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While PopCap Games is content to leave all unpleasantries to its 4th & Battery division, the good-hearted portion of the company is helping to enrich the life of 9-year old Owain Weinert, according to Kotaku. Partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who have a long history of helping children stricken with life-threatening illnesses to realize their dreams, PopCap has recruited young Owain as lead designer on an upcoming iOS game called Allied Star Police.

Allied Star Police is a sci-fi real-time strategy game where you play as a base commander who must deploy “automated battle machines” and “targeted ballistic ordnance” in an effort to fight of a race of aliens known as the Flamions. GameSetWatch reports that Owain, who was diagnosed with Leukemia last year, has been visiting the Seattle-based PopCap Games every week helping to create Allied Star Police. You can see one of these visits in a clip from Q13 Fox News who recently reported on the story (video is in Flash):

Allied Star Police is still under development and could be as much as a few months from releasing, and PopCap has stated that 100% of the proceeds from the game will go right back into the Make-A-Wish foundation. We wish Owain luck in his new endeavor as a game designer, and we’ll let you know when the game is released in the App Store. There is currently a thread discussing Allied Star Police in our forums, as well.

[Via Kotaku and GameSetWatch]

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I've spent so much time playing Dungeon Raid [$2.99] over the last few months that if I was doing anything else more productive I can't even imagine what I could have accomplished. Does this bother me? Heck no, Dungeon Raid owns. I basically drooled all over it in our review, and it easily made out Best iPhone Games of January '11 listing. I explained the gameplay in the previously-mentioned review-

By now you might be scratching your head wondering why I'm piling shovels full of praise on to a matching game with a matching component that's so simple that it usually doesn't take much skill to clear half the board in one move. Well, it's because of the layer on top of all this that makes Dungeon Raid the game that stole my entire day today. You see, each match you make serves a purpose, and deciding what you're going to match when seems to require quite a bit of strategy, and often some luck, as you never know what's going to replace the blocks you just cleared.

Strategy comes in to play because while Dungeon Raid may initially appear to just be a simple matching game, there's a fairly complex subset of RPG elements that drives everything you do. Enemies are represented by skulls on the game board. "Killing" an enemy involves matching skulls with enough swords to total up more damage than their hit points (which is displayed to the right of each enemy). After every match, every enemy on screen damages you, and special enemies also appear randomly which have increased hit points and other special abilities. One such ability involves their attacks "poisoning" you, at which point you take constant damage until you match healing potions. (Matching healing potions, as you can probably guess, heals you.)

Since our review, Dungeon Raid has had two substantial updates. The first one added playable classes which mix gameplay up further, and today's update adds two new game modes:

The down-side of Dungeon Raid (if I had to say it had one) is that games can potentially take a very long time. Both of these new game modes are very quick, and I really like how Dungeon Sprint mode actively not only shows your current score, but also what the match you're about to make would add to it. It's actually helped me learn quite a bit about how the scoring system in the game works. Pretzel Hero is kind of goofy, but I love how they've thought outside of the box and built a game mode around the crazy matches you can make in the game.

If you haven't yet, now is a perfect time to download Dungeon Raid. This is one of my favorite games, and I have nothing but good things to say about it especially with how much love the developers have given it through updates.

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It was back in October of last year that we first learned of Gears, a new ball rolling game from Mobile Game Garage that was set to get the extreme graphical makeover treatment from fellow iOS developer Crescent Moon Games. Not surprisingly, the before and after screens were quite astonishing, and Gears was shaping up to be quite a beautiful game. After a longer than anticipated development time, we finally got a trailer for Gears in early February followed by a hands-on gameplay video a couple of weeks later. And at long last, Gears [99¢] is finally available for download in the App Store.

First things first: Gears is gorgeous. Crescent Moon has worked some serious mojo on the graphics here, which are entirely rendered in 3D and utilize a fantasy/steampunk theme that suits the game well. Retina Display equipped devices will be treated to high resolution visuals, and there are additional special enhancements for the extra power of the iPad 2. Also, owners of older devices can choose from different levels of graphical quality to increase performance if need be. No matter which device you're playing on, Gears looks spectacular with a ton of detail and impressive effects throughout.

The campaign in Gears consists of 27 levels spread across 3 different themed worlds with 9 levels apiece. Each level has a set number of power gears to collect on your way to the finish. It’s not necessary to collect them all, though higher scores and thus better medals are awarded based on how many you do manage to pick up. The levels are all really well designed, and the type of terrain you must traverse is what really sets Gears apart from other ball rolling games. Levels are rife with moving gears (naturally), stairs, narrow bridges, trampolines, gates, exploding boxes, and various other obstacles that can impede your progress.

The first set of 9 levels won’t prove too much of a challenge, and in fact serve as a perfect introduction to playing the game without being a total cakewalk. In world 2 and beyond, however, the difficulty ramps up quite a bit. Thankfully this is handled beautifully with the ability to choose from 4 difficulty levels at any time during the campaign.

Easy is where I suggest starting from, as there is no time limit and you’re free to take as long as you need to reach the finish. Normal gives a generous time limit that allows for making some mistakes while still being able to complete it, and Hard gives you a stricter time limit that requires a fairly flawless run. All 3 of these difficulties give you unlimited lives and take advantage of the many checkpoints spread throughout every level, transporting you back to the last one that was triggered should you see your demise (which you will, a lot).

Then there’s Brutal difficulty, which is reserved for masochists only. Brutal gives you the same time limit as Hard but you only get 1 life, and rolling your ball off the path will result in having to start over from the beginning of the level. It certainly earns the title of Brutal difficulty, but playing on the harder difficulty settings will earn you additional bonus points at the end of a level which is key to earning high scores and competing on the Game Center leaderboards.

The number one thing that really stands out about Gears to me is the excellent touch controls. There are many ball rolling games in the App Store, most of them meant to be played with tilt controls. This makes sense due to the accelerometer and gyroscope capabilities of iOS devices, and Gears too has a completely competent tilt control system should you prefer using that. But tilt controls is totally where it’s at. There’s never been a ball roller with touch controls this good, and once you’re comfortable with the nuance of them you’ll feel like you have solid control over your little shiny ball.

Gears is everything you would expect from a Crescent Moon release. It has fantastic production values, amazing graphics, brilliant controls, and a solid set of well designed levels to play through. What’s crazy is that they took something as simple as a ball rolling game and made it feel like something more. The difficulty might be a little much for your average gamer, but thanks to the Easy setting, it’s at least possible to complete the entire game with a little perseverance rather than limiting it to only the most hardcore and dedicated players.

Even if you’re not a fan of the ball rolling genre (which aside from the classic Marble Madness, I’m not) Gears is totally worth a look as it feels much different from what’s already out there. Players in our forums have been loving this one as well, and for the introductory price of 99¢ Gears is highly recommended.

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It’s been a busy couple of days with news coming from the Square Enix camp, and following the announcement yesterday that two new Chaos Rings titles were in the works the Japanese developer has now revealed the first trailer for Chaos Rings Omega. Andriasang.com has additional details for this prequel to the original Chaos Rings [$12.99/HD] straight from the Famitsu website:

According to the site, Omega is set 10,000 years before the events of the first Chaos Rings. You'll follow a story centered on the characters of Viegue his wife and daughter Vahti. Viegue appeared in the original game as Olgar.

This setup is different from the original, which had players select their main character and partner from four pairs. Here, the story is told just from Viegue's perspective, although battles are still fought in pairs.

Check out the video below of Chaos Rings Omega, though keep in mind it’s entirely in Japanese so I really have no idea what’s going on in it:

Chaos Rings Omega is looking pretty great so far, and appears to have many similarities to the original which actually falls right in line with the storyline of Chaos Rings. The game is set for release in Japan next month, and we’ll let you know if they announce any information pertaining to a US release. Until then, check out our forums for a discussion on Chaos Rings Omega.

[Via Andriasang]

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After a bit of an approval snafu earlier this month, the first title from PopCap Games’ new edgier games division 4th & Battery has finally hit the App Store. Called Unpleasant Horse [Free], it’s an endless high scoring game that stars – wait for it – an unpleasant horse. And let me tell you, this horse is a real jerk.

Gameplay is simple. Your horse leaps through the air traveling to the right, and can rest upon clouds spread throughout the sky. Pressing anywhere on the screen will cause unpleasant horse to jump to that spot, and the object is to leap from cloud to cloud for as long as possible. There are also cute birdies flying in the air, and jumping into these will give you an additional air jump to use when you need an extra boost in the middle of a jump to make it to your destination.

There are kind and gentle ponies flying through the sky as well, and this is where the unpleasantness comes in. Unpleasant horse can jump onto the backs of these majestic creatures, which are merely minding their own business I might add, and weigh them down sinking towards the ground. The “ground” in this case is a series of spinning saw blades, and you’ll earn extra points by pushing the nice horses down and grinding them into the blades in a shower of gore reminiscent of so many Mortal Kombat games.

So yeah, it’s pretty unpleasant, but it’s also pretty fun. The game mechanics are solid, though it does take a bit of practice to get used to, but once you get a nice run going it’s a very satisfying experience. Guilt-ridden satisfaction, due to all the ponies and birds you end up killing, but satisfaction nonetheless. The game’s description explains that Unpleasant Horse was the result of a game jam where they literally drew words out of a hat and developed a game based around whatever phrase came from it. For this, I’d say Unpleasant Horse actually came out pretty well.

Best of all is you can currently download Unpleasant Horse for free and try it yourself, rather than listening to me blather on about it. When PopCap announced the new 4th & Battery label, they explained that their aim was to try out new experimental titles without having to worry about annoying things like development schedules or profitability. This relaxed take on making games means free games for you, Mr. or Mrs. Consumer, so if Unpleasant Horse sounds interesting to you at all and you can stomach the unpleasantness, then definitely give it a download.

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Snuggle Truck [$1.99/HD] was supposed to be a game about driving a truck overflowing with illegal immigrants to a border. Its hook revolved around the fact that the physics-enabled immigrants sit an open pickup truck bed. So, whenever you lost control on a bump or a jump, there was a good chance that immigrants could go flying out of said cage. The end goal was to try to get as many people as you can to the end point.

Quite a few people felt it was an insensitive and juvenile idea, but fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) all of that content has since been stripped and replaced with escaped cartoon animals. I bring up the history simply because Snuggle Truck feels like a game that had its vision stripped: cartoon animals are great and all, but the environments and mechanics built up around the cargo are of another tone and style; the pieces just don't fit together so well.

The good news is that the mechanics are solid, there is depth in terms of content, and the execution is superb. I wouldn’t call this one a “thrill ride,” but Snuggle Truck can be your burst game, that title you play when you’ve got three minutes to spare.

It’s hard to just peg Snuggle Truck in a genre. I call it a side-scrolling racing game and then toss in the caveat that it’s highly physics-based. In the game, you control a dirty truck that can be highly reactive to the terrain its meets — the smallest dips and jumps cause the truck to lean back and forth. You can correct its arc with the tilt, but you don’t do it for the safety of the vehicle — you get lined up to protect the cargo, those cartoon animals riding in the back. Each animal is just as reactive to the truck’s trajectory, and the point is to hit the end point as quickly as possible with as many animals as possible. Easier said than done, I've learned. The truck, again, is highly reactive.

There’s a lot of stuff that can get in your way in the process of getting to the end goal, the "zoo": there’s an assortment of bumps, massive hills, dips, and even a few surprise environmental objects like explosive crates that get thrown into the mix in later levels. For the most part, Owlchemy Labs does a fantastic job providing change of pace opportunities: there’s a ton of different layouts and jumps experimented with, which give you plenty to do and think about.

Hitting and landing a jump without losing your animal dudes is all in the wrist and in the finger. You can tilt your device to correct the trajectory and also use the basic movement mechanic — pressing your fingers on either the left or the right of the screen — to slow or speed up your truck. The main problem I have with Snuggle Truck lies here, though: in the process of moving the truck, the way I hold my phone causes my thumbs to be all over the pieces of the environment that you need to avoid or jump over. Since the game uses the whole screen split in half to control it, you can just use the top two corners to control the truck and hardly block anything, but that just doesn't feel natural to me. This issue is much less prevalent on the larger screen of the iPad, however.

Snuggle Truck introduces one new mechanic at a time, giving you the ability to slowly learn and react to obstacles as you progress through the levels. But there’s a big trial-and-error element as well since you never know what’s around the bend. One small jump, for example, can take you straight into a wall while another of the same exact kind might not present any mission critical navigational issues.

To its credit, Snuggle Truck remains fun despite its clumps of middling level design. I chock this up to its relative snappiness — levels take, generally, under a minute to finish, so it’s not a great loss to start over again. Nor do you really need to ace a level since there’s so many in each tier.

Of course, there are carrots on sticks to chase — Snuggle Truck goes heavy on the rewards after completion of each level. You can earn your traditional star medals, as well as completion medals based on completion and number of animals you save.

To progress to a different tier you’ll need a pre-defined set of medals, but you can just float through the content without a care. In the app world, I find this priceless since I rarely have the time at a bus stop or whatever to really grind out perks. But if you want to be a collector type of dude, you can totally go nuts with this one: there’s a lot of side stuff to earn in each level. Sick it, achievement hounds.

So, anyway, while Snuggle Truck actually feels like a game that went one direction and then the other, I recommend it. The truck controls well, the physics respond well, and the level design has that right mix of snappiness and intrigue. Check it out if you’re in the market for another racing side-scroller, and keep your eyes peeled for updates. Owlchemy Labs has crazy plans for Smuggle Truck which include implementing community-generated levels which could lead to some awesome replay value.

App Store Links:

• Snuggle Truck, $1.99
• Snuggle Truck HD, $2.99 (iPad Only)

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I'll cut right to the chase here- The 7th Guest [$2.99 / HD] is without a doubt one of the most memorable games I've ever played. It landed at the perfect time between the CD-ROM drive being released and everyone trying to figure out what to do with it. Hell, I still remember the solutions to most of the puzzles. I say most of the puzzles because all of them had a very cut and dry solution except for the dreaded microscope puzzle which actually pit the player against a surprisingly difficult (at least in my opinion at the time) AI-based game which had no solution other than flat out beating the AI.

The microscope puzzle actually existed in a few different forms before its inclusion in The 7th Guest. Originally released as Infection in 1988, the game eventually made its way to arcades as Ataxx. Also, oddly enough, the same gameplay mechanic was also repurposed for the NES, Gameboy, and PC game Spot which featured 7-Up's Cool Spot mascot– A complete 180 from the maniacal Stauf's microscope. This game has since been re-released again as The 7th Guest: Infection [99¢], a re-built (currently) iPad-only re-imagination of the microscope puzzle.

The graphics have been redone, and of course the game now is entirely touch-controlled. You can play locally against friends, or single player against Stauf who, complete with taunts, will school you at the game in seven different difficulty levels. Gameplay is similar to how I remember it, and players taken turn placing pieces on the game board. The object is to cover as much of the game board as possible. As you move your pieces around, adjacent opponent pieces change color, allowing you to take over the game board with clever positioning.

The 7th Guest: Infection has sky-high nostalgia values for anyone who was a fan of The 7th Guest, especially considering the fact that the microscope puzzle was mysteriously omitted from the iOS port. The gameplay is timeless, and is worth checking out if strategy games are your cup of tea. In fact, I'd go as far as to say if you like heinously difficult AI in an abstract board game scenario, The 7th Guest: Infection is a must have.

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It seems like only yesterday I was cruising around looking for a silly Wednesday-related image to include with last week's game release post. Time flies when you're having fun, I suppose. Anyway, if this is your first App Store Wednesday, here's the gist- Developers can set specific release dates for their games on the App Store. Since the App Store is an international market, these specific launch dates occur at different times in the world. Games launch in New Zealand first, then slowly appear in other regions as the planet spins and it slowly becomes Thursday in other parts of the world. For us Americans, this actually means 11:00 PM EST tonight. Here's what to expect tonight, or earlier, if you live to the east of North America:

Gears, 99¢ – [Forum Thread] – This hilariously epic trailer for a ball roller still makes me giggle, and we're only a few hours away from discovering whether or not Crescent Moon Games' Gears actually does all the amazing things its trailer suggests. I'm not saying a ball roller can't be epic, as I'd certainly describe the Dark Nebula games that way, but this trailer brings about an entire new era of epic ball rollers. People on our forums are excited about Gears, I'm excited about Gears, and really, you should be excited about Gears. It looks really good, and we've liked what we've seen so far in previews to say the least.

Zenonia 3: The Midgard Story, $4.99 – [Forum Thread] – The Zenonia series has a huge fan following on our forums, and with two Zenonia games already on the App Store we're expecting big things from the third installment. It seems Gamevil is prepared to deliver too, with four unique classes, three single player and two multiplayer modes, and they've even axed the annoying weight and hunger system of previous games. 227 unique maps and 136 quests are included along with 48 achievements, 200 monsters, and a ridiculous amount of equipment to earn. I'm just glad that mobile games like Zenonia 3 didn't really exist before I was, you know, an adult with a job and responsibilities… because wow I can lose myself in games like this.

Snuggle Truck, $1.99 – [Forum Thread] – Smuggle Truck seems to have gotten a cuddly makeover and now features a truck full of stuffed animals instead of the previously planned illegal immigrants. This shift in theme shouldn't make the game any less fun, as we had an absolute blast with it back at GDC and it seems people on our forums who have already picked it up are doing the same with the game. The iTunes description mentions community created levels coming in a future update, potentially allowing for nearly unlimited replay value.

Galaxy on Fire 2, $9.99 – [Forum Thread] – While the game itself is already available on the App Store (and has been for quite some time) the new Valkyrie add on should appear at some point today. It's going to be $4.99, and includes a ridiculous amount of new features and content mentioned in a previous preview post. I'd go as far as to say this addon is a must-have for anyone who has enjoyed Galaxy on Fire 2.

Streets of Rage 3, $2.99 – [Forum Thread] – I think it's about time we all pitch in together and hire one of those planes that tow the banners in the sky to circle Sega's offices to get them to start releasing more RPG's, puzzle games, and other games that actually work well within the constraints of their Genesis emulator. It's the same old song and dance here, yet another action-oriented button masher with virtual controls layered on top. I guess if you're just crazy about Streets of Rage games, this is worth downloading just for completion's sake of having all three games neatly arranged on your phone.

Burn it All – Journey to the Sun, 99¢ – [Forum Thread] – Have you had your fill with rope burning puzzle games? No? GOOD. We got a look at Burn it All back at GDC, and it's a great little game filled with a cool gameplay mechanic, colorful graphics, and tons of content. It's universal too, which is always awesome.

Unpleasant Horse, Free – Popcap's first released by their new studio 4th and Battery. This game is the result of a Popcap game jam, and while it sounds a little basic it's both universal and free. I'm not sure why you wouldn't download it to at least check it out.

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Yesterday I posted some basic details and then followed that up with some additional impressions as I made my way to level 10. At some point during the night, Gameloft threw the switch to make the game available internationally. If you've been anxiously reading our preview coverage and forum thread, download Order & Chaos Online [$6.99] as soon as you can.

And as soon as you do, disable global chat for the love of all things true and decent. To do so, bring up the text entry and instead of tapping the "Global Chat" button to talk in that channel, holdit down until it is blocked. For whatever reason, Gameloft apparently hasn't segregated servers at all, so Global chat is a mishmash of every language under the sun.

I'm not sure how much of a "review" I can even do for a game like Order & Chaos. I played basically all day yesterday, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I've yet to really even make it outside of what feels like the starting area, and my talent trees haven't even breached the second tier of skills. This seems like a massive game, and the TouchArcade guild chat seems to have unanimously agree that Order & Chaos Online is "as good as vanilla World of Warcraft." I'm not sure I'd go that far, but there certainly is absolutely nothing else like this available on the App Store.

With that being said, as I mentioned in a previous post, Order & Chaos is definitely textbook Gameloft. They cloned the art, gameplay, and everything else that matters while leaving out a lot of the "soul" (for lack of a better way to put it) that Blizzard always has in their games. It's technically competent, but at times it feels like you're just going through the motions of an MMO, doing kill quests and running around while not really being invested in the game world itself. I've yet to really even come across anything I'd describe as "lore," which could be a fairly negative thing in the eyes of many.

There's also the legitimate concern that Gameloft might not keep Order & Chaos fresh with updates. A vital part of any MMO is a constant stream of content for your subscribers to play through, and Gameloft hasn't exactly had the best track record when it comes to providing additional content to their games at all. Without a fairly functional crystal ball, it's hard to say if this will ring true for Order & Chaos or not. Also, the WiFi-only limitation sucks. The game works just fine for jailbroken users with 3G Unrestrictor, and not being able to play on the go with my 3G iPad is seriously a drag.

Anyway, what I do know is I've been having a blast with the game. It's been scratching the eternal itch I've had for a WoW-like MMO on my iPad, and the fact that the client is universal is just icing on the cake. The TouchArcade guild seems to be having a blast too. Speaking of which, let's see if we can just take over the Arcadian Forest server. I was actively recruiting today for the TouchArcade guild, but it hit the 60 character limit in about 45 minutes… So we're going to need to make other arrangements. If you're a guildmaster looking for players, stop by this thread. Alternatively, if you're a player looking for a guild, feel free to post here.

Order & Chaos comes with free 3 month subscription, following that subscriptions are 99¢ for one month, $1.99 for three months, and $2.99 for six months.

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In more Square Enix news this morning, the company has updated the teaser site for their previously unknown upcoming game that we posted about a couple of weeks ago. The game is called Imaginary Range, and will be launching in Japan for free on May 5th. It doesn’t sound like your typical game, either.

Square Enix describes Imaginary Range as a “game comic”, which basically means it’s a digital comic book with interactive elements spread throughout. As you’re reading it, you may come across hidden items in some of the panels that relate to the overall story, or you may come to a scene that requires you to complete a mini-game in order to progress. They want this to appeal to people that are only interested in reading the story as well as gamers, so whatever gameplay elements it contains are of the simple variety that anybody can play.

According to Andriasang.com and some dodgy Google translating of an article posted at Famitsu.com, the story in Imaginary Range revolves around two characters named Sid and Sierra. A giant monster known as Ω (Omega) has attacked France, and Sid and Sierra head into the country to figure out who Omega is and the purpose of the attack. Despite having the same name, the Omega character doesn’t appear to have any correlation with Square Enix’s recently revealed Chaos Rings Omega.

Famitsu has also been granted access to the first screenshots of Imaginary Range, which you can see in the gallery below (click to enlarge):

While Imaginary Range does sound interesting, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed that it’s going to be more of an interactive comic book with light gaming elements rather than a full-fledged new game. Still, since the game will be free I'll definitely be checking it out. Imaginary Range is slated to hit the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on May 5th, with an Android version coming later in the month. We’ll let you know if we hear word of a US release, which I’d imagine we’ll be seeing, and in the meantime there is a discussion for Imaginary Range in our forums.

[Via Famitsu and Andriasang]

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