Hello everyone, and welcome to the week! It’s time once again for our look back at the noteworthy updates of the last seven days. There are some interesting updates to check out this time around, though almost all of them are for free-to-play games. That’s how the business works these days, for the most part. But hey, updates are updates. We don’t pick and choose here, except in that it is what I literally do every single time. Of course, you can keep an eye out for updates yourself using AppShopper or by participating in the TouchArcade forums. This weekly summary is just here to fill you in on the things you might have missed. Let’s go for it!
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, Free I don’t play any of these Disney games, but I’m always fascinated to see which characters they add with each update. This one is particularly cool. One is the Evil Queen from Snow White, who tends to get overshadowed in these kinds of things by Maleficent. Nifty. The other one? Goliath from Gargoyles! Heck yeah. Gargoyles hope stays alive, even if only in a free-to-play mobile game. There’s also something in here about a feature refresh to Creep Surge, but I’m not actually sure what that means.
MARVEL Strike Force: Squad RPG, Free Marvel Strike Force is still plugging away at it, much to my surprise. Normally it’s tough to stretch a brand across more than a couple of free-to-play service games, but Marvel is juggling something like five. Anyway, this new update adds three new playable characters: Domino, X-23, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. VS Battle gets a new Balanced Draft mode, and a bunch of balance adjustments and UI improvements have been made. Also in this update: an absolute ton of bug fixes. Ah, remember X-Men movies? Remember movies?
Candy Crush Soda Saga, Free I don’t often feature King games in these articles because frankly they don’t seem to need any help getting noticed. But none of the other usual free-to-play matching puzzle games have updates on deck, and we simply can’t have one of these articles without one. That’s why we call it obligatory, after all. Thus, here is Candy Crush Soda Saga, which promises some new levels, improvements, and fun new features. Realistically? You’re getting fifteen to twenty new levels on top of the several thousand already there, and that’s about the lot of it.
Rise of Kingdoms, Free I’ve been playing a lot of Xenoblade lately. Those battle quotes really do get repetitive, don’t they? Shulk is always saying “I’m feeling it", and I’ve concocted that awkward preamble just to say that I’m decidedly not feeling this update. In any case, it brings in a new Golden Kingdom event that gives players some new single-player content to battle through. There’s also a Dragon Boat Festival event, and a new Alliance Event Calendar. Add in a whole bunch of improvements and optimizations, and you’re most of the way home. Sorry if I’m lacking enthusiasm. It happens sometimes.
Real Racing 3, Free Real Racing 3 has pretty much been running as long as I’ve been at TouchArcade. It’s weird to think of that. I teach kids younger than Real Racing 3. This newest version includes a handful of new events and the chance to earn some very cool new cars if you’re lucky and persistent enough. You can also fully upgrade some of those cars to open up some new Exclusive events. There’s even a Pride-themed event where you can win some Pride livery and other nice rewards.
Need for Speed No Limits, Free You may be noticing a certain missing energy in this week’s article. That’s because I’m trying to finish it in a short amount of time so I can go home and have dinner sometime before 10 PM. Normally I’m more on top of things but I took an extra day off over the weekend to rest my hand. Last week’s Switch sales and new releases gave me an RSI, which is very fun. Oh right, you’re here about Need for Speed. Uh, it has a new Special Events mode where you can dive into the vault and do a classic event of your choice. You can also earn the McLaren Senna in the new event featuring Michael Speedway. Similarly, the Jaguar XKR-S GT awaits those who participate in the new Proving Grounds. Finally, tackle all of the opponents in the new XRC to get yourself a shiny Porsche 718 Cayman GT4.
Respawnables - Special Forces, Free Those Respawnables characters are always making with the respawning, and also the updating. And events, too. Respawnables love events. The newest one seems to be something pirate-related, if the nicely-written update notes are anything to go by. You have to pick a side between Atomdrome and Black Bird. Why? I don’t know. Life often comes down to false dichotomies. It divides us, but also brings us together. What a world. Anyway, there’s something here about hunting QR codes, and the chance to find treasure or dangerous monsters gives things the extra bit of spice. After checking my notes, this is apparently the winner of the coveted UMMSotW award for this week. Weird.
Call of Duty®: Mobile, Free The last time I wrote about this game in Best Updates, some dude swung by the comments to say my jokes were terrible and I didn’t play any of the games. He was half right. So as much as I am obligated to tell you that this new version brings in Season 7 Radioactive Agent, complete with seven new zones, a new BR class, and a new Tank among other things, I feel I must cast that aside to make a more important statement. *clears throat* What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows. Right, let’s move on.
Hearthstone, Free The heck? Another pirate-themed update? I thought that pirate nonsense was in September? Oh well. Hearthstone sees Pirates entering Battlegrounds, adding 17 new minions and three new heroes. Apparently new free content will be unlocking weekly, so that’s rather pleasant. This new version also adds in a Trial by Felfire solo adventure, a five part story that follows Aranna Starseeker on some sort of journey. That kicks off on the 17th, so mark your calendar appropriately. This is followed by some kind of Outland boss battle business in the challenge mode that unlocks on the 24th. Plenty to do, no doubt.
PAC-MAN Party Royale, Yeah, I’m sliding an Apple Arcade game in here. And it’s Pac-Man, because for heck’s sake the guy just had a birthday. This update adds in two new power-ups in the form of the L.A.S.E.R. (presumably standing for Largely Aggressive Sustenance Extraction Repulsor) and the Electric Field. There’s also a new enemy named Itchy, who spreads negative effects. Hm. For now Itchy apparently just inverts your controls but there seem to be vague threats of more later. There are 15 new mazes for your playlist, and a couple of little tweaks to improve the game’s balance. I like Pac-Man. He’s a cool dude who knows what he’s after in life and makes zero compromises to reach it. We could all learn a lot from him.
That about wraps it up for last week’s significant updates. I’m sure I’ve missed some, though, so please feel free to comment below and let everyone know if you think something should be mentioned. As usual, major updates will likely get their own news stories throughout this week, and I’ll be back next Monday to summarize and fill in the blanks. Have a great week!
