies 2. It's a free-roaming, first-person shooter that tasks you with surviving a (mostly) shirtless zombie horde across a variety of objective-laced scenarios. As you progress in the campaign, you'll earn in-game currency and points that you can cash in for weapons, upgrades, and zombie-terrorizing skills.

It controls a lot like most modern FPSes. You've got two imaginary sticks that control the way you look and move, but you need to tap on the screen to shoot undead things in the face, as there's no "trigger" button.

We're undecided on this one. On one hand, the ideas that fuel the game seem good. At least, they're clicking with us. But, on the other hand, the game just feels a little clunky, especially its AI. This should give you a taste, though:

If you wanted to see Minigore 2: Zombies in action, we've got your back. Embedded below is another look at the follow-up in motion. The video, set in the same snowy field we showed you the other week, does a good job illustrating just how nuts this promises to be. Around 150 enemies can fill a screen at one time, and you'll be in charge of dismissing them all. Good luck!

While we're on the subject, here's some more numbers: Minigore 2: Zombies will pack in 50 different enemy types, in addition to seven boss fights and will launch with 20 unlockable characters.

Minigore 2 is still slated to hit "soon" for an unknown price. It'll be a Universal app.

If you wanted to see Modern Combat 4: Zero Hero in action, what we've got below is a good way to do that. The video is the first in what we imagine will be a long line of developer diaries for the game leading up to its release this fall. This one revolves around the tweaks and other spots of iteration Modern Combat 4 has seen on an engine, animation, and even narrative level.

As the diary explores all of this, it shows off scenes from the game. It also lets loose this tidbit: you won't just be playing as the good guys in the game's campaign. You'll also apparently play some missions as the game's central villain, which actually sounds like a pretty cool approach to the whole modern war story thing everyone is doing shooters right now. Here's hoping the execution on the dual perspective pays off.

I don’t know about you, but all I can think about when I mow someone down or blow someone away in Payback² [$4.99 / $59.99] is Jesse Ventura as Blaine in the movie Predator throwing back the cover of his minigun, spitting out his chewing tobacco (real nasty habit he’s got there) and delivering that immortal one-liner, “Payback time!”

It makes you feel tough, big and clever, and it fits Payback²'s action like a boxing glove. I mean, this game’s got to be worth playing for that reason alone, right?

Clearly this is a GTA clone, and makes no real apology for that. Nor should it, given that the GTA franchise took off in a very different direction after the second installment. Payback² borrows – admittedly very heavily – from the original, and not the third-person 3D versions that came later. You decide whether that’s good or bad, but from my perspective it's a wise decision. The bird's-eye-view format clearly still has a lot of life left in it.

GTA chose to tweak the series when it went fully 3D by dropping you into the world of organized crime. But what was so great about the first two games is that they were all about disorganized crime, and that sweet, reckless, chaotic flavor also permeates Payback².

This certainly can’t be accused of being a slave to its inspiration, however. Instead, it makes use of somewhat randomized game modes, so each new mission – or level, or however you want to label the independent vignettes of action – throws you into quite a different arena. For example, you start out in a tank, surrounded by enemies in need of destruction.

Being a tank you don’t have to worry quite so much about self-sustained injury, crashing or enemy gunfire, and you’re free to trundle around blasting like crazy and blowing things up. It’s an intro that demonstrates the rampant destruction Payback² actively encourages, after which it’s time to head out on foot for a team-based death match.

And so it goes from there, with most any kind of shooting, driving or multiplayer-based game structure you can think of haphazardly piled on top of one another as you climb the criminal ranks. It’s true that this dog pile of unsystematic violence might feel rather unstructured as has been noted on the forums, and that’s because it is. Personally I’d appreciate more story and less cherry-picking of game styles, but it’s hard to criticize Payback² too much for committing to the chaos. Disorganized crime probably shouldn't be too constrained by a deliberate plot sequence, but it can also feel quite jarring how the game schizophrenically  flips between events. Mini-game fans will find this quite endearing, while GTA aficionados will feel like they're splashing around in the shallow end of the crime-game pool.

At least you’re never lonely when playing through these mentalist missions, as the city is a very busy place. The place is littered with pedestrians and motorists – who provide the vehicles you’ll make considerable use of as weapons and escape options – along with your own AI-controlled team members and a huge number of enemies. On top of this are the cops, who seem fairly oblivious to the carnage until you commit a crime right in front of their faces, when you suddenly find yourself fighting a gang war on two fronts. Escape is your best option when the filth are after you, and considering this robs you of valuable time needed to complete your objectives, you soon learn that it’s better to avoid their involvement by any means necessary.

This adds the same enjoyable aura of anarchy that GTA harnessed so expertly, and gives you something to care about when firing wildly into a crowd or jacking car after car. Keeping your eyes peeled for the peelers is an important obstacle that gives the game a bit of much-needed depth.

And if all these game modes still aren't enough, Payback² comes complete with extensive multiplayer options. The online gaming is quite simple, really; replacing the AI characters with other real-life players. They can be on your team, as members of another gang or every man for themselves, depending on the game mode – of which there are many.

Jump into the matchmaking option, pick your game and get into the blood-soaked action. It’s simple and effortless, once the initial matchmaking wait is over and the round is ready. The delay doesn’t seem to be because of an underpowered multiplayer system, so much as shoring up the number of players, but it’s worth it once the pandemonium is in full swing. Also, even this early on in the game’s life, there seems to be a lot of support for multiplayer games, so there’s usually a queue waiting that you can jump straight into. Custom games can be hosted by you that other players are then invited to join in with, but they're just a way to ensure you're playing the event you want without having to find someone already hosting it. A nice option, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker if it wasn't included.

The controls don’t ask too much of you, and switch depending on whether you’re on foot or in a vehicle. Running and shooting is easy from the top-down viewpoint, with one analog stick for movement, and the other for strafing. It’s a great system that means you can run in one direction and shoot in another, and since you’ll be dead in seconds if you stand still and take careful aim, you’ll make good use of it. Armored vehicles, such as tanks and choppers, also use this control method, while cars free up your fingers for accelerating and breaking by employing tilt-controlled steering.

We tested the Payback² HD version, by the way, which includes support for the iPad as well as iPhone and iPod touch. If you’re definitely only going to play this on an iPhone or iPod touch, the standard (and slightly cheaper) Payback² version is for you. It still supports small screen Retina, but isn’t iPad-native. However, both games are identical in every other way.

Admittedly I’m a little torn between the absolute absence of story– which leaves you feeling hungry even after wolfing down the rich feast of violence – and the guilty pleasure of random acts of destruction. Payback² would land itself an extra star if it had found some middle ground between the two, but there’s still a lot to enjoy and it requires very little commitment on your part to play. Load it up, go mental with a machine gun during your coffee break, turn it off and forget. Sounds like pretty good escapism to me.

I distinctly remember playing Zaxxon in the arcades, although I’m now a bit shocked to discover it was 1982. What I remember most about Zaxxon isn't so much its amazing graphics, but rather a vague sense of bewilderment as I tried to wrap my head around its pseudo 3D controls.

This was the first game to introduce isometric graphics, which is how we used to have 3D games before the third dimension was discovered. Zaxxon’s visuals perhaps weren’t so much amazing, actually, as they were clever. Impressively clever, mind you. Whoever figured out a method of fooling our senses so simply was definitely underpaid, no matter what sort of wage they were on.

Now we don’t need anything too clever to give us a 3D-looking game; just a bucket full of polygons, an iPhone and thirty years of game development to deliver Zaxxon Escape [$0.99].

The isometric flight through an outer space obstacle courses is now a fully-3D run through endless tubes, which raises the first and most prominent question about Zaxxon Escape, and I expect  it’s one that the developer Free Range Games knew the iPhone world would be asking: how exactly is this Zaxxon?

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I suppose it’s hard not to attract comparisons to the Aliens franchise when you pit a futuristic gun-heavy Marine against mindless, scurrying xenomorphic drones. The latest ad- and IAP-supported title from French studio Bulkypix revels in this comparison, though. It dives head first into oozing pools of acidic alien blood and splashes around playfully while shooting a pulse rifle in the air and yelling “Let’s rock!” over thudding gunfire sound effects.

So if you’re an Aliens fan (who hasn’t yet hung up your facehugger over the nonsense of Prometheus) Soldier vs. Aliens [Free] should probably be the next place you choose to land your digital drop ship.

Okay, that’s enough Aliens referencing for now. At least until we get started on the inevitable Spunkmeyer jokes as we approach the bottom of the pop culture barrel.

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So, we've been thinking about Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour since its "leak" and subsequent actual reveal. And we've go some new details. Most notably, it will support iPhone 5 and its taller screen at launch. Presumably, the extra real estate will make a difference in a control sense, as the added width will give the virtual buttons more breathing room.

But if you don't have The Big New Thing, don't worry. Gameloft tells us that Modern Combat 4 is also going to support other stuff. The game, which launches this fall, will be a Universal app. Also, it's going to carry a premium price tag.

As with most super anticipated release like this one, meaningful game details are going to come in chunks. Multiplayer, for example, has seen some enhancements, but Gameloft isn't quite ready to talk about what specifically is being tweaked.

That's all we've got for now outside of the new screens you're seeing above, but we'll keep you up to date as the marketing campaign continues to plug along and, hopefully, eventually get our hands on this thing.

So, that Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour "leak" was the real deal. The footage was from the official trailer for the game, which should see a release across Android, iPhone, and iPad later this fall. We know this because a sleeker version of that trailer recently appeared on YouTube. And by "sleeker" we mean that this one is an actual, HD version of the trailer and not some weird shaky cam captured footage abomination.

If you'd like to see the trailer sans shaky, just look below.

According to the trailer, Modern Combat 4 (what a name!) will revolve around the kidnap of a president. Presumably, as a gruff soldier type, you'll be tasked with killing a lot of dudes in an attempt to rescue him. Stay frosty, folks. Or something.

Almost a year ago to the day, at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix announced a card battling game called Demon’s Score. Well, at least that’s what we thought at the time, but thanks to some sketchy translation issues that wasn’t actually the case. Square Enix WAS working on a card-battling game, and in fact it launched just last week. It’s not called Demon’s Score, though, it’s called Guardian Cross [Free] and it’s free to download and check out for yourself, or you can see what people have been saying about it in our forums.

Now, Demon’s Score [$4.99] is actually a thing, too. In fact, back at E3 in June we got our hands on an early version of Demon’s Score, and thought it was pretty cool in our brief time with it. Visually, the game plays out like an on-rails shooter type of thing, but the gameplay is based mostly around rhythm-tapping, similar to Elite Beat Agents and many other titles. Demon’s Score is also built using the Unreal Engine, so it looks pretty darn good. You can check it out in this trailer, though I’ll leave no comment about the music.

So hey, just a head’s up that Square Enix has been on a roll as of late. First they released a brand new RPG called Drakerider [Free / Free (HD)] earlier this month, then it was Guardian Cross last week, and now Demon’s Score this week. What’ll it be next week? I don’t know, but I’m hoping it’s something. At any rate, we’re tearing through these games as we speak, but you can check out our forums for even more impressions and discussion on Demon’s Score.

Earlier this afternoon, Eli and I spent some time with Apocalypse Max, an upcoming side-scrolling shooter that tasks you with slashing, exploding, blasting the undead across a variety of gloomy locations. As you kill zombies and smash crates, you'll pick up coins that can be used to upgrade your equipment or buy new guns for future use.

We're digging Max. The production elements are off the wall good, which helps. But more importantly, we're clicking with its action. Solid pacing keeps you moving, while sharp level design keeps introducing interesting choices. And even though the game uses a ton of virtual buttons to control the action, each one feels pretty responsive. Neat, right?

Apocalypse Max is set to hit this Friday for iPhone and iPad, by the way. We'll have a lot more then.

You know what? I like this whole ‘DotEmu porting old SNK NeoGeo titles to iOS’ thing that’s been happening recently. First we get Metal Slug 3 [$3.99], a fan favorite in the series and a game we truly enjoyed in our review, though we did wish for an auto-fire option and a way to not cover up the action with our thumbs while we played. Then, about a month later, DotEmu releases an update addressing both of those exact things. Thanks for listening, DotEmu.

Now today an update has hit for another NeoGeo port called Blazing Star [$2.99], a side-scrolling shooter that we also really liked but felt it had a couple of minor issues. Namely, lack of auto-fire and a sluggish feel to your ship’s movement. Lo and behold DotEmu is here again with an update addressing those very issues.

The new options are available right there on the mode selection screen so you can toggle them easily. With auto-fire on your ship just constantly fires, and you can hold down the button to charge your attack like before. The new control option is called Fast Touch, and makes your ship move at just about a 1:1 ratio with your thumb movement. I can’t even tell you how much of an improvement this is, I finally can enjoy the game without worrying about cheap deaths due to my ship reacting so slowly.

Listen up, DotEmu and SNK. Keep this up. It’s clear that you have the technical prowess to bring these ports to iOS with flawless performance, and your willingness to listen and act on player feedback is totally appreciated. And there’s a huge backlog of great NeoGeo titles, so get to work (please). And while I’m at it, this really gets me even more excited for the Raiden Legacy collection that's coming to iOS soon, also handled by DotEmu.

There are a lot of great first- and third-person shooters on the App Store, but easily my favorite pure shooter is the recently released Trigger Fist [Free] from Lake Effect. By actually stripping away some of the features that have become commonplace in shooters nowadays, Trigger Fist manages to remain more focused on the action of the firefights themselves and doesn’t get bogged down with cumbersome control issues.

Trigger Fist just feels like the perfect little shooter to have on the go, something you can play for a couple of minutes at a time or for hours on end, online or offline, and it’s always guaranteed to serve up a good time. There are more robust shooters on the App Store, and they do what they do well, but Trigger Fist is the game for those who never got quite comfortable with the others and just want some fun fragging on the go.

Yesterday, the guys at Lake Effect "pulled the trigger" on a freebie promotion for Trigger Fist, and as of right now you can grab the game for free. It launched at $4.99 less than a month ago, but some Game Center issues affecting game saves and matchmaking have caused an otherwise fantastic game to stumble out of the gate. Subsequently the online pool of players could definitely use a shot in the arm. 

This is a great opportunity for any fence sitters to jump in on the game and fill out the online lobbies. Some of the kinks in the game have been worked out with recent updates, and the team is dedicated to fixing anything else that pops up as well as adding new content to the game.

As with any sale Trigger Fist can go back up in price at any time, so definitely give the game a download for free right away if you're interested. You can also refer to our original review of Trigger Fist or our TA Plays video if you need a closer look at the game, and our forums are where you want to be for discussion and to find some online competition.