This might go down in history as the least surprising Game of the Week choice ever, but c’mon, how could it not be Infinity Blade III ($6.99)? Not only has the Infinity Blade series been graphical benchmarks for what’s possible on the latest iOS devices, but it’s particular brand of on-rails adventuring and one-on-one sword fighting ushered in a whole new era of “hardcore" gaming built from the ground up with mobile in mind. I’ve heard many people over the years question what the iOS platform’s “Mario" would be, meaning what’s the game that’s synonymous with this platform, and its killer app. I don’t know if I’d quite say that Infinity Blade is as massive as Mario is to Nintendo, but I’d definitely argue that the series is to iOS what Halo is to the Xbox. You practically can’t think of one without thinking of the other.

The latest Infinity Blade game doesn’t stray too far from the formula that made it such a hit, and why the heck should it? If it ain’t broke, you’re not supposed to fix it. What it did offer is a refinement on that formula, while at the same time adding in even more impressive visuals, an additional playable character, more upgradeable systems for your items and characters, and plenty more environments to traverse and battle in. Come to think of it, they actually did add quite a bit of new stuff into Infinity Blade III, it really is the epitome of a great sequel.

If you’re somehow not yet sick of hearing so much about Infinity Blade III, or you just plain crave more information about the title, we’ve got you covered. We summarized the plot events that took place in the first two Infinity Blade games, as well as some of the more fleshed-out stuff that came from the two Infinity Blade novels. We stopped short of talking about anything that might spoil Infinity Blade III for you though, but it’s a great way to catch up on what happens leading into the latest game. Of course we also reviewed Infinity Blade III, and took it for a lengthy spin in our TA Plays video, explaining a lot about how the various systems work while somehow not spoiling any juicy story details. Finally, just today we compared how Infinity Blade III performed on the iPhone 5 compared to the brand new iPhone 5s in terms of visuals.