Big Bucket Software's The Incident [$1.99, Lite] is a pixel-art powered junk climbing game that we enjoyed quite a bit in our review. And while Big Bucket could just ride out the wave of sales and positive response and then start full-on developing a sequel, it appears to be doing quite the opposite: putting more into The Incident. In fact, the team is readying a crazy update for the game that will make it possible to play via a TV. No, for real.
A recent post on Big Bucket's blog teases this cross-compatibility, which requires an iPad and an iPhone. According to the post, this update (which will be 1.3 if you're keeping score at home) will allow you to plug your iPad running The Incident into a TV as if it were an input device. Then, with a game-connected iPhone, you'll be able to control the action in the game as if the phone were an Xbox 360 controller.
The best part about all of this? Big Bucket has fiddled with the game's visuals to make sure they'll accommodate widescreen on our huge and ridiculous HDTVs. It's the future, guys. The future.
As the blog post notes, you'll have to own an iPad Dock Connector to VGA to make this work, or if testing goes well, an Apple component AV Cable. Also, note that this setup doesn't require you to touch your iPad beyond plugging it into your TV -- this is all controller, babe. Like I said, the future. Keep it up, Big Bucket!
Back when Gameloft's Modern Combat: Sandstorm [$4.99 / Lite / HD] was first released, in our review we called it one of the most impressive gaming experiences we've seen so far on the platform, but it wasn't long before it was inevitably bested by other first person shooters (some even released by Gameloft themselves) on the fast paced market of the App Store. Gameloft ups the ante once again with Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus [$6.99], a game that is by far their most blatant carbon copy yet, but is executed so masterfully that it hardly seems to matter.
If you've played Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2, you'll know exactly what to expect out of Modern Combat 2. Single player consists of a similar mixture of combat scenarios that follow the typical plot line of hunting terrorists. Objectives are varied and involve some light stealth elements, protecting caravans, escaping from or infiltrating enemy installations, and others. However, just because this has all been done before in other games (and even to some extent in the original Modern Combat), it doesn't make playing through the single player campaign any less fun-- in fact, it's a blast to play through.
The default normal difficulty is incredibly forgiving, with the same health regeneration that has practically become standard in first person shooters. Modern Combat 2 also has an aim assist system that will snap your crosshairs on to nearby targets, taking a lot of the frustration out of controlling the game. In addition, an arrow on the top of the screen constantly points to where you should be going. Of course, if you don't need your hand held, you can crank up the difficulty and turn off all the assist systems-- resulting in a surprisingly challenging campaign.
One of the best things about Gameloft games is their incredible consistency when it comes to all the little things that you don't usually notice unless a game lacks them. For instance, you're able to completely customize your controls and the locations of interface elements on screen. You can control your music without leaving the game or even visiting a submenu, it saves your progress when you close the game for any reason and resumes instantly, and when you pause, it displays the time and your battery level. Modern Combat 2 has all this and more, adding to the near-perfect technical execution of the game. Also, if you're playing on an iPhone 4 or 4th generation iPod touch, you'll be able to enjoy optional gyroscope controls and full Retina Display graphics.
Unfortunately, this also means if you play a lot of Gameloft games, you'll also notice many similarities that can ruin your immersion. For example, the quick time event sequences used for your spider sense in Spider-Man: Total Mayhem [$6.99] has since turned in to slow motion interactive cut scenes where you need to tap specific areas of the screen to do things like avoid an explosion, an incoming knife, or grab a ledge. Quite of a few of the events that take place in the incredibly scripted single player campaign feel recycled, and it seems like far too often you're using the familiar mounted turret gun to defend against an oncoming swarm of bad guys. However, once again, all these mechanics go together so well in Modern Combat 2 that they're not much of a distraction even if you stop and notice them.
Much like Modern Warfare 2, the single player campaign in Modern Combat 2 almost seems secondary to the extensive online multiplayer included. Gameloft is boasting MC2 as providing "the most comprehensive FPS multiplayer experience on the App Store," and that's a claim that is hard to argue with. It's almost like Gameloft internally distributed copies of Modern Warfare 2 and simply said, "Make this, but for the iPhone." Initially, you might groan at just how obvious the similarities are, but all that will quickly wash away when you realize just how awesome it all is and how an experience bar with tons of unlockables serves as an unbelievable carrot on a stick, keeping you playing for hours on end without even realizing it.
Seemingly every positive action you make in an online game awards experience. Headshots, kills, assists, revenge kills, and other things result in an explosion of experience points in the center of your screen. Eventually you level up, unlocking new ranks, weapons, and kill messages which work just like the Modern Warfare 2 title and emblem system and displays little tag lines on the screen of the person you killed. (However, unlike Modern Warfare 2, endless drug references are nowhere to be found.)
Multiple game modes are included, and all are a lot of fun. Both standard and team-based deathmatch makes an appearance, as well as a capture the flag and diffuse the bomb game mode. Whatever you play, it will be with up to ten players at once either locally or online. Online multiplayer works incredibly well, and aside from a few rogue disconnects I haven't had any issues playing game after game.
It remains to be seen how much post-launch support Gameloft will provide Black Pegasus. I'd really love to see Game Center supported for matchmaking, as finding friends online with Gameloft Live is a chore and I've really been looking forward to not needing to worry about what everyone's Plus+/OpenFeint/Gameloft Live/Crystal/Agon/etc. names are. Also, I'd love to see more multiplayer maps or even additional ranks and weapons to unlock either via some kind of DLC pack or available as a free update.
As I mentioned previously, Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus is Gameloft's most blatant clone yet. However, there is absolutely nothing like it on the App Store. Without a doubt, this is a game that absolutely every fan of Modern Warfare 2 should have on their iPhone. The single player, while entirely cliche, is extremely fun to play through and the online multiplayer is incredible. Our forum members have been going crazy over the game, and as it stands, Modern Combat 2 is the king of iPhone first person shooters. For now, anyway.
Gameloft's Real Soccer 10 [$6.99 / Free] successfully launched last year on the back of realtime online multiplayer, being the first iOS soccer sim to offer across the globe head-to-head. Competitors quickly took note, so that this year the focus was supposed to be on improving laggy online multiplayer and pushing the boundaries of the iOS hardware. With PES 11 just launched internationally (coming to the US soon) and the better-funded Fifa 11 [$4.99] launching last week (with Fifa 11 receiving a tentative thumbs up from us) is Gameloft's claim on the virtual soccer market dwindling? We take it for a run to find out.
Of all the soccer sims released last year, with X2 Soccer 2009 [$4.99] being the only one not already mentioned, Real Soccer 10 sadly took the back-seat in the graphics department. Things seem to have notably improved this year, with the addition of high definition Retina Display support and much more attention spent detailing each player and arena. That's not to say that you'll be able to identify any real likenesses, as in Fifa 11, as models remain largely generic. This is worsened by the fact that Gameloft lack of official licensing-- many teams suffer from having randomly populated player names. Stadiums and crowds do look better this year, though again Gameloft doesn't have the licences required to emulate the former, and the latter suffer from blocky models and ugly texture work when shown up close.
One of the things Gameloft did deliver on last year, was a very fluid style of football, with an almost arcade spin on it. That's continued through in Real Soccer 2011, with performance being a real winner, particularly when compared with Fifa 11 which we struggled with in its as-yet unfixed, laggy state. Unfortunately, with all the improvements the other franchises have made to address realism and to take an accurate account of player skill, we're not confident that Real Soccer 2011's instant passes and exaggerated accuracy in front of goals will be appreciated. The AI certainly doesn't do this any favors either, often gifting the game to you (even on highest difficulty levels) through silly mistakes such as pausing when intercepting the ball, or failing to track their runners entirely.
Where Real Soccer 2011 does lead the pack, is in its approach to the control system, with an integration of on-screen gestures and sensible button combinations, and a much-needed sprint button (addressing my persistant woes with the virtual stick). Only an A and B button is present on-screen, and these two buttons handle all the inputs that other games struggle with just fine. Through balls are simply made by holding the B (pass) button, while crosses require the B button to be dragged up slightly. One-Twos are intuitive too, with a simple double tap of the B button getting the job done. Complex dribbling moves like the Marseille Roulette and flip-flop are cake in Real Soccer 2011, with just a quick circle or double tap anywhere on the screen needed
Real Soccer 2011 also boasts a ton of game modes, though very surprisingly, online multiplayer is entirely omitted. Still, you'd be hard pressed to top Gameloft's efforts here, as they've included Seasons, Leagues, Cups (Yes, there's a Champions-league-alike too, in the Euro Cup), Historic Games, Training, Penalty Shoot-Outs, and even an RS League, where your winnings contribute to an overall online ranked leaderboard. Additionally, there's an 'Enter the Legend' mode, Gameloft's take on EA's "Be a Pro" mode in past games, where you are given control of a single player in a selected team and the AI plays around you. Our time with this mode led to more frustration than anything else though, as you're left at the mercy of the sub-standard AI (even randomly subbing us off) and the on-screen controls do nothing to help your situation. We ended up giving Enter the Legend a wide berth in the end.
Though there were things I loved in Real Soccer 2011, I can't help but feel that although Gameloft have taken 3 steps forward from last year, it hasn't been enough to keep up with the improvements we've seen in Fifa 11 and X2 Football 2010 [$6.99 / Free] this year. With an emphasis amongst the big names on bringing console-quality football to the iOS, Real Soccer 2011's notable lack of licenses, average, repetitive commentating and just plain awful AI only serve to underline Gameloft's flailing grasp on the market. What Real Soccer 2011 does have going for it however, is a successful implementation of Retina support, as Fifa 11's iPhone 4 support is dismal at this stage pending a critical fix, and PES 11 seems to have foregone Retina support altogether. As far as the gameplay goes however, particularly with the lack of online multiplayer from last year that made it a hopeful contestant, Real Soccer 2011 will likely appease only the casual soccer fan, once again playing second fiddle to the big guns.
Last month, Handmark released the 3D object manipulation puzzler Blaze: Fire Puzzle for both the iPhone [link] and the iPad [link]. We didn't cover the title at the time, but I've spent a good bit of time with the title this weekend and have had a pretty good time of it.
The first thing you might notice upon seeing our gameplay video or trying your hand at the title is its similarity to Zen Bound. Indeed, the game is basically Zen Bound, but with fire and candles instead of a paint-soaked rope (and classical tunes instead of ambient audioscapes accentuated with plucks of the koto). It's a definite derivative title, but given the ridiculous amount of time I've played the Zen Bounds, it's an interesting variation on what's undisputedly Secret Exit's formula.
Blaze takes you through 45 different candle-adorned 3D objects with the objective of lighting every single candle -- and fast. This is done by way of touch controls -- one finger to twist, two fingers to rotate -- just like Zen Bound or, in the case of the iPhone 4, using the integrated gyroscope if you choose. (I recommend not choosing, though -- it's a far inferior method of manipulation as compared to straight-up touch.) You start off with but one of the many candles on your object lit. From there, the goal is to manipulate the object such that all candles become lit, with a gold medal achieved for completing the task in a stated (and short) number of seconds. The physics of fire-lights-what's-above is an interesting twist (ugh...) on the Zen Bound formula.
The iPhone version of Blaze utilizes the Retina display for high resolution rendering, while the iPad version takes full advantage of its screen real estate. Both versions feature social networking integration with OpenFeint, Twitter, and Facebook.
So, if you're a seasoned Zen Bound veteran, is this game for you? I consider myself a member of that camp and have had a great time with Blaze. If you're all wet behind the ears and have clocked zero time behind either title...and have to choose just one, I would probably urge you towards Zen Bound, as it feels a bit more polished, more refined -- but the enjoyability of both titles is quite similar.
Anyone on the fence can try out the limited, free version of the game for both devices:
Happily for the sports fans out there, there's no lack of full-featured football / soccer titles in the App Store. And, that list grew by one this morning when Gameloft released Real Soccer 2011 [App Store], the latest iteration in their mobile soccer series, featuring revamped graphics targeting the iPhone 4's Retina display.
The game features 350 teams across 14 leagues (compared to 245 teams and 8 leagues in RS 2010), with the licensed names of nearly all real-life players. A History Mode sets up notable games of the past for the player to jump in and play and, like Real Soccer 2010 before it, the game features WiFi and Bluetooth multiplayer play modes, as well. The ability to upload memorable replays directly to YouTube from within the app has also been maintained in this release.
While I've only spent a very brief time with the game as yet, the detail afforded the playfield by the iPhone 4's high resolution display is impressive. While Real Soccer 2010 received Retina display support in a recent update, this latest from Gameloft features reworked graphics created using motion capture technology for enhanced realism, the studio indicates.
If you just bought a brand new iPod touch with a Retina Display or already have an iPhone 4, Square Enix's Chaos Rings [$12.99 / HD] is a game that is highly worth considering with the release of the latest update. Chaos Rings looked great before, and now looks even better with high resolution graphics, UI elements, and text. To sweeten the deal they even added multitasking support for instant switching between battling and whatever other apps you're using.
We liked Chaos Rings enough to award it five stars in our review, and really think it's a game that any fan of turn based RPG's should own. With this latest update, that's especially true if you have a Retina Display device.
All the way back in the middle of December of last year we first got our hands on EA's Mirror's Edge [$4.99] for the iPhone, but it came without any solid release date. Mirror's Edge then disappeared until the iPad launch when Mirror's Edge for iPad [$9.99] popped up once again. Back then, we figured the iPhone release was immanent, but once again, it never came. Tonight is finally the night, and after spending quite a bit of time with the game today, it seems remarkably similar to the iPad version, downsized to the iPhone. In fact, it's so similar to our preview from last year that everything I said back then is still relevant.
The world of Mirror's Edge is set in the future, where a totalitarian regime is in power and an underground resistance powered by runners move information around on foot to avoid to watchful eye of the government which have implemented intense levels of surveillance across all communication mediums. You play as Faith, one of these runners.
The game is controlled using very simple swiping gestures that all feel very natural. Swiping right or left makes you run in that direction, swiping up makes you jump, and swiping down makes you slide. When you run across opposition, you can also use similar gestures to take them out with a variety of moves such as sweeping their legs out from under them or jump kicking them. There are many other interactions with different obstacles you come across, like jumping off spring boards, sliding down zip lines, and wall-running across billboards.
All of these things can be seen in the following gameplay video:
If you are like me and enjoyed the idea behind the console version of Mirror's Edge, but didn't really like the first person viewpoint and all the issues that caused in a platforming environment, you will love the iPhone version of the game. All of the visibility problems are gone thanks to the 3rd person view, and the game as a whole has been transformed in to a fun reaction game instead of an often frustrating and sometimes motion-sickness inducing first person experience.
New additions to Mirror's Edge since last year include new leaderboards that track your time through every level along with a whole heap of achievements to soak up and artwork to unlock. The whole game is optimized for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4, and looks really great in motion. This doesn't mean it won't run well on older devices, as forum members are reporting that Mirror's Edge even runs just fine on the first generation iPod touch.
Mirror's Edge is an effortless recommendation, and while I'm not sure waiting all this time has made the game any better, I'm glad it's finally here. Sure, there have been tons of running games in the past year but Mirror's Edge still is able to stand on its own, even after all this time. Playing through the game is a really cool experience, the controls work well, and just like the iPad game EA did a fantastic job of nailing the look and feel of the Mirror's Edge universe.
Big name developers just love setting their iTunes Connect release dates to Thursdays. Every week around this time we start seeing new releases slowly pop up in international markets, then filter out to the rest of the world as the Earth spins and it slowly becomes Thursday across the planet. This week is no different, and tonight at 11:00 PM EST all of the following games will be available for download in the US App Store. (Or even sooner if you're east of us.)
Mirror's Edge for iPhone, $4.99 - We first previewed this game in late 2009, and spent months wondering when it was going to be released. We found our answer as Mirror's Edge for iPad [$9.99] landed on the App Store as an iPad-only launch title for Apple's (then) new device. Back in April we thought it was inevitable that the game would be released for the iPhone yet, but we never suspected it would take nearly six months to happen.
Here's the gameplay video we shot from our preview last year:
From my brief time with Mirror's Edge on the iPhone, it plays just the same as the iPad version and is seemingly identical to the preview we did before of the iPhone version. Mirror's Edge for the iPhone comes packed with Retina Display friendly graphics and looks outstanding on the iPhone 4.
Puzzle Agent, $4.99 / HD - We had some hands-on time with this game not too long ago, and it's definitely something any fan of Professor Layton style games needs to pick up. In the game you play as Nelson Tethers, an agent of the FBI Puzzle Research Division and need to investigate the happenings of an eraser factory in Minnesota.
Puzzle Agent has already been released for the PC on Steam, and has been well received by most gamers. We thought it was a decent port in our preview, but we're going to spend more time with it to see if that still holds true as we get deeper than a brief preview allows.
Other potentially noteworthy games being released tonight include two new offerings from Namco who apparently have no problem juicing poor old Pac Man for all he's worth. PAC-CHAIN [$4.99] is an action puzzle game for the iPad where you tap groups of similarly colored ghosts from the game board with all kinds of Pac Man themed power-ups. Their other release tonight is Mishap [$4.99] a hidden object game for the iPhone that at least looks slightly intriguing with the inclusion of mini-games.
Finally, there's a new Chillingo iPad game on the verge of being released. Lamp of Aladdin [$4.99] is another hidden object game, but the matching mini-game looks like it could be interesting and there's something about the above trailer that's oddly alluring.
We're going to spend the day playing through as many of these games as possible, and like every Wednesday, plan on having reviews available by the time the games appear for download in the US App Store.
Games based on comic books have been almost as hit or miss as games based on movies in the past, so I think my cautious optimism for Gameloft's recently released Spider-Man: Total Mayhem [$6.99] was well deserved. Sure, there are some absolutely fantastic comic book games such as the quarter-sucking X-Men Arcade Game, and a few others over the years. Unfortunately, many fall in to the same pit that movie games fall in to where they lean far too heavily on whatever intellectual property the game is based on instead of actually having good gameplay. This is true to some extent in Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, but the whole package is comprehensive enough that it doesn't even seem to even matter.
Like all Gameloft games, many parts of Spider-Man are clearly borrowed from other titles of theirs, and Total Mayhem is no different. A lot of the combat feels like a mix of James Cameron's Avatar [$4.99 / Free / Free] and Iron Man 2 [$4.99 / Free / HD]. Spider-Man is host to the same wall climbing and rail sliding sections as nearly every other 3rd person action Gameloft game, and just like almost all of their other titles, the voice work is laughable at best and face palm worthy at worst. They even managed to sandwich the upgrade system from Hero of Sparta II [$6.99 / Free] in that nearly everything in the game drops orbs of various colors which are then used to upgrade Spider-Man's various abilities.
What saves the whole game is that even though they recycle all these different elements, they seem to combine extremely well to create a game that just feels like a Spider-Man game should. There are endless thugs for you to bash, a heavy reliance on the spider sense, and a surprising array of extremely recognizable bosses that anyone who has read a Spider-Man comic or watched a Spider-Man cartoon will know. The levels included are fairly linear, but feature a great mix of fighting standard enemies, bashing mini-bosses, swinging around, climbing, and the varied events leading up to the boss encounter.
The combat system works well, and even though it feels a little button mashy at times, it's a lot of fun to watch Spider-Man execute his combos filled with punching and web slinging. However, even fighting bosses is a little too easy because of how well the spider sense evasion system works. Whenever you're fighting, when there's an incoming attack you're able to slam your thumb down on a virtual button that appears just to the left of the joystick. A successful button mash kicks the game in to slow motion, and Spidey evades the incoming blow and counter-attacks. It all flows together great, and these spider sense moves usually look really cool.
There's a surprising amount of content in Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, including a hefty amount of unlockables to boost replay value. Twelve levels are included, and in each of the levels are tokens you can pick up to unlock bonus art to look at. In addition, there's an "ultimate" difficulty to unlock as well as a boss rush mode. There's even the black Spider-Man symbiote suit to unlock to play through the game again with Spidey powered up. Also, when fighting bosses you have opportunity to take photos of them, and these photo opportunities seem fairly easy to miss. If you're a completionist, you will be playing through Spider-Man: Total Mayhem many times.
Total Mayhem is loaded with high resolution graphics that look absolutely fantastic on the iPhone 4. It's not universal, but like most Gameloft games it wouldn't surprise me if an iPad-specific HD release was on the horizon. Gameloft did a great job of making a game that plays like a Spider-Man game needs to. The spider sense seems entirely overpowered in combat, and it won't take long for you to get tired of the spider sense quick action sequences that are liberally used in cut scenes, but beating up an endless array of nameless thugs is just as fun as it should be.
Back aboard the Gameloft party bus at E3 we got our first look at Ultimate Spider-Man Total Mayhem. When we saw it, the game played a lot like Gameloft's other third person action games, but totally drenched in all things Spider Man which any fan of the movies, comics, or cartoons will appreciate. The following trailer was released earlier today, which has a bit of gameplay footage towards the end:
Along with the trailer Gameloft also sent us a set of Retina Display resolution screenshots:
Spider Man is hitting the App Store September 1st, so if your spider sense is going crazy about that time, that may very well be why. In the meantime, swing by Gameloft's Ultimate Spider-Man Total Mayhem site which has quite a few details about the game including a listing of all the villains that you will come across.
Not long ago classic iPhone tower defense game geoDefense [$1.99 / Free] version 1.5 hit the App Store, adding support for the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 as well as the framework for DLC level packs. The first of those level packs was just released this afternoon, and a 99¢ in-app purchase unlocks brand new set of 3 medium levels and 3 hard levels. Also, these levels are immediately playable once downloaded so you can dive right in without needing to play any previous levels. While a game as good as geoDefense getting more levels is totally newsworthy by itself, it also gave us an excellent opportunity to pester developer David Whatley who is quite literally floating around the Caribbean as we speak.
Last time we spoke with Whatley he was extremely excited about the potential of the iPad, and told us that a sequel to geoDefense was coming which would be exclusive to the device. Since then, several things have gotten in the way such as the release of the iPhone 4, a Facebook game called Fantasy University, launch day ports of geoDefense and geoDefense Swarm for Windows Phone 7, and the never-ending question of what will make a worthy sequel to a game with the notoriety of geoDefense.
According to David, the recent update to geoDefense had a lot of work done behind the scenes to eventually ramp up in to an iPad version of geoDefense which is going to be the next title to be released by Critical Thought Games. From there, they're going to be testing the waters of the iPad App Store to see whether or not sticking to their guns regarding the iPad exclusivity of geoDefense 2 makes sense or not. Whatley admits that not doing an iPhone version of the sequel would likely be a big mistake, especially given the size of the market.
When talking to David about geoDefense 2, he mentioned the amount of pressure he's under to deliver something that will impress gamers, but not stray too far from what everyone has since come to expect out of the geoDefense series. He wants to take geoDefense to the next level, but he's still not entirely sure what that next level is. The situation seems eerily similar to Galcon [$2.99 / Free] and its successor Galcon Labs [$2.99] which despite the popularity of the original saw a lackluster response from gamers as it felt too much like an expansion pack, and not enough like its own game.
If you've beaten every level in geoDefense over the last year and a half since its initial release, now is a great time to re-download the game and try out the new levels. Admittedly, I'm fairly rusty but so far the six new levels completely live up to the difficulty level we've come to expect of geoDefense and are highly recommended for any fan of the game.
Lima Sky'sDoodle Jump [99¢] has been consistently updated with new things since its inintial release in March of last year. The Doodler has jumped through holiday snow, Halloween graveyards, lush jungles, the vastness of space, the fields of the World Cup, and now he takes to the seas in a recent update. Also, the latest update which just hit the App Store adds high resolution Retina Display graphics for the original, space, and underwater theme with the rest coming soon:
Last week during the QuakeCon keynote address, John Carmack pulled an iPhone 4 out of his pocket and shocked the audience by showing a demo of id Software's next game, Rage, running on the device. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Rage will have elements of racing games and first person shooters. There's also said to be RPG elements in the game as well, making it sound similar to both the Fallout series and Borderlands. Information is still limited as the game isn't slated to launch until 2011, but either way the following demonstration is beyond impressive:
We've spoken at length with John Carmack in the past, where he's mentioned potential upcoming id Software titles such as Doom 2, Quake Classic, and the rest of the id back catalog coming to the App Store. Wondering what the state of all these projects were, we once again pow wowed with Carmack to see what he's been up to since we last spoke.
According to John, id has restructured a lot last year and several people from the mobile team has since been sucked in to other big projects, and they've only recently got the mobile team staffed back up to the proper size for iPhone development. Carmack admits that after releasing Doom Classic [$6.99] he hadn't even opened up Xcode until last month to start working on Rage technology.
Currently, id is completely focused on Rage, and John isn't sure when they will get back to the classic games "even though it makes a lot of sense." He also explained that while both Doom II RPG [$3.99] and Wolfenstein RPG [$1.99] have done well on mobile phones, their performance on the App Store has been less than ideal, leading to the decision to not bring the Orcs & Elves games over to iOS.
Carmack admits he's had a lot of fun working with iOS 4 recently, and wished he had more time to devote to it. And while it's more than a little disappointing that we won't see the classic id games anytime soon, with how impressive the Rage demo was, I'm A-OK with John Carmack and the rest of the id Software team working on the forefront of iPhone development instead of focusing on porting retro hits-- I doubt I'm alone in that.
Tiger Style'sSpider is a game that we really just can't say enough good things about. The iPhone game, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor [$2.99] was our game of the year in 2009, and Spider HD [$4.99] is great on the iPad. There's also the pseudo-lite version of the game, Spider: Hornet Smash [Free] which is totally worth checking out if you've yet to try Spider just to see how the mechanics of being a spider in the game work. We loved Spiderin our review, and the development of the game itself is also fairly interesting which was covered in both an interview and a talk at GDC Austin.
An update just hit the App Store for Spider that among other tweaks finally adds Retina Display support which has made the game look even more amazing. One of my favorite things about Spider always has been the great hand drawn art style that encompasses the whole game, and the high pixel density of the Retina Display now makes Spider even more visually impressive.
Spider has been out for just over a year now, so if you've had it chilling in your iTunes library instead of synced to your device, now is an excellent time to do so if you own an iPhone 4. Otherwise, if you're looking for another game to show off just how great things can look on the Retina Display, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor is a worthy pick.
Ethan Nicholas grabbed headlines when his Scorched Earth-alike, iShoot [App Store] shot up the charts to grab the #1 spot in the top 100 paid apps category, dethroning the mighty iFart Mobile. What's particularly interesting about his success is that the game had been languishing in the App Store for several months until he released the free iShoot Lite [App Store], which instantly started to climb the charts, bringing the paid app with it and thereby defining a strategy that many would follow with varied success. For Nicholas, his success with iShoot was such that he was able to leave the day job behind and focus entirely on iPhone development.
In January, after his follow-up title Kim Rhodes' Outdoor Shooting [App Store] was out the door, Nichols began work on iShoot 2, sharing details of the development process in a few developer blog posts. And, after eight months' work, the game has just gone live in the App Store [link].
iShoot 2 is basically a reworked take on theScorched Earthformula, but with some nice enhancements over the original iShoot. First of all, iShoot 2 is a universal application that takes full advantage of the screen resolution of the iPhone 4 and iPad. But, aside from the benefit gained by the physically higher resolution screens of Apple's latest devices, the graphical detail of the game itself is notably enhanced as compared to the original, lending a more polished feel to the game.
Like iShoot before it, iShoot 2 is a turn-based artillery game that delivers a kill-or-be-killed battlefield scenario to the player. You control a tank set on a hilly / craggy landscape, flanked by one or more enemy tanks. Your goal is to calculate the proper angle and velocity to deliver your projectile(s) to your enemy in as few attempts as possible. And then pound him until dead. In this go-round, you have more intricate control of your weapons, as the velocity setting is handled via on-screen slider, as opposed to the length of time the fire button is held down, as handled in the original.
The game offers both Skirmish and Campaign single-player modes, as well as local Bluetooth multiplayer, with four players total in each mode. An entirely new weapons system has been put in place, with not only single-projectile weapons, but particle-based weapons, flame weapons, and the like. Tanks can be upgraded to use more advanced ordnance as the game progresses. The battlefields of iShoot 2 are larger than those of the original, with scrolling and pinch / spread zooming used to keep enemies in view. A dramatic, original soundtrack backdrops the action. Basically, every area of the game has been in some way improved over the original.
I've personally long been a fan of these sorts of games, there being a sort of fulfillment gained from calculating a trajectory and watching your volley of fiery death rain down upon your enemy. If you can identify with that emotion, or simply enjoyed Scorched Earth and its ilk, you'll likely find iShoot 2 rather to your liking.
Big Bucket Software's The Incident [$1.99, Lite] is a pixel-art powered junk climbing game that we enjoyed quite a bit in our review. And while Big Bucket could just ride out the wave of sales and positive response and then start full-on developing a sequel, it appears to be doing quite the opposite: putting more into The Incident. In fact, the team is readying a crazy update for the game that will make it possible to play via a TV. No, for real. 
