Following what appears to have been a pretty successful release across iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Star Command [$2.99] creator War Balloon has announced that it's starting to work on some pretty big updates to the game as it, simultaneously, starts porting it across Mac, PC, and Android.
The list of new stuff War Balloon has in mind is pretty exhaustive, but wicked cool. For one, it plans to give fire the ability to spread, which should really jack up the frenzy of battle. Also, ship destructibility is in the works. You may or may not know this, but apparently your ship can't really blow up and you don't necessarily HAVE to fix damage.
Squad grouping, automatic healing and repair, cloud saves, and the removal of ammunition tokens are all on deck, too, as eventual updates. War Ballon outlines the whys for each of these improvements, tweaks or overhauls. The update's neat reading if you're really into the game or need some weird sort of validation.
Last but not least: away teams are said to be coming down the line as well. "The focus here is on planet exploration and enemy ship invasion," War Balloon writes in the update. "These are VERY different systems and will take some time to get right. They are our focus for the PC / Mac version of the game, but will be seen across the platforms.
"You would probably be surprised with how far along we are with them and they should really expand the game from cool simulator to something very epic," War Ballon adds.
Star Command is pretty cool and we're excited to see it grow. There's no doubt about that. As for a timeline when will see any of this? War Balloon isn't setting anymore release dates, which is a good thing.
The introduction of airplanes changed the face of warfare. The same could be said of Firaxis' entry to the iOS gaming scene: when a Triple-A studio headed by the cherished game designer Sid Meier starts putting out iOS exclusives, you just know things are never going to be the same. Only, instead of bringing about unparalleled death and destruction, this watershed moment marks a new era of quality mobile gaming.
Firaxis has stormed on to the mobile scene: first came last week's spooky strategy game, Haunted Hollow [Free] (see our review here), and later this summer should see the release of the much-anticipated iOS port of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [Free] completes this strategy trifecta, and is the first iOS exclusive to bear the legendary designer's name. His involvement shows: Ace Patrol is a fantastic, meaty title well-deserving of your time and gaming dollar.
Ace Patrol sees the player leading a squadron of pilots in World War I, witnessing the infancy of aerial combat. Ace Patrol is a premium game masquerading as a freemium title: the free download serves as a demo and gives you a portion of the British campaign to play. The full British, French, German and American campaigns are unlocked as IAP for $0.99 a piece.
Veteran designer John Butterfield's Batle of the Bulge [$6.99 (HD)] is one of the best historical wargames we've played. Designed from the ground up for the iPad, it feels perfectly suited to that device - so much so that one of its few flaws is that it isn't quite as perfect a fit on the iPad Mini's smaller screen. With it's Avalon Hill-esque gameplay, appealing and unintrusive winter campaign styling, and inspired mix of original and sampled period music, the main thing we wanted in our review of it was more.
Shenandoah Studio delivers in a new update that includes three additional scenarios (two free, one IAP) and two new AI generals. They're so confident that the new AIs, modeled on Omar Bradley and Hasso Von Manteuffel, are going to your socks off that each one is a $1.99 IAP. I was initially skeptical of that decision, but having played against each one, I have to say that Von Manteuffel is, as advertized, a tricky bastard. He stole a draw from me in what should have been a clear win for the Allies. When I played Axis against Omar Bradley in the shortest scenario, "Race to the Meuse," I won easily, but I noticed that he'd done a good job of flanking me: if I'd been playing the full Battle of the Bulge scenario, I would have been in a lot of trouble going forward.
The scenarios are more straightforward: "Bitter End" appeals to those with no patience for victory points and conditional wins by playing out to the, ahem, bitter end of the engagement. That's a feature many players had been clamoring for. There's also added replayability with "Luck of the Draw" which deviates from history by shuffling starting unit placement and reinforcements. Both "Bitter End" and "Luck of the Draw" are free, and are more oriented to players who want some of the options commonly found in strategy videogames.
For the grognards, there's "The Endgame," featuring the siege of Bastogne, which some of you may know from Band of Brothers, and famous for Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe's laconic response to a demand that he surrender: "NUTS!" If you've ever wanted to stand with the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, or if want to see if you can break McAuliffe for his impudence, "The Endgame" will let you fulfill that fantasy for $3.99.
The pricing scheme here is clever: Shenandoah has made the content that will appease those who wanted more "bang for their buck" free, while offering more exotic goodies to the hardcore at a premium. In a move worthy of Von Manteuffel, you have to go to the "purchase" screen to get "Luck of the Draw" (for free), thus ensuring that nearly every player will see the premium IAP. The update is also well-timed, bridging the gap between the winter release of Battle of the Bulge and forthcoming El Alamein, which should be giving us a chance to wage war in the desert sometime this summer.
Few recent tactical strategy games have received such a large amount of attention as Frozen Synapse [$6.99 (HD)]. It has been praised for both its art style and excellent strategy gameplay. Starting on PC and Mac it has now found its way to iOS. While initially overwhelming with a busy interface and lengthy tutorial, Frozen Synapse is able to find a totally appropriate home on iOS.
In Frozen Synapse you take on the role of a tactician. Your task is direct a team of soldiers second by second. They can be ordered to move behind cover, fire a weapon, and many other options. Once all players have decided on the directions for their teams, the actions are carried out simultaneously. It calls to mind the X-wing Miniatures game as your success is based upon the ability to read the other player. Will they take cover or launch an offensive? In some modes of the game you are also locked into seeing only those enemies in your line of sight, which can be challenging. Beware, your sci-fi soldiers are very fragile and a single misstep can mean instant death. Matches usually last only a few rounds as players bluff and bait each other.
There are a myriad of ways to enjoy this title whether alone or with others. There is a fully functional AI in the game which can allow for quick matches. This little buddy is no pushover; you will die often. It is no wonder the developers recommend this mode as the best teacher after finishing the tutorial. The game also features an excellent campaign mode with a story spanning several levels. These range from straightforward skirmishes to more complex missions of capture or defense. It is the gameplay that stands out, but the story certainly has its strong points.
Frozen Synapse really shines when playing with others. The online play features a separate login and a full blown PC-esque lobby. There are always plenty of people online and games can be completed live or in an asynchronous fashion. You can play with friends, complete strangers, or participate in tournaments. It really is a full fledged online system, the likes of which is rarely seen on iOS. This version also features Hotseat mode which is great for mobile as you can pass the iPad around a room and play with your friends in one location. If you find online play too insular or intimidating, this is an excellent way to play with friends on your terms.
This game comes packed with many hours of content- The campaign will take you some time to complete and then there are untold hours of play both online and off. There are dozens of maps, different unit types, several game modes, and on and on. I was impressed by the amount of things to do. Frozen Synapse is an exercise in complex simplicity. On the service the controls are simple taps and turns, but to really succeed it will require practice. This process can be terribly rewarding, and even games you struggle in will end quickly.
It is this hidden complexity that provides some challenges for this app. The number of choices available to you at any moment make the interface large and somewhat confusing. To really succeed at the game you will have to learn all of these options and know when best to ask them. For a new player they can look downright baffling and it would be great to see a more interactive tutorial that guides a player through step by step. This UI difficulty is paired with the games overall menu system which has a decidedly PC feeling. There are cases of strange pop-up issues and overlays that seem traditional reserved to the wild world of PC gaming. While the gameplay fits perfectly on iOS, the surrounding menus seem to miss the boat.
Frozen Synapse succeeds at bringing a beloved PC game to iOS. It is fiercely faithful in bringing the whole experience to mobile which has its own pros (tons of content, great online experience) and cons (archaic menu system, hard to manage UI). This is a great strategy title which is enjoyable on many levels. There is complexity there if you want it or you can stay on the surface and have a great tactical experience.
Frozen Synapse on iPad is one of the few notable "core" kinda releases this week, and it is what you think it is: a pretty straight-up port of an imaginative PC title that got a bunch of awards and praise. This version sees the addition of one-tap touch controls, as well as cross-platform play.
At the top level, this a turn-based strategy game set in a world bursting with neon. For the most part, you'll be tasked with ordering around a squad of lo-fi dudes in an effort to clear the enemy team or take an objective. You'll send your dudes to take cover or to flank and, if you're lucky, to go in for a kill. What makes this interesting is the fact that you're controlling the smallest movements. You pick which direction your dudes will look, at which point they'll crouch, and so on. As you do this, the enemy team moves too, so there's a bit of a reaction and prediction component going on as well.
From the moment Leviathan: Warships [$4.99 (HD)] was announced, I was crackling with an electric anticipation. Published by the developer of some of my favorite PC games, Paradox Interactive, this strategic naval combat game challenges players to outfit and lead a fleet against AI and online opponents. Set in an alternate history, beautifully stylized ships combine traditional firepower with a few high-tech tricks like beam weapons and energy shields. Personally, I can't think of many game concepts that would get me more excited than this one. But, as Leviathan: Warships has reminded me, even amazing concepts don't always translate into amazing experiences.
The game blends interesting elements of several PC games I've enjoyed over the years, such as the mixed turn-based and real-time naval combat of the Age of Sail series (1996-2002), and the fantastical-but-familiar-feeling, derring-do, alternate history of Crimson Skies (2000). A 2011 Crimson Skies-cribbing iOS release, Crimson Steam Pirates, featured ship-based combat comparable to Leviathan: Warships, but it offered much simpler gameplay, and its content was limited to few single player campaigns and modest local multiplayer capability. So from its outset, Leviathan: Warships--promising deep strategy, robust customization, and an ambitious, cross-platform multiplayer experience--was boldly setting sail into unexplored waters.
If you've been getting stomped in Star Command [$2.99] and stopped playing as a result, consider giving it another shot. Creator War Balloon just pushed out an update that added a bunch of rookie-friendly features, including tutorials, a beginner difficulty level, and tips for the weapon-firing mini-games. Also, three additional tokens are now being dished out at the start of every new game, bringing the total to a hefty 15. Show the space zombies who's boss! Or not!
This update also sees a bunch of other tweaks and improvements. The list is sorta crazy huge, actually. Here are some notable additions: room ammo and assign buttons have been disabled if a room can't hold anymore, max crew has been increased, and you can unlock "larger ships and heavy difficulty," provided you're a Bad Enough Space Dude to handle them.
You can check out the patch notes for yourself over at our sister site AppShopper. Also, if you're still having troubles after updating, consider swinging by our guide for Star Command, which is full of hot tips from us and our community.
Surprise! Sid Meier's Ace Patrol [Free], that turn-based WWI aerial combat game we talked about not too long ago, is now available on the US App Store for the low price of $0. What you get with that initial download is the first handful of missions in the British campaign, one of the four campaigns in the game. For a price, you can grab the rest of that one as well as the other campaigns.
There's some other IAP goodies being offered, too, including new skins and fighters, as well as a get-out-of-jail card, in case your fighter gets captured. I'm beyond tired of describing free-to-play systems, so check out our video to see them in action. Speaking of that, here it is:
Like most of Sid Meier's stuff, Ace Patrol is pretty rad. We've been digging it so far, free-to-play and all. Give it a look.
Firaxis is best known for their excellent strategy game work on PC and consoles. At PAX East they announced their ambition to take the iOS world by storm with the release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown this summer. With much less fanfare comes Haunted Hollow, a sleepy, unassuming little turn-based strategy title. Behind its chibi-monsters and freemium veneer, Haunted Hollow [Free] is a digital board game that successfully marries the accessible strategy pedigree of its creators with the realities of iOS (pricing and playtime).
Your Victorian mansion sits atop a rise overlooking a small village. Heir of untold funds from wealthy ancestors you spend your time creating monsters to scare the villagers below. But what is that, another mad scientist on the neighboring bluff? In Haunted Hollow you are competing with a fellow monster maker to be the first to haunt every home in the village. To do this you will need to build up your mansion room by room and then summon monsters to do your bidding. Monsters like ghosts focus on scaring homes while those like the werewolf are used to fight other monsters.
Kingturn RPG [Free] ain't a looker. That was my first reaction to the game, as I suspect it will be yours. But for fans of tactics style turn-based RPGs such as myself, pickings are slim on iOS, so I gave the game a shot. I'm glad I did. Underneath the hood of this old beater lies a beautiful, well-oiled machine, and it won't cost you a penny to take a look for yourself.
For those not in the know, tactics games are a subgenre of turn-based RPGs, first brought to the mainstream by Final Fantasy Tactics (which itself has an iOS port). Tactics games see you leading a small host of heroes over a battlefield in turn-based combat against an opponent. They differ from typical RPGs in that a good deal of the strategy deals with the positioning of you and your opponent's soldiers, a bit like pieces on a chessboard.
Being a good tactician requires patience, but the dearth of tactics titles on iOS would test the patience of even the mighty Sun Tzu. Into that void comes Kingturn, a tactics title to its core. The prologue campaign is free, with the full campaign unlocked as a $4.99 IAP. Kingturn's gameplay owes much to its predecessor, Final Fantasy Tactics, but from the start the game begins to stake its own territory. The first thing you will notice is that this game is not merely challenging, but hard. Kingturn will try the skills of even veteran strategy gamers. Beyond the game's refreshing difficulty, Developers Mangobile have also brought some truly innovative gameplay elements to the table.
I don't have any history with Warhammer Quest. I didn't catch it in 1995 when it started hitting shelves. Heck, I didn't even know it existed until Rodeo Games announced that it was bringing the game to iPad. Usually, this kind of obliviousness is a Big Problem when it comes to playing board game ports. Studios tend to double-down on what made the board game great instead of focusing on making a good video game, leaving players with a super sluggish, systems-heavy title that kinda just makes you want to play the physical version instead of even bothering with the digital port. Credit goes to Rodeo for not doing this with Quest. It's a video game first, and to a guy as clueless about the board game as I am, it basically just feels like a modern strategy RPG. That's kinda wild.
Set in a universe bursting with crypts, wizards, orcs, spiders, and at least one magical lute, Quest revolves around an old-school premise: earn fame and fortune by plumbing the depths of the nastiest, monster-filled places in a cold, unforgiving fantasy land. You're given control of a couple of axe-wielding bruisers, as well as an archer and mage at the start.
The term “4X game” is either scary or foreign to you if you are not a strategy gamer. Even if you are one, like myself, they can still be daunting. With Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy [$6.99 (HD)], Big Daddy’s Creations has attempted to make this genre more accessible. Based on a complex board game of the same name, Eclipse simplifies the the 4X genre by providing guided, limited options and a set game length. That is not to say it is simple, but it has elegant European design; imagine Masters of Orion and Settlers of Catan had a baby.
What is a 4X game you ask? It stands for the four basic actions you can take in this type of game: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. Examples include Starbase Orion on iOS and Heroes of Might and Magic on PC. In Eclipse you take on the role of one of several alien or human races with the goal of building your empire over 9 rounds. By exploring and claiming sectors of space, researching technologies, and engaging in combat with other players you will earn points which will contribute to your empire’s overall reputation. There are also other actions to take like engaging in diplomacy, building new ships, and upgrading those ships that round out the experience.
It does seem like there is a lot going on (and there is) but Eclipse is focused in its approach. Each round you have a limited number of resources to work with based on planets you have colonized. Materials allow you to build spaceships, fighters, and other constructs. Out of materials? Ok, then those options are gone. Science allows you to research new technology which can help you colonize new sectors of space or outfit your ships. Do you have enough science to research this round? Maybe only once, ok that’s easy to plan out.
Lastly you have money which determines how many actions you can take that round and how many sectors of space you can control. Clearly knowing how much you can do each round keeps you focused. This is the secret sauce that makes Eclipse so palatable as a grand strategy game. Rather than giving you freedom to control every unit you have in play each round, you are funneled into taking whatever actions you can fit in.
Of course, this is not solely an economic game, there is also deep space combat. As you explore the galaxy you may encounter “Ancients” which are a remnant of the former controllers of the galaxy. You also may spar against other players as you attempt to invade their territory. Combat in Eclipse is basically done by a roll of a die, but smartly the designers don’t show you some cheesy dice rolling animation. Instead there is an interesting combat animation as ship goes against ship.
Eclipse also features a very cool ship customization system that is as easy as dragging and dropping. As you research new techs you will get things like bigger guns, better armor, and faster engines. You can upgrade your ships by adding these different techs to what is already on the ship. It has become apparent after playing this game for the past week that ship construction is a key strategy in winning the game.
The sleek UI design given to both upgrading and combat is carried throughout the app. There is a lot of information to process and access, and it could have been a nightmare to access it all. Luckily, this is some of the best UI design I have ever seen. You always have a view of the galaxy at large and can quickly access trays that contain the other information you need to know. For what is at its heart a port of a board game with about a gazillion pieces, Eclipse is designed so well I am not sure you would have known it was based on a board game if I had not told you.
Staying true to the goal of a grand space opera, Eclipse can handle up to 6 players. This can be all human players gathered around your iPad as you pass it around like some sort of deep strategy peace pipe. Of course, finding five friends that can all be together at the same time can be challenging. The game features AI opponents which may be the main way to play the game. They are challenging at each level and play differently to help you perfect your skills.
For example, the peaceful AI will never invade your territory allowing you to learn the game without having to defend yourself. This builds up to the hardest AI which starts with an advanced spaceship and is very aggressive. For the brave at heart there is also asynchronous online play. So far there has always been a healthy crop of opponents from around the world to choose from. The system even allows for private games and features in-game chat. There is even a public chat lobby which has a very early StarCraft vibe. Our forum community has been loving Eclipse since its release as well.
Eclipse is an accessible and polished strategy game that feels at home on iOS. This is not a casual game, but if you have been interested in the 4X genre or strategy gaming in general, this is a great place to dip a toe in. Even with the game's excellent tutorial, it requires some repeated play to really master. If you are ready for a grand space strategy epic, this an amazing specimen on iOS.
So at about this time last week we were letting you know that Paradox Interactive's nautically-themed turn-based strategy title Leviathan: Warships [$4.99 (HD)] had jumped the gun of weekly Thursday releases and had launched early in international markets with a spot on the shelf of the US App Store reserved for 11pm EST that night. Except… that never happened. Due to several bugs and a completely non-functional online multiplayer, Leviathan: Warships was pulled several hours later.
If you're a Paradox fan in the PC world then this is all just par for the course. They have a reputation of releasing buggy games initially, but also have a pretty great track record of updating and fixing them in a somewhat timely fashion. In the end, Paradox's games typically end up being great, and the rocky road to getting there is all just part of the, uh, "fun" I guess.
Well, as of today, Leviathan: Warships has returned to the App Store, and it seems all online multiplayer connection issues have been fixed. However, according to some players in our forums and elsewhere, it still seems there's quite a few bugs or oddities taking place in the game. I mean, you didn't think Paradox would get everything worked out in the very first patch, right?
Despite its issues, though, it sounds like people are still enjoying Leviathan: Warships a lot so far, warts and all. I'm sure Paradox will continue to chip away at the game's problems and release further updates down the road, but if you're used to this sort of song and dance and aren't scared of some bugginess, then you can mash away at the link below and check out Leviathan: Warships on the iPad for yourself. For everyone else, we'll continue to keep tabs on the game's issues and are currently working on a full review, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.
Fights in Star Command [$2.99] feel like sci-fi slugfests. Two interstellar pugilists meet and one meets its fiery doom under barrage after barrage of vicious, cutting plasma blasts. And that's just ship-to-ship combat. While fire is raining down all over the place, your crew is fighting off on-board enemies intent on destroying the innards of your ship. Even if you're a great player, you will lose people and your ship will be a fiery wreck after the battle. That's just how Star Command is.
What we're trying to get at is simple: this is a brutal game full of a lot of bad stuff that can happen. The majority of you were probably prepared for this, but for those of you who weren't and are struggling, we've prepared some tips and tricks that'll make your space adventure just a wee bit easier. We're cool like that. Here's five tips that we've discovered are key to staying alive long enough to smell the sweet smell of victory. And tokens. And space.
You've read the review, now watch a couple of idiots stumble around in the trap-filled crypts and hidden passages of Dark Quest [$1.99 / $1.99 (HD)], a turn-based strategy game with a ton of old-school board game design flavor. Also, skulls. It has tons of skulls, one of which must be rubbed from time to time in order to satisfy a jerky wizard.
I know, I know, hold the phone: you have to rub skulls in this game? The review's going to fill you in the best, but, in brief, every dungeon in Dark Quest is a mission sent to you from an evil overlord-y wizard guy. As you move around these dungeons and accomplish whatever the wizard wants, he'll hit you up at random times and ask you to rub something called the Skull of Fate. When you do this either something good or bad happens. For the most part, it seems like the results are always BAD.
Anyway, we had a blast playing this game earlier today. Who knew wizards could be fun?
Following what appears to have been a pretty successful release across iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, Star Command [$2.99] creator War Balloon has announced that it's starting to work on some pretty big updates to the game as it, simultaneously, starts porting it across Mac, PC, and Android.
