There's a lot going right now over at React Games, and it's not just to do with the iPhone.
The studio that brought a revamp of Free Fall Associates' classic '80s strategy / arcade game Archon [App Store] to the iPhone is about to release a separate single-player spin-off title that should give fans of the game much to enjoy.
Upcoming Archon Conquest features four maps to play, 60 different quests or puzzles to complete, and a storyline that ties it all together. Fans of the series may note that some of the maps are reminiscent of the layout of Archon II: Adept, but the similarity ends at the visual level. Still, it's a nice expansion of an already great game.
We've captured some early gameplay from the pre-release, preview build of the game that React was kind enough to send us. Have a look at the action.
Archon Conquest will appear in the App Store shortly at a price of $0.99.
React is also putting the finishing touches on the v1.9 update to classic Archon for the iPhone, which should hit the App Store about the same time as Conquest. This update will bring a complete re-work of the touch control system as well as various AI enhancements. And the further-out v2.0 update of Archon will add multiplayer to the mix. Stay tuned.
Both Archon v1.9 and Archon Conquest now feature Plus+ leaderboards and award systems.
Another piece of news for fans of the game is that React is bringing a four-player adaptation of classic Archon to the PC, featuring multiplayer support as well as a choice of classic 8-bit or redesigned artwork. After 25 years, the game returns to the desktop. Pre-orders for the PC version start on October 15th at React's website.
We've been lucky enough to be able to get out hands on a preview copy of EA's Command & Conquer Red Alert. While I admit it's been at least ten years since I played the PC version of the game, the look and feel seems to be remarkably intact, but most importantly the controls in the game work surprisingly well.
Red Alert is a prequel to the original Command & Conquer and takes place sometime during the 1950's in a parallel universe following Albert Einstein's creation and activation of a time machine. Einstein erases Hitler's existence, but without Nazi Germany providing resistance and weakening the Soviet Union, Stalin's armies grow increasingly powerful and he is intent on taking over all of Europe and Asia. As a fan of alternate history fiction, the Red Alert universe has always really appealed to me.
The iPhone version of the game is trimmed down from the original, but with so few solid real-time strategy games on the platform, Red Alert still clearly stands out from the competition. The version of the game I've been playing comes with an objective-based campaign for both factions as well as a skirmish mode. But even though the game has been compacted to the small screen, all of the features such as base building and unit micromanagement still are in game.
The screen is framed with all kinds of interface elements, and while seeming slightly cluttered, everything works well enough and I never felt like the controls were getting in the way of what I wanted to do in the game. The battlefield can be zoomed using standard pinching gestures, and to change your field of view you can either swipe your finger around the screen or touch the mini map in the top right corner.
Lining the right side of the screen are all the buttons and menus for building your base as well as training units. Just like the PC version, units can be queued up to train multiples at once. Placing a new building in your base is as simple as tapping it from the "build" menu, at which point a grid appears on top of the terrain and your building can be placed with familiar green and red highlighting indicating valid placement.
Once you've got your army built, you can organize units in to three squads assigned to the three buttons on the left hand side of the screen. To select units, you can either tap them to select individual units, or by tapping a button on the bottom left corner of the screen you can drag a selection box around units on the battlefield. From there, another button on the bottom of the screen allows you to assign your current selection of units to one of the three buttons on the left side of the screen.
While this may all sound slightly convoluted and confusing, the initial campaign missions walk you through all of the controls and once you get used to them you will be commanding your forces almost as effectively as you would be using a keyboard and mouse.
Here is a brief video of me (losing) one of the Soviet missions, and if you're as nostalgic as I am about this game series, the title music alone will bring back memories–
Overall, Command & Conquer Red Alert in one of the more impressive iPhone games I've played lately. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any kind of multiplayer included with this release which really would have pushed Red Alert over the line in to the "totally awesome" category. According to EA, the game will be available on by the end of the month.
Here are some games that have come out recently that are worth a look, but with all the excitement this week between the Eliminate and TouchPets Dogs previews and the 360iDev Game Jam they sort of fell between the cracks of front page coverage.
Bloons Tower Defense
Last month we posted an early trailer for Bloons Tower Defense [$2.99], an iPhone port of the Bloons spinoff tower defense flash games, all playable on the Ninja Kiwi site. Bloons [99¢ / Free] was a wildly popular game on the App Store, and if the positive reactions in our forums are any indication, Bloons Tower Defense may be another hit.
Bloons Tower Defense comes with 50 levels over 15 different tracks with multiple difficulty levels and unlockable medals for each. The game has the same touch controls of other tower defense games on the platform, along with oodles of different towers, upgrades, and tons of balloons for your monkeys to pop.
Mr. Mahjong Touch
FDG Entertainment, most famously known for Parachute Panic [99¢ / Free] and Bobby Carrot [$3.99] recently released Mr. Mahjong Touch [$4.99] based on the popular Mr. Mahjong series of mobile games.
Mr. Mahjong Touch features 100 layouts, 4 tilesets, tons of unlockables, and even a shop system where you can buy power ups. Big Albie posted a review of the game on our forums, and according to him, the game is "easily one of the best mahjong games on the platform."
Galcon Labs
Galcon Labs [99¢] is an evolution on the original Galcon [$2.99 / Free], providing the same basic gameplay with four new game modes not found in the original.
Billiards – The the planets that make up the battlefield are in constant motion.
Stealth – Enemy ships are only briefly visible after launching from a planet.
Crash – Ships collide with each other, so instead of just going after planets you can run in to the enemy to win.
Assassin – Players start with assigned planetary targets, the first player to capture their targets wins.
Reactions on our forums have been mixed as some people feel there hasn't been enough change to justify an entirely new game, while fans of the original are greatly enjoying Galcon Labs. If you haven't played a Galcon game, I recommend trying Galcon Lite.
Toy Bot Mini Missions
IUGO seems to be pumping out additions to the Toy Bot series like crazy lately. Toy Bot Mini Missions [$3.99] is based in the Toy Bot universe and comes packed with 100 mini games and 12 unlockable playable characters. These ultrashort levels are a bit of a departure from the other Toy Bot games which feature an extended level structure.
Fans of the Toy Bot series may want to consider Mini Missions, but if you're new to the Toy Bot world, you might want to try some of the other games or even the free version first. Take your pick of the seven different Toy Bot games on the IUGO App Store listing.
If you're an iPhone developer and you've been struggling to figure out a way to get your game back on to the top 100, just get a celebrity to mention how they can't stop playing your game on a talk show. Megan Fox appeared last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and explained how addicted she is to the time management game Sally's Spa [$2.99 / Free].
The iPhone chat begins at around 3:20 remaining in the video:
Since Megan Fox's plug on this nationally broadcasted talk show just last night, Sally's Spa is back on the top 100. (Position #92 and climbing as of this writing.) This isn't the first time we've seen celebrities mention iPhone games, between Demi Moore tweeting about battling Ashton Kutcher in Flight Control [99¢] or American Idol winner Jordin Sparks tweeting high scores from Harbor Master [99¢ / Free] among others.
This just goes to show how shockingly mainstream both iPhones and iPhone gaming is becoming, something I'm not sure many people expected when the iPhone and the App Store launched.
The Tokyo Game Show launched today and brought some big announcements from Square Enix.
The first news was the launch of their Sliding Heroes game we reported on last week. It was described as a "real time strategy" game in which you control units by tilting your iPhone. We've been able to spend some time with the game, and it's truly a strange mashup between a tactics game and a Labyrinth-type game. Yes, that Labyrinth.
Like most Labyrinth games, your goal is to make it from one end of the maze/level to the other. While there are the traditional hole obstacles that you must avoid, there are also enemy creatures which you must attack. You create new units by simply pressing on the spawn button. There can be up to 8 units at a time on the field. The goal is to destroy all the enemies and make it to the exit of the level.
Since it is essentially a ball roller, all your troops move en masse as you tilt your iPhone. Attacking enemies is as simple as rolling your troops directly into them. There is some strategy in pacing the deployment of different troops depending on the enemies, though you don't really have individual control of any of them. Defeating the level in record times provides some incentives.
It's really a strange game and one that made us utter "what were they thinking" more than once. I suppose big fans of ball rolling games may find it to be a refreshing take on the genre, but I suspect fantasy/strategy gamers won't be won over. Fortunately, there is a Lite version that you can try yourself, and we suggest you do, if nothing else, for the novelty of it all.
The best way to think of Game Resort'sCastle Warriors is as a hybrid that takes the visuals of ngmoco’s Star Defense and blends it with the real-time strategy of Phil Hassey’s Galcon. And, that’s how you get this entertaining and immersive offspring.
Presented in a series of letters between you and Queen Mynera, the storyline involves a kingdom under a cloud of darkness as evil foes plunder the land. You command an army of warriors, warlords and giants in the war against an overgrown gang of orcs, trolls, ogres and demons who are just as conniving and intelligent as you are. The objective is simple: prevent the enemy conquest of the land by taking control of all the castles on the battlefield.
With 3 levels of difficulty—easy, normal and hard—you’ll do battle through 12 maps in a single-player campaign. The maps themselves look amazing, and each has physical geographic features that can both hinder and help depending on how wise you are.
On each map, a series of castles exist with the base of operations for each side located on opposing sides. Castles in your control bear a blue flag while those of the enemy have a red one. Each flag shows the number of troops stationed there. Empty castles do not have flags and are usually ripe for the picking. A mini-map in the upper left corner shows the location of castles and is color-coded accordingly. Attacking an enemy tower is as simple as sending troops to that tower. Battles take place automatically with the outcome determined algorithmically. In this way, the relatively simply strategic gameplay is very similar to Galcon. Unlike Galcon, troop production is not done in real time. At the end of each day, you are awarded reinforcements based on the outcomes of the day's events.
The game controls are simple. As in Star Defense, you can pan across the map by dragging the screen, although there is some noticeable sluggishness on first generation devices. Also just like Star Defense, however, some players may not like the constant need to pan back and forth to properly manage your troops — though, arguably it does add to the overall experience. To move troops, you tap on the castle where the troops are located, and then tap on the destination of the other castle. The game does a terrific job of showing troop movements and skirmishes when opposing forces cross each other in the field. As for selecting the amount of troops, Castle Warriors provides some pre-set options which you can click through fairly quickly (e.g. move some, move half, move more than half). One issue introduced with this interface, however, is accidental castle selection while panning across the field. This can result in unintentional troop movement which can be frustrating.
When attacks occur on your castles, an event tab appears at the bottom of the screen identifying the castle in distress. Simply tap on the event tab and you’re automatically taken over to the castle. As you conquer castles and the days pass, additional troop reinforcements are made available since you’ll lose a fair amount of troops in battle. Castles also physically upgrade at the end of the day to provide additional defenses and capabilities. While you have no direct control over these upgrades, the more troops you have stationed in a given castle, the faster the upgrades will come.
The gameplay requires some quick thinking and even faster actions since you’ll often find yourself defending your castles against marauding enemies. One of the best parts of the game is the in-field skirmishes which unfortunately are not something you can reliably plan. Visibly, it’s rather entertaining to watch with blood and accompanying sound effects. The element of time also adds to the challenge of this game. Since battles can only take place during the day, and you have a limited number of days to complete your mission, the onus is on you to plan ahead. Keep in mind that the farther away troops have to travel, the more impact time will play since they have a greater distance to cover.
Castle Warriors is a simple and attractive strategy game that should appeal to a broad range of players. While the 3D panning interface allows a rich graphical experience, it does introduce some potential performance and usability issues. Still, it delivers an immersive experience that does make you want to play "just one more time".
Vogster Entertainment's Robocalypse delivers a military strategy game wrapped up in a Saturday morning cartoon. Ported from the Nintendo DS, Robocalypse takes advantage of the touch controls on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform to provide a humorous and engaging experience. While the production values are obvious from the gameplay screen shots, what is really done well is the story and how it’s presented. In Robocalypse, you must defend the world from the evil Demolisher robot and his army of henchmen with your own army of robots.
The big attraction of Robocalypse for many will undoubtedly be the visuals which are well-animated with a good dose of self-deprecating humor. From the robots and structures to the explosions and weapons fire, this is a good looking game. Dialogue bubbles appear throughout where characters spew humorous one-liners, and coupled with the funny cut scenes, you’re bound to chuckle here and there. From an audio standpoint, the game sports occasional voiceovers accentuated by a workmanlike soundtrack.
The interface can look a little strange since the HUD takes up a third of your screen space, though the information provided is more than necessary. The game will automatically orient itself to landscape and portrait modes, and you can swipe the HUD to bring up primary and secondary mission objectives. The primary ones are necessary to complete the mission while the secondary ones provide additional energy and resource boosts.
In the upper left corner is the mini-map showing your location as well as the location of bots. Unexplored areas are blackened out, but you can easily maneuver around through by dragging within the mini-map or in the actual game area. And a graphical summary shows the number and types of bots in the field at any given time as well as available scrap metal and battery power. The status of heroes is located down the left side of the screen and tapping on them will instantly locate them.
The game has a considerable amount of depth with 17 campaign missions and three modes of difficulty—easy, normal and hard. It also includes local Wi-Fi multiplayer and a beta of online multiplayer with 18 multiplayer maps. The single player missions themselves are quite varied in their objectives that can be as straightforward as destroying the enemy’s headquarters and as complex as preventing a certain number or enemy bots from entering an area while also destroying specific structures. We had not tested the multi-player options for this review, although reports indicate that the online multi-player community has already started ramping up.
Before building your armies, know that scrap metal is the foundational resource to accomplish that, which means you’ll need an infrastructure in place. First and foremost is the construction of buildings since this is essential for building up troops and heroes for offensive attacks.
Headquarters—Base of operations that must be protected at all costs; game is over once destroyed
Robot Factory—Produces soldiers and medics
Hero Factory—Produces heroes and can only be built after a Robot Factory is operational
Workshop—Allows for upgrading soldiers up to 2 times
Resource Bank—Increase the production of scrap metal
Radar—Allows views of uncharted areas
Turret—inflicts major damage on enemies
Heavy Turret—longer range and inflicts massive damage
As with typical RTS games, there are heroes who bring a little something extra to the warfare table. Robocalypse doesn’t disappoint with 6 unique heroes along with 20 weapons.
Joe Commando (assault hero)—elite fighter with dual machine guns; more brawn than brains
Sergeant Payne (leader hero)—born leader with gauntlet gloves that smashes heads
Spyder Scout (scout hero)—fast mover good at infiltrating installations and uses the Converter Cannon to freeze enemies
Pyro Assault (assault hero)—fascinated with fires armed with the flamethrower aptly called Melter
Viper the Sniper (sniper and scout hero)—good at infiltrating and long-range sniper attacks
Warlord General (leader hero)—strong leader who leads by example through his Chainsaw weapon
The game also includes RPG elements where the heroes abilities can be customized. Through victories and enemy kills, heroes level up and life points can be applied in the areas of toughness, energy, armor and weapons. These are earned through kills and can be used to boost their weapons in between missions. And what would heroes be without an army of robots… the game has four basic bots (Builder, Soldier, Medic, Heavy Soldier), each essential if you’re to succeed.
A slight learning curve comes with the controls especially in terms of managing bot movements. An individual bot can be moved by first tapping on him, and then the desired location, but moving groups can be a unorthodox. In general, bots roam around and behave on their own such as scouting areas, repairing structures or even battling enemies. Two buttons appear at the bottom of the screen: Action and Defense. Action enables you to set a spot where you want as many as 5 troops to move as a team. Defense is used when you want a certain location defended at all costs. You tap on the appropriate button and then tap on the location. The action flags serve as destination points and troops will move into the area where the flag is located. When placed in enemy territory, they will attack. The action flag system isn’t the most intuitive and can be frustrating since troops will occasionally wander off and get killed, but in general, the AI seems to work well with the system.
The action can be intense and rather addicting. The game seems to have a balanced AI with a fair share of attacks on your camp thrown in for good measure. Exploration is also encouraged since secret upgrades are hidden throughout. Specific controls points are located throughout both for your side and that of the enemy. These locations can be captured and in some cases, unlock hidden mission objectives.
Overall, Robocalypse brings a refreshing take to the iPhone RTS category. While the action flag system takes some practice mixed in with a bit of frustration, Robocalypse is an entertaining and humorous game that any strategy gamer should check out. The inclusion of multiple difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) as well as online multiplayer should also give the game plenty of long term play.
Square Enix, the studio best known for their Final Fantasy series and who brought us Crystal Defenders and Vanguard Storm for the iPhone, has today announced a new forthcoming iPhone title, Sliding Heroes.
Sliding Heroes is a real-time strategy game where you control units by tilting your iPhone or iPod touch and making them slide across the screen. Your units are of classic fantasy classes, like warriors, clerics, and mages. The dangers that they face aren't only fearsome monsters (of which there are plenty!), but a great number of insidious traps and obstacles that bar the way to each map's goal! The gameplay is simple, but you'll need to use your wits and dexterous hands to lead your troops to victory!
The studio has just setup a Facebook page for the game that's presently rather sparse of information, but we'll keep an eye on it and make sure readers stay in the loop.
Tonight, Vogster Entertainment's award winning Robocalypse real time strategy game has finally made it to the iPhone. Originally a Nintendo DS game, Vogster has been hard at work porting it to the iPhone. We first heard about the game at E3 in June, where Vogster was already showing a very solid looking version of the game.
At the time, they said that while they were working on online multiplayer they couldn't promise it in the initial release. Well, it seems they took the time to get it working as the online multiplayer feature is available in this 1.0 release. The game features 10 unit types, 20 varieties of weaponry, 17 campaign missions, and 18 unique multiplayer maps. 1-4 players can play on the multiplayer in head to head or coop modes.
This video from June does a great job explaining the gameplay and interface. Note that there may be elements that are different from the final release due to the age of the video. Of particular note, online multiplayer is available:
The Nintendo DS of Robocalypse was very well reviewed and the developers seem to have ported it to iPhone with care. Early impressions are being gathered in our discussion forum.
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.
React is also putting the finishing touches on the v1.9 update to classic Archon for the iPhone, which should hit the App Store about the same time as Conquest. This update will bring a complete re-work of the touch control system as well as various AI enhancements. And the further-out v2.0 update of Archon will add multiplayer to the mix. Stay tuned.
We've been lucky enough to be able to get out hands on a preview copy of EA's Command & Conquer Red Alert. While I admit it's been at least ten years since I played the PC version of the game, the look and feel seems to be remarkably intact, but most importantly the controls in the game work surprisingly well.
