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$0.99 Madness: Enigmo 2, Beneath a Steel Sky, Ground Effect, Loopy Laboratory and a Freebie

arn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:45:37 +0000

Black Friday discounts appear to be coming early as a number of excellent games have just been price reduced to only $0.99.

At that price, we highly recommend picking up every one of these titles.

Enigmo 2 ($2.99 -> $0.99) – Pangea's sequel to their incredibly popular Enigmo puzzler. $0.99 is a steal for this 3D puzzler which we reviewed when it came out in September.
Beneath a Steel Sky ($4.99 -> $0.99) – A classic reborn, this point and click adventure holds up well over the years and the iPhone-specific changes make it a wonderful adaptation. We reviewed it and found it to be a really great adventure game for both fans and newcomers.
Loopy Laboratory ($4.99 -> $0.99) – Now this is a blast from the past. We reviewed this game back in October and really enjoyed it. It's a Chip's Challenge-type puzzle game in which you must escape each level by manipulating objects. The game was fun to play and had excellent controls. My main criticism at the time was it stayed too easy for too long, but for $0.99, it's really a winner.
Ground Effect ($3.99 -> $0.99) – A very recent release that we really enjoyed. While a little rough around the edges, the sense of speed and stylings kept us coming back. An easy pick up at $0.99
Aves ($2.99 -> Free) – And here's a freebie. We described this as more of a tech demo but an impressive one. It uses binaural audio and an impressive animation technology called BioReplicants.

'Fayju Ball' – 3D Ball Roller is Free for a Day

arn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:34:16 +0000

The developer of Fayju Ball has set the game for Free for a day. We looked at the game back in June and found it to be a standout game in the Labyrinth/Ball Roller genre.

Like many other games in the App Store, Fayju Ball has you tilting your phone to try to get the ball(s) into the proper spots. This game, however, stands out in its use of puzzle elements as well as the 3D physics involved. Some levels require you to flip your iPhone upside down to get the balls to "fall" towards the screen.

Check this video to see it in action, or better yet, just download it for free.

App Store Link: Fayju Ball, Free (For 1 day)

'Eliminate' Energy Recharge Time Decreased, 1.1 Update in the Works with New Map

Eli Hodapp — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:52:21 +0000

What started as a promotion to keep people playing Eliminate [App Store] in the wake of the massive worldwide release of Modern Warfare 2 has now been extended "until further notice". If you haven't fired up the game recently, the rate at which energy recharges has been reduced to 60 minutes, down from 240.

Because of this change, players will be energized more often, earn more credits, and in turn be able to spend those credits on the various upgrades that are sold in game much faster. If this somehow is the first time you've heard of Eliminate, if you're at all interested in first person shooters you should download it (for free) as soon as you can. While you're waiting for it to download, check out our review which explains quite a bit about the game, available upgrades, and play strategies.

If you've been as captivated by Eliminate as we have, you also will be happy to know that ngmoco already has Eliminate 1.1 in the works. Along with many refinements, there will also be a brand new map and even more armor for you to buy with your hard earned credits. Ngmoco isn't ready to release details yet as the update is still in development, but we should have more information as soon as it is actually submitted to Apple.

App Store Link: Eliminate, Free

Freebie Friday: Ezone's Galactic Gunner

Eli Hodapp — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:33:43 +0000

As part of a challenge to get more Twitter followers, the guys at Ezone held up their end of the bargain when they hit 500 and made Galactic Gunner [App Store] free today. We enjoyed Galactic Gunner when it first came out, and with the free Friday promotion there's really not much reason to give it a spin if you're at all interested in sci-fi shooters.

From our coverage of the Galactic Gunner release:

As the title would hint, you play as the Galactic Gunner, shooting down Trepidoids by tapping the screen while the Galactic Captain flies the ship. Taking the control out of the player's hands allows for a more cinematic experience as your ship flies through precisely choreographed manuevers.

All the while, you're listening to near constant radio chatter between the Galactic Captain, your wingmen, and the Trepidoids. The whole package creates an experience unlike anything on the App Store, and the game feels like playing an episode of a wonderfully cheesy low-budget 80's Sci-Fi show, especially whenever the Trepidoids speak.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The only thing bad we had to say about the game was its relatively short length, but it's hard to complain about a half hour or so of expertly choreographed free rails shooting action. Galactic Gunner is going back to its regular price tomorrow, so don't delay if you're planning on giving it a try.

App Store Link: Galactic Gunner, Free

Upcoming 'Hook Champ' Update: New Levels, Additional Playable Character, and More

Eli Hodapp — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:14:37 +0000

We enjoyed Rockcat Games' Hook Champ [$2.99 / Free] when we took a close look at it in our review, we then discussed the game during episode 2 of our podcast and there has been a thread on our forums that has been constantly growing since the game released late last month.

Hook Champ is a game that takes the swinging mechanic which has been amazingly popular both in Rope 'n' Fly and its sequel as well as the recently released Rope Raider. The game has wonderful pixel art retro graphics, and feels more like an Indiana Jones game than the actual Indiana Jones NES game.

Using your trusty rope and grappling hook you swing through a series of caves trying to make it out alive with the idol you stole before the evil (and hungry) ghost that is constantly chasing you catches up and eats you. Everything in the game is upgradeable via an in-game shop where you spend the gold coins you pick up, and each level has its own online leaderboard with additional in-game perks if you rank high enough such as a crown for your guy to wear if you're #1.

The impending update is going to have even more hats for you to buy, along with full OpenFeint support. Along with OpenFeint comes loads of achievements that range from things like beating levels to killing 40 bats in a single level. Aside from the current in-game leaderboards, there will also be a myriad of OpenFeint powered leaderboards including an overall leaderboard to see who the true king of Hook Champ is. Also, you will be able to challenge friends to compete against your performance in any level in the game.

If you felt Hook Champ did a poor job at representing female grappling hook spelunkers, you'll be happy to find out that Gunny, the girl who hauls you up at the end of each level will be a playable character in the new update. Not only that, there's an entire new level set. The rat series of levels is all about doing things at blisteringly fast speeds. There's even a new ghost that chases you that's shaped like a rat skull that moves even quicker than before.

Hook Champ was a great game, even before this update was announced. Rockcat Games' commitment to adding additional content and features for fans of the game goes even further to seal the deal. If you haven't yet played Hook Champ, I highly recommend downloading the free lite version.

App Store Link: Hook Champ, $2.99 – Hook Champ LITE, Free

Ngmoco Lets the Dogs Out – 'TouchPets Dogs' Released in USA

Eli Hodapp — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:24:00 +0000

While I could go absolutely crazy with Baha Men references here, I'll spare our readers and instead just cut to the chase– The Canadian and Australian beta period of ngmoco's virtual pet game TouchPets Dogs [App Store] is finally over. Much like Eliminate [App Store], TouchPets is a free to download game, but your play time is limited along with the advancement of your dog.

Your dog in TouchPets is powered by virtual dog food, which you can either buy or just wait for your in-game dog food bowl to slowly recharge on its own just like energy in Eliminate. The main difference is, while you can play Eliminate all day long if you wanted to without earning credits, your dog in TouchPets actually goes to sleep when it runs out of food. Feeding your dog increases its energy meter, which then is depleted as you play with it.

What initially seems like a very simple virtual pet game quickly turns in to a surprisingly elaborate dog training roleplaying game of sorts where you need to constantly be raising your dog's attributes to rank up as a dog trainer and caretaker. As you level up, more items will be purchable at the pet store using the in-game puppy bucks currency which is earned by keeping your dog happy. There are also career paths for your dog to embark on such as becoming a crime fighter or a rescue dog along with silly careers such as a scientist or a politician.

Each step in your career requires items from the pet store you need to buy along with other requirements like trainer rank, dog happiness level, and some career missions even require you to bring another dog along, which brings us to the social aspect of the game. Since the game leans to heavily on Plus+, TouchPets must be constantly connected to the internet to play.

At any time during the game you can look through your Plus+ friends and invite their dog to come play with yours. The dogs then form relationships and can become friends, get angry with each other, or even fall in love. Every milestone in game is saved online and can be shared on Facebook, and your dog (as well as your activities with friends' dogs) are constantly synchronized with ngmoco's servers.

This allows you to do things like invite a friend's dog over and feed them. When your friend loads up the game, it grabs the latest snapshot of their dog saved on the TouchPets servers, and their recently fed dog will be have a full energy meter in their game. The social aspect of TouchPets is surprisingly fun, and the crazy dog relationships, scuffles, and love triangles that form have been endlessly amusing.

You can train your dog to do tricks, and if you're a good enough trainer (and have enough puppy bucks) you can even own multiple dogs. There's tons to do in TouchPets, and you could just play the game utilizing the free food you get throughout the day. Doing so, however, only allows you to play sporadically for a few minutes at a time, but otherwise there is no limit on how much you can advance your dog. If you're patient enough you could have a house full of dogs with multiple completed career paths without paying for anything.

The other way to play the game involves buying the different packs of virtual dog food which are currently priced between 99¢ and $29.99. Keep in mind though, the game seems to be designed more towards playing the game a little bit every day. While you could, for example, buy the $30 pack, and power your way through the game in few days, I'm not sure you'd have much left to enjoy. I've been playing TouchPets since the start of the Canadian beta, and without paying for anything I've ranked up significantly along with progressing nicely down the scientist career path by just playing a little bit each day.

TouchPets Dogs is definitely one of the best virtual pet games I've played, largely in part due to how much it utilizes Plus+ for building relationships between dogs. It adds a completely unexpected level of depth and complexity to the game that will likely keep me playing it for quite some time. I might eventually buy some food, but I've been happy with the amount of play time I'm getting with my free food allotment each day. Since the game is free, there really isn't much reason to not give it a spin. Further impressions and play dates are being coordinated in the official discussion thread in our forums.

App Store Link: TouchPets Dogs, Free

Three Great Word Games: 'Guess the News', 'Word Spin' and 'Words with Friends'

Eli Hodapp — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:01:36 +0000

While this week has been filled with news and reviews of fast paced games, I've always had a weakness for word games on the iPhone, even though I'm fairly terrible at them. Here are three recently released or recently updated word games that are all worth checking out–

Guess the News [99¢ / Free] – Surprisingly enough, the news is good for more than material to auto-tune. Guess the News pulls news stories down from various RSS feeds, and turns them in to puzzles to be solved. You're given a brief description of the article, then need to guess the headline from the pile of letter tiles on the game board. Puzzles are broken out in to several categories such as health, sports, and even "odd stories". For instance, I recently played a few games in the technology category that had me guessing the titles of Engadget posts. Guess the News features three difficulty levels which control how much of the headline is already completed at the start of each puzzle, and with the dynamic content fetching provides infinite replay value.

Word Spin [$1.99] – As seen in the above trailer, this game has two parts to it, the first stage amounts to rotating and positioning the various wheels loaded with letters to line up as many words as possible. You then tap the top of the screen to lock the wheels in place, then find every word you possibly can as you rotate the locked set of word wheels searching for valid words. Once you get good enough, you can compete both against friends by sending email challenges where they will play against your exact configuration of the word wheels or by submitting your score to the global online leaderboard. The gameplay mechanic is solid and provides an interesting spin (See what I did there?) on the word hunting game formula.

Words With Friends [$2.99 / Free] – Everyone who owns an iPhone or iPod Touch should have either the free or paid version of this game on their device. Words With Friends takes the game of Literati (a variant of Scrabble) and adds excellent asynchronous online multiplayer with recently added push notifications that alert you when it's your turn in any of your active games. The free version is ad supported, but otherwise fully featured, and according to a recent presentation by the developers at GDC Austin, Words With Friends and Chess With Friends [$2.99 / Free] has 50,000 active users daily.

I've had numerous Words With Friends games going for months now with nearly every friend of mine who owns an iPhone, a clever in-game search function will search the Words With Friends player database for friends of yours you want to start a game with, and if the game can't find them it will offer to send them an email invitation. Everything about the game is implemented so amazingly well that you owe it to yourself to at least try the free version if you're even remotely interested in word games, especially with the recent update adding push notifications. If you need people to play with, stop by the Words With Friends thread on our forums.

First Game Jam Game 'Gravity Sling' Launched (Free + DLC)

arn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:50:51 +0000

Riptide Games has released the first game that was the product of the 360 iDev Game Jam. The Game Jam was an all night coding session for developers to try to create a game in 10 hours. This particular game was created in conjunction with Jonathan Hartstein of Pyro Monkey Productions and Eric Lannan of Crucial Games.

Gravity Sling is an inertia based puzzle game, where you must try to get the astronaut back to the space shuttle safely. In order to do this you'll need to take advantage of gravity from the nearby planets as you sling the astronaut through space.

Here's a promotional video showing how the game is played:

Rather than releasing the game at the expected $0.99 price point, Riptide games has taken advantage of Apple's new policy allowing games to be distributed for free with the ability to purchase additional content. 15 levels are included in the free version, with 30 additional levels available in-app for $0.99. This eliminates the need for a Lite version and could be a peek into how things may evolve in the App Store.

App Store Link: Gravity Sling, Free

'Cell War' – A Stylish Side Scrolling Shooter

arn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:39:46 +0000

TipCat Mobile just released a very nice side scrolling shooter called Cell War [App Store].

The $2.99 game offers a beautifully stylized side scroller that places you as the pilot of a nano machine whose mission is fight off viruses and save the humans from disease. Designed for the iPhone, the game has some nice touches with a good variety of level design and power-ups that seem to keep the game interesting. Three levels of difficulty are provided over 9 different stages, and the game also provides online leaderboards.

The game is controlled primarily through the use of the iPhone's accelerometer allowing you to move the ship with tilt controls alone. This can be calibrated in the options so you can choose the neutral position. Your primary weapon is fired automatically and can be upgraded multiple times. Beyond this, the game also offers a nice touch targeting system for missiles akin to Space Deadbeef — simply touching on the enemies will lock on your missiles.

Here's the game in action:

The developers have also released a fully featured Lite version that provides the first two stages of the game, complete with all 3 difficulty levels. There really is a lot to like about this game, and the production values are outstanding. My only real issue with the game may simply be a personal one. I've never been a fan of the use of the accelerometer for ship movement in 2D iPhone shooters, and I much prefer touch (which is not an option). If you have no such hang ups, this game is definitely recommended, but even if you do, the Lite version provides you with a great sampling of the game.

App Store Link: Cell War, $2.99, Cell War Lite, Free

Almost Everything You Need to Know About 'Eliminate Pro'

Eli Hodapp — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:26:08 +0000

We felt somewhat obligated to review a game as huge as Eliminate Pro [App Store]. Following its epic development cycle, it's hard to think of many other games which were as highly anticipated among our community. But it's not just Touch Arcade forum members who have been waiting for Eliminate, as countless other developers have all been anxiously holding their breath to see how successful the microtransaction-powered gameplay is from a business perspective.

If it wasn't apparent by now from reading our other coverage on the game, we really enjoy Eliminate. The classic four player deathmatch gameplay is enhanced with an RPG-style progression system which adds a great deal of depth to an otherwise simple game. Power-ups littered throughout the maps spice up battles, and when it's working as intended, the matchmaking system seems to do a decent job of making sure the game you get thrown in to is reasonably matched.

While we did feel obligated to review Eliminate Pro, since you can download and experience everything in the game for free, there isn't much reason for me to dwell much on the gameplay. Instead, I'll try to clear up some common misconceptions I've seen in comments and in forum posts, along with offering some helpful tips and hints for new players.

Credits and Power

First off, credits make the world go round in the world of Eliminate. In order to buy weapons and equipment upgrades, you need to spend credits and your overall earnings act as your experience point total. As you earn more credits, you increase in level, unlocking more powerful weapons and armor to buy along with available upgrades for your existing equipment.

In order to earn credits, you must be energized. The first time you load the game you will start out with a full energy bar, and while you have energy every opponent who dies in a match will drop credits which can be picked up by anyone nearby. After each match, your energy decreases until you're eventually out, at which point you have three options: Wait for a recharge in 240 minutes, buy energy via an in-game microtransaction, or continue playing for as long as you want without earning credits.

An extremely common misconception is that you can no longer play when you're out of energy. The fact of the matter is you continue playing Eliminate for as long as you want, your character's progress will just be stopped until the next recharge and it will take a few seconds longer for you to get matched in to a game. That's it. If you're happy just playing a few matches each day while earning credits and the rest of the time just playing for fun, you never need to spend a cent on Eliminate.

When the matchmaking system is working well, it should match you up with people of somewhat similar skill. Because of this, not having the best equipment shouldn't detract from your overall performance as much as you'd think. Skill can overcome gear, as forum moderator and iPhone gaming superstar Zincous illustrated by killing a higher level forum member in a heavily armored suit and rocket launcher ten times in a row without dying once using the default (through presumably upgraded) armor and rifle.

So again, you do not need energy to play Eliminate or eventually buy character upgrades in Eliminate. You can play for free as long as you'd like, your progression will just be slowed– And just because someone has better gear than you doesn't mean you can't mop the floor with them.

Tweaking Options

The first thing I recommend you do when you download Eliminate is make your way to the options. Changing the look sensitivity is absolutely vital to enjoying the game. I've been preferring a higher sensitivity, but you should try out a few different settings while fighting against bots locally to find a setting you like. From there, you can pretty much disable tap to zoom as more often than not you will only trigger the zoom functionality in the game on accident. Being able to snipe is rarely very useful in the fast paced games of Eliminate.

If you prefer the controls flipped, there's a checkbox for that along with a checkbox for showing or hiding the on-screen directional pads in game. These obviously are personal preference settings and seem to have no effect on gameplay performance. The final option seems to be highly contested on our forums regarding whether or not to enable it, and that is auto-fire.

With auto-fire turned on, you will automatically shoot whenever an enemy is inside of your crosshairs. If you're having trouble getting comfortable with the controls, this can make the game much more accessible early on. While this may be friendly for beginners, you should try to get used to firing on your own with this turned off as soon as possible. To fire manually, you tap your right thumb once to begin firing, then briefly lift your thumb off the screen again to stop.

Auto-fire can unintentionally reveal your location and waste bullets. This is especially important once you've ranked up enough to be able to buy the rocket launcher, as every single shot you make with that needs to count and it takes so long to reload that you can't just have the game automatically firing rockets whenever an enemy crosses your path.

Knowing is Half the Battle

While browsing the store, you can easily see all the available weapons and armor, but what isn't immediately obvious is that you can also upgrade the individual features of your existing equipment. Tap "Gear Up" then "Inventory" to see what you own, and available upgrades. Spending credits upgrading your existing weapons and armor can be more effective than upgrading to new weapons and armor.

Like most death match games, knowing the maps is key. Playing against bots locally can be a great way to familiarize yourself with maps that you haven't spent much time playing in case they come up in rotation while you're energized. While you're exploring these maps, look for places that you can easily get cover and where you can retreat to look for health. As you play more you will begin to learn the locations of the spawn points on the map where players reappear after they die, and the locations of your favorite power ups. With only five included maps, it won't take you long until you have an accurate mental map of everything in game.

Power Ups

Speaking of power-ups, here are the included Eliminate power ups, and how to effectively use each one-

Damage Amplifier – Similar to Quad Damage in Quake games, this substantially increases the amount of damage your weapons do. While your damage is amplified, it's best to switch to weapons that have a wider attack like your rocket launcher or plasma cannon, as even enemies in the outside of their blast radius will be heavily damaged. While playing, if you see someone's weapon glowing blue, it is probably best to run away from them until their power up wears off as they will be able to kill you much easier than you can kill them.
Berserker Shield – With this active, you become invulnerable for a brief period of time. You can also shield-slam people with the berserker shield, which instantly kills anyone. The most effective thing to do while having this power up is to obviously shoot whoever you can while you're getting close enough for shield slam to fire inside of melee range. Like the damage amplifier, the berserker shield will make the whole body of whoever has it glow blue. If you see someone with this graphical effect on their character, it's probably best to run.
Cloaking Field – My least favorite power up, when you pick this up your character turns mostly translucent. Unfortunately, firing gives away your location and your score doesn't benefit from hiding so it is rarely very useful– Especially when playing against skilled opponents. Keep your eyes peeled and opponents who are cloaked won't be much of an issue.
Health Recharge – This seems to be the best power-up to have, when you pick it up your health will slowly recharge to 175 for its duration. Whenever an enemy is killed, be sure to grab the health recharge before the credits because you can't pick up credits if you're dead. If you see someone with a slightly red glow to them, they have this power-up active and will require a constant stream of bullets to kill.
Jet Pack – Take to the skies with this power-up, jumping or looking up and moving forward will send you flying around the map. Useful for credits that get stuck in weird places or chasing opponents across large gaps. If someone is flying, they have the jet pack active. It can be a little disorienting when you first pick it up, so if you see someone flying around try to pick them off before they get a handle on their trajectory.
Acceleration – This power-up greatly increases your movement speed. Useful for stealing the credits from other peoples' kills and running away from enemies with strong power ups active. Opponents with this activated are obvious as they will be moving very quickly. On the up side, at least you know they're not regenerating health so they should be easy to kill.

Keep in mind, only one power-up can be active at a time, and picking another one up cancels out the previous effect. The duration of power-ups can be increased by upgrading the power-up functionality of your armor, which is at the bottom of the list in the inventory page that has armor upgrades. Generally speaking the best power-up seems to be the health recharge followed closely by the berserker shield and damage amplifier depending on the situation.

Maximizing Damage and Credits

Eliminate uses basic hit box detection, so aiming for the head does more damage than the body. Whenever possible try to aim at the heads of your opponents for maximum damage. If you're in a hallway with an opponent and you're shooting their head while they're shooting your body, you will win and be able to recharge back to full health when you pick up their health power-up.

When starting out, it seems to be the most effective to save your credits to just upgrade one or two guns before other weapons. Even though the auto-rifle is your default weapon, it can pack quite a punch once you sink some credits in to it. Similarly, even though armor skins may be attractive to buy to make your guy look cool, they're a waste of credits early on when you could be increasing your overall effectiveness to earn more credits. Don't underestimate the power of upgrading the stats of your weapons and armor.

Taunting awards additional credits while energized, so make sure you shake your iPhone when you're on top of any corpse. When you hear your character say "Yeah!", you've successfully taunted. Also, speaking of credits, once an enemy has died anyone who is energized can pick up the credits they drop. If you're trying to maximize your income, be as crafty as possible and let other people do much of the killing only to sweep in, kill them, and clean up all the credits.

Like other death match games, framerate is important. Eliminate runs best on newer devices, but runs well enough to play on the entire line of iPods and iPhones. If you're having performance issues, you can try restarting your device, disable automatic email checking, or even turn on airplane mode and re-enable WiFi to avoid being interrupted by calls and text messages.

Since energy is a limited resource, I recommend playing games while you're energized while connected to reliable WiFi. Eliminate works fine over 3G, but with only a few recharges per day it's usually best to use an internet connection that you trust instead of depending on the often questionable performance of the cellular network.

Have Fun

Like any video game, practice makes perfect. The first few times you play Eliminate, you will likely get owned. Play against bots locally until you have a good feel for the controls, and then expect to die quite a bit while you're learning how to best play against human opponents. Most of all, don't get discouraged because of a string of a few bad matches. Whenever you're in a game where you're being dominated by your opponents, try to observe what they're doing to kill you so effectively and try to turn your defeat in to a lesson on a play technique you may not have thought of.

Eliminate is a great game, and I've really got to hand it to ngmoco for not only creating such an action packed multiplayer experience on the iPhone, but also doing it in a way that can be enjoyable for casual players who just want to dabble in the game for free along with hardcore players who have made Eliminate part of their daily routine. If you've read this far and haven't already tried Eliminate, what are you waiting for? Further questions can be answered in the massive discussion thread or in our Eliminate tips thread in our forums.

App Store Link: Eliminate Pro, Free