In Karnival, [App Store] you play as a boy with the arm of a goat who decides to take his talents on the road by starting his own carnival that travels the country offering rides, fortune tellers, snack booths, and 30 different included oddities and attractions that are slowly unlocked as you play the game.
Karnival features gameplay that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the Tycoon series of games such as RollerCoaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, or many others. In the game you have control over every aspect of your carnival from what rides go where to ticket prices to even keeping your attractions in good repair. You have to intelligently build your carnival to maximize karma, fame, and money earned while (hopefully) keeping your taxes and payroll low enough to turn a profit each day.
Karnival has an intuitive touch based interface to handle all the different carnival management functions, and features a tutorial which does an excellent job at explaining all the ins and outs of running a successful carnival. While the controls and interface do their job well, there were definitely times where I wished I was playing this game with a keyboard and mouse.
If there's any down side to Karnival it's that once you progress in the game a bit, you could drive yourself crazy with the micromanagement of your different attractions. Like other Tycoon-like games, you can mostly let your carnival run itself, or endlessly tweak your business to maximize profits and other stat gains.
Overall Karnival is a game that is a lot of fun wth a surprising amount of depth. The art style and music give the game an atmosphere that's exactly what you would expect of a freaky carnival. With both a story mode that has you traveling across the country as well as a basic sandbox mode, Karnival should keep Tycoon fanatics busy for quite some time.
The game has received strongly positive feedback in our discussion thread, and the developers have chimed in with tips and answers to questions.
We finally got our hands on the demo version of Ace Combat Xi that was shown at the Tokyo Game show last month. The early impressions from this build were positive, and after seeing it first hand, I can confirm all the great things that were said about the game.
Overall, it just looks and feels like an Ace Combat game. They did a surprisingly good job at capturing the essence of the console games, and the tilt controls work great. This development version of the game lacks any kind of sensitivity configuration, so there were times where I felt like I was tilting the phone a little too much, but other than that flying a jet in Ace Combat Xi is a ton of fun.
In the right hand corner of the screen are a series of buttons to fire your various weapons and switch targets, the bottom left side of the screen controls your throttle. The rest of the screen is framed in a somewhat cluttered but really cool looking heads up display showing other information like the location of enemies and how many there are left.
This version of the game is very limited, but even as a brief demo, the overall experience of the Ace Combat console games is absolutely thriving on the iPhone. The constant radio chatter, the great texturing of the ground and sky and the sound of your afterburners rumbling all come together to create one of those "Wow, this is running on an iPhone?" moments.
For increased immersion, you can switch in to first person view and fly your plane using nothing but the HUD. I found this to be a little disorienting, but your visibility is definitely improved without your jet taking up the bottom third of the screen.
Namco hopes to release Ace Combat Xi this winter and we will continue to post preview information as it's revealed and while this version of the game is little more than a mid-development preview, it is remarkably impressive.
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:
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.
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.
2XL Games' much anticipated ATV game was released into the App Store tonight for $7.99.
The game represents 2XL's followup title to the technically impressive 2XL Supercross and seems to share the same graphics engine. Beyond moving to ATV's, however, 2XL has added a lot of content to this new title, including freestyle levels, career mode, local multiplayer, online leaderboards and more.
The game offers tilt controls with a large number of customizable settings, though the default controls seemed to work reasonably well on our first few spins around the track.
The game shares the same impressive graphics seen in the original 2XL Supercross and are well demonstrated in this hands-on video provided by the developers.
Superficially, the biggest addition to the game is a full career mode that was conspicuously absent from their freshman iPhone release. 2XL ATV Offroad offers 16 ATV Supercross and Outdoor Nationals tracks and 2 Freestyle levels, and 3 levels of difficulty.
We'll be able to spend some more time with the title now that it's been released. Early adopters can share their impressions in our forums.
Bolt Creative's Pocket God [App Store] has had a seemingly permanent spot on the top lists of both overall paid apps and paid games since its release nearly a year ago. As a pioneer of episodic content updates, the "Good Will Haunting" update marks the 26th addition to the original game.
The free "Good Will Haunting" update introduces the Pygmy Ghost:
If a Pygmy dies in the graveyard, it will reappear as a ghost and float around. You can direct the ghost and have it mess with the other live Pygmies. You can do possession, scare a Pygmy to death, pickup a Pygmy and fly away, phase through the ground and pull a pygmy into the ghost dimension, and even do a banshee scream that bursts the eardrums of all the Pygmies listening. You can make all 6 Pygmies into ghosts if you want and to get rid of them, you just send them into the light (ala Poltergeist).
This update also marks the beginning of a new era of in-app customization via optional downloadable content (DLC) packs. For 99¢ in the latest update you can customize the look of the T-Rex on the island with various skins, hats, and even tattoos. Developer Dave Castelnuovo hopes to ideally include one additional DLC pack alongside each free update to the app, provided it doesn't slow down the release of said update. The reason to include these optional paid upgrades is, of course, to fund future development of Pocket God, but as a result, the latest version requires OS 3.0 or higher.
If you've never heard of Pocket God before, the premise is simple– You play as a god watching over a small tribe of pygmies. The amount of interaction you have with these characters and their environment is insane, and you can do everything from flick one of your guys in to a volcano, bury them alive and turn them in to zombies, as well as play little mini-games inspired by Doodle Jump [99¢] and Harbor Master [99¢ / Free].
Pocket God's army of fans is a phenomenon that many developers have attempted to duplicate. The amount of spinoff sites and communities all because of this one iPhone game is absolutely mind boggling. I admit I don't really get it myself, but the number of people who are in love with Pocket God borders on unbelievable. If you've never played the game before, it's worth picking up, especially since with 26 updates under its belt it will likely take you a very long time to discover all the different things that can be done.
Here are a number recent game releases that we had previewed in the past. All seem to be solid titles, though none we felt compelling enough to highlight on their own.
Skee-Ball ($0.99) – The officially licensed version of Skee-Ball from Freeverse and Graveck. This game will feel familiar to owners of 10 Balls 7 Cups as it was created by the same developers, but with some notable improvements. There are some additional control options as well as the use of the accelerometer to add spin to the ball. The biggest upgrade, however, seems to be the integration of actual pictures of prizes that you can keep and integration with Plus+ for achievements and leaderboards.
As good a version of pure Skee-ball as can be found on the iPhone, but it's still just endless Skee-ball.
Against the Fire ($0.99) – Meridian's followup title to the well received dual-stick zombie shooter Alive 4 Ever. Against the Fire shares the same excellent dual-stick controls that control your player through the flaming levels. The goal is to save all the people on each of the 50 included levels. Unlike Alive 4 Ever, the game is more of an arcade game without any of the RPG elements we loved so much in their last title. Gameplay is also a bit simpler with a few power-ups on each level that are only active for a short period of time. The level designs are much more intricate with rooms and hallways that must be navigated to find the trapped people who you must lead to safety.
Overall a very well executed title, but we preferred the gameplay of Alive 4 Ever for the reasons listed above.
Moonlight Minions ($1.99) – Yet another entry into the tower defense section of the App Store which seems to be getting more and more crowded on a daily basis. All of the standard tower defense elements are in place such as six different towers that cover all the standard attack types (direct damage, splash damage, slowing, etc.) and each have a three tier upgrade system. Moonlight Minions also features Sentinel 2-style special powers such as Earthquakes or Lightning that are unlocked as you clear levels in the game. Each level can be played in classic or endless mode across three levels of difficulty.
The main thing that makes Moonlight Minions stand out from the pack is the whimsical fantasy art style. While it's a solid take on Tower Defense that may be worth adding to your TD arsenal, it's hard to say that it's better than many of the iPhone TD staples.
Tentatively titled Ace Combat Xi: Skies of Incursion, the game will feature a variety of fighter aircraft, some of which will be available as downloadable content in the future.
Skies of Incursion is a direct sequel to PSP's Ace Combat X Skies of Deception. The game's story follows the same battle as that title, but focuses on Falcon Squadron, a separate unit in the Aurelian Airforce.
Namco Bandai will be making use of the iPhone's accelerometer and touch screen to give the game a unique interface. It will be possible to pilot your plane by tilting your phone. Additionally, the game balance and play time are being adjusted to better suit mobile players.
The Famitsu website has posted a large collection of preliminary screenshots, some of which can be seen below.
The Ace Combat francise has been around since 1995 with versions of the game appearing on the Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox 360, and PSP. No price or release date for the iPhone version has been indicated. Stay tuned for updates on this release as we get them.
Here are a couple of recently released games that might appeal to a specific audience niche:
RC Heli
RC Helicoptor fans may want to consider RC Heli which just came out yesterday. Multi-touch controls to control your helicopter around a house. The game offers free fly mode, race mode, and 3 camera views. Early reactions in our forums.
Described to be the strongest chess program on Palm and Pocket PC devices, it's also said to be the only handheld chess program in the world which has won Grandmaster tournaments. Serious chess gamers looking for a challenge will certainly want to consider this option.
The game is also said to be suitable for beginners as well, and includes adjustable playing levels, hints, and more.
In our discussion thread there is some debate about the strongest chess application for the iPhone, and it seems the free Glaurung Chess [Free] is a solid option as well. One blogger is going through the trouble of pitting iPhone chess programs against each other. His first round between HIARCS vs Glaurung, gave HIARCS the advantage.
Gameloft's highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto -esque free-roaming sandbox game Gangstar: West Coast Hustle [App Store] hit the streets today with a bang. The thread in our forums exploded, and after spending a hefty amount of time with the game since its release, I'm happy to report that I'm in agreement with the feeling of our forum members in that overall the game is extremely solid despite a few weak areas.
Originally a J2ME game, Gameloft has given Gangstar a complete face lift. The SNES-looking graphics of the original have been completely replaced with a full 3D city complete with cars, pedestrians, and plenty of opportunities for crime. The game opens with a fast paced full motion video cut scene of a bank robbery with getaway chase, and after starting a new game the story of Juanito and P. Thug continues as you stash your SUV used in the robbery and look for some help from a nearby friendly gangster, L.C. He naturally has a job for you, it turns out his boy Lil' T got in to some trouble down at the beach and needs your help.
The rest of the game continues like this, very similar to Grand Theft Auto games. You take missions, complete them, and eventually meet new contacts who will also give you missions. The story is basic at best and downright silly at times. They really lay the whole Mexican gangster stereotype on pretty thick with everything from character names that border on ridiculous to the dialog where "S" is freely interchanged with "Z". The good thing is though, most missions are very quick and really lend themselves to a great portable gaming experience where you might only play for a few minutes at a time.
Along the way you'll run in to various side missions such as street races, and a variety of different cars can be stolen that each have their associated mini games. For instance, stealing either a burger delivery car, ambulance or a taxi gives you a sub-set of challenges that all have to do with driving around as fast as possible delivering food, saving patients, or picking up customers.
While outside of a car, your movement is controlled with a joystick on the left and a button on the right that handles attacking. Tapping the screen locks on to a target, so you never need to aim. When you're near a car, another button pops up that allows you to steal it. There are three options for steering. By default, cars are controlled by tilting the iPhone. Other options include a steering wheel that works similar to Gameloft's Asphalt 4: Elite Racing and a virtual joystick-like slider that is my personal favorite. Accelerating and braking can either be done using an on-screen brake and gas pedal or yet another virtual joystick-like slider. The direction the camera is facing can be changed at any time by swiping in any direction on the screen.
Overall the controls work well, but similar to most games with virtual controls, they don't feel very precise. Thankfully, driving around is fairly forgiving as there is no collision detection in the game between your car and most small objects like street signs, trees, and stop lights. This strange collision detection does create some issues though as there are some odd irregularities in that you can just be cruising down the sidewalk sailing right through trees when you run in to a planter that brings your car to a dead stop.
These inconsistencies can be rather annoying when running in to an immovable potted shrubbery ultimately leads to your apprehension in a fast-paced police chase, but other than that tooling aound the city is enjoyable. There are even ramps scattered around to get huge air off of like most Grand Theft Auto games.
A mini map guides you to different objectives as well as serving as a button to pause the game. On the pause screen, you can see and start available missions as well as purchase weapons and ammo. Some weaponry, however, is only available from a local gun shop. These gun shops are also shown on your map along with areas that you can get your car repaired if it's too banged up.
One of my major disappointments with the game is how poorly the police response scales up with your wanted level. One of the first things I did after completing a few missions outside of the tutorial was see how much trouble I could stir up by just murdering everyone walking down the street. I was able to stand around, basically farming the constantly spawning police officers for money, ammo, and when my health got low I was able to just pause the game and buy a health pack.
In comparison, most Grand Theft Auto-like games have police forces that significantly ramp up with each wanted level. In Grand Theft Auto, there was almost no way to survive in a five star wanted level against the onslaught of tanks and other insane police forces that come after you without some serious planning and an inventory full of weaponry. In Gangstar, the police simply drive up, stop their car in front of you, get out, and allow you to shoot them to death while maybe firing a few return shots.
The graphics in Gangstar are great, and performance across the board seems to be decent on all devices although obviously better on the iPhone 3GS. Some forum members have been experiencing crashes or inconsistent performance, but by and large most people seem to find the game completely playable, even on the first generation iPod Touch. The draw distance of the game does seem obviously low at times, and it would be nice to be able to increase it on the 3GS, but other than that the game runs great. Unsurprisingly, load times can be fairly significant even on the 3GS and it would be nice to be able to disable the intro movie instead of skipping through it with every launch of the game. (But the same thing can be said for most Gameloft games.)
The in-game music stations are fantastic, and even feature fake advertisements and DJ's like the radio stations in Grand Theft Auto. The different stations add a lot of atmosphere to the game, and I find myself preferring 42.0 FM, "Legalize-It" that features instrumental gangster rap style music. There is also a rock station, an electronic station, and even a few others. You can even select a playlist in the options to add another radio station that selects from your own music.
For the amount of content you're getting in Gangstar the current price of $6.99 is pretty crazy and even though the game has its flaws, I've still found myself really enjoying it. Included are a total of 50 missions across 6 chapters, all the side jobs, an entire city to explore, achievements to earn, and a mobile experience surprisingly similar to a slightly watered down Grand Theft Auto 3. If you enjoy these types of free-roaming crime sandbox games, you really need to get Gangstar.
In Karnival, [App Store] you play as a boy with the arm of a goat who decides to take his talents on the road by starting his own carnival that travels the country offering rides, fortune tellers, snack booths, and 30 different included oddities and attractions that are slowly unlocked as you play the game.
Fans of the long-running aerial combat franchise Ace Combat will be pleased to learn that Namco Bandai is 
