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Originally released in mid-1999 as a third party Half-Life modification, Counter-Strike quickly redefined the concept of a “popular mod,” and may have been largely responsible for the quick adoption of the Steam platform as players rushed to download Counter-Strike 1.6 on the new service. In its day, Counter-Strike had an absolutely massive following, both from casual players playing on servers online, locally at LAN parties, or even professionally in the various e-sports leagues that were springing up at the time. Hell, some of my very best friends I met either through or because of Counter-Strike. If you were a PC gamer in the early 2000’s, you played Counter-Strike.

As mobile devices have exceeded the processing power of the PCs we used to play games like Counter-Strike on, I’ve found myself yearning for ports of my favorite PC titles. Well, a Russian by the name of FrIuNs has been hard at work on exactly that. He’s managed to come up with a surprisingly competent port of Counter-Strike 1.6, built entirely in Unity. It even runs on the iPad:

Unfortunately, since FrIuNs most certainly has no claims to anything to do with Counter-Strike, the possibility of it ever hitting the App Store seems very unlikely. However, if you’ve got an Android device, you can head over to the thread on XDA Developers and find change logs and download links. Additionally, if you’ve got the Unity Web Player plugin installed, you can check out this Counter-Strike port on Kongregate.

We’ve reached out to the developers for more information, and will report back if we hear anything promising regarding the iOS release of this port.

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When it comes to game genres that have been done to death, the word game is king. You can’t blame developers for trying to come up with a unique twist for them, because if it does well, it does SO well — look at that Words With Friends phenomenon. How do we make the next Words With Friends? And then there’s a flood of games that all make you use your spelling skills. Great. Maybe if I get really fancy I can spell “ubiquitous”. Or something.

Maybe it is possible to find a few that try the new twist and come out successful, though. Bubble in Paradise [$0.99] didn’t sound too promising to me from the name itself, but once I got a look at the bubble mechanic I could tell the possibility of getting hooked was there. Basically, the premise is simple: your screen fills with bubbles, each of which have a letter on them. To form a word, you have to tap the letters and submit, and if you’ve got a word, the bubbles all pop, clearing more space for the ones to come. The twist is that if you don’t use them, the bubbles grow, and if you let them get too big, your game is over. Hope you have a good way to use that Z in a sentence.

There are little powerups to help you on your way, such as Freeze, Deflate and Plus. The first two are self-explanatory (and something you will certainly need as the levels progress in speed and challenge), but Plus is a special one you can unlock that will increase the score given by all nearby bubbles when you pop it. The only way you can unlock this is to collect stars as you play, which will randomly appear on the boards. The further you get, the more powerful goodies you can get your hands on. You’ll also need to learn to avoid ones like Faster (makes bubbles appear more quickly) and Inflate (makes nearby bubbles grow). Things get tricky once these appear and you’re already rushing to make combos.

Another option the game offers is hints, so if you are really stuck, you can use one to have the game show you a word. There are a limited number of free hints, however, and after you use them all you have to earn them in play or dish up your dollars. This is where in-game purchases come in. You can grab 20 hints for $0.99, which is pretty cheap actually, or if you have trouble assembling words in general and grew up in a small cave being raised by forest animals and making clicking noises to communicate, the 1,000 hints package might be good for you at a whopping $9.99.

Like every solid word game, Bubble in Paradise offers multiple modes to play in, so if you get burned on one you can try out another. Normal, Endless and Battle are available right off the bat, but you’ll have to earn stars to play Blitz (a timed mode). If you don’t want to wait to unlock Blitz, you can dish up a buck and unlock everything. The tone of in-game purchase options means a lot to me as a user, and I found that these were never intrusive. They were there if I wanted them, but without them the game was still perfectly fun. One other cool thing about these was that you can send them as a gift to a friend playing the game, which I thought was a cool touch.

One of the only issues I had with Bubble in Paradise is that I couldn’t always find someone to play in Battle mode. On the other hand, it’s just as easy to invite friends to play as the game is Crystal and Game Center enabled and can quickly hook you up with a network of people who may or may not outspell you. Bubbles in Paradise is a simple title, but well-executed and very enjoyable. I’m probably biased since I like to spell and learn new words. I also admit I gloated a little over the fact that my best word in the last round was “puked.” Not because it’s a long word, mind you, but because I have the sense of humor of a fourteen year old boy.

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We didn’t have a lot of arcades in my hometown while I was growing up. Even worse, the few that did exist specialized in video games and air hockey, with nary a pinball machine in sight. Still, whenever I managed to get my hands on a one, it was always such a dazzling experience of light, sound and skill. Perhaps that’s why I can’t stop playing Pinball Arcade [$0.99 / Free], the inaugural iOS title from FarSight Studios. FarSight’s ability to create near-perfect replications of actual pinball machines leads to a game that is not only full of incredibly deep pinball machines, but also captures that feeling of fun and excitement in an iOS game.

As its name implies, Pinball Arcade features classic arcade machines from various eras with the simple goal of mastering each one to get the highest scores possible. Each table also includes ‘Goals’ (read: achievements) that can be solved which lead to more complicated objectives. The entry price includes one machine (‘Tales of the Arabian Nights’) with three more available for purchase within the game via IAP. Tables range from somewhat simple layouts with interesting twists (‘Black Hole’) to lengthy epics chock full of interactive items and objectives (‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not’). Unlike most games with IAP, you can actually try each table before you buy, providing an opportunity for actual research before you even consider purchasing another table.

I’m impressed with how much effort Pinball Arcade seems to puts into recreating each machine. The visuals, sounds, and effects all feel authentic and add to the presentation, although there is some minor blurriness while playing on an iPad 2. The physics, while occasionally unforgiving, seem to offer a good balance between realism and challenge. What I admire the most, however, is how much Pinball Arcade offers in terms of knowledge for each table.

When you select a table, you’re given a brief history, the option to view an actual flyer (some are pretty low-res) and a comprehensive instruction manual detailing every single objective you can do in a table. The game really wants you to learn, live, and master each table –a concept that I can get behind. Of course, the game works well for the casual player that just wants to play a quick game, but I feel some of the charm is lost experiencing this game in that fashion.

Most importantly, Pinball Arcade simply hits the mark on gameplay and the feeling of actually playing a pinball machine. Whether you’re balancing a multi-ball run, trying to execute a combo or objective, or finally unlocking the ‘end game’ big score objects, all the experiences just feel real, something that doesn’t happen very often to me while playing an iOS game. Even better, since each table has its own personality and can take a long time to master, there’s tons of depth for replayability. I was also impressed with the variety of table selection, although I wasn’t the biggest fan of ‘Black Hole’ (too simple and gimmicky for my tastes).

While Pinball Arcade nails nearly every facet of a great pinball game, I did have some issues with its leaderboard integration. The game exclusively uses Facebook to track high scores, which seems rather cumbersome in my experience. This is further evidenced by the fact that even simple acts like checking the leaderboards seem clunky and slow to update (that and I haven’t yet seen one of my scores upload). I understand that lots of folks use Facebook (and it appears that route was pursued for cross-platform leaderboard support), but simple Game Center support feels like a prerequisite in this day and age. IAP is another aspect that just seems confusing; why the game asks me for both my Facebook login and .mac account when trying to download purchases on another device is beyond me. The whole structure feels mismanaged, which is surprising consider the quality of the rest of the game.

There’s also a potential minor problem in regards to approachability. The large amount of information and instructions for each table is certainly wondrous for enthusiasts, but it may be a bit intimidating for the casual pinball player.  While I thought the IAP price points were fair, I imagine some would balk at having to pay ten dollars to fully unlock all four tables. There’s also the fact that these tables are complicated and actually require some effort to learn and truly enjoy.  I’m sure casual players could simply pick up the base game and play free versions of the other tables, but as mentioned before I feel like a lot of the magic would be lost on them.

However, I feel that some of the concerns above are nitpicky at best. In addition, folks on our forums have stated that the developers plan on integrating Game Center soon, alleviating my most pressing worry. Regardless, Pinball Arcade is simply one of the best pinball games I’ve ever played, and should be put at the top of the class with other iOS pinball elites. Each table is digital masterpiece onto itself and should make pinball enthusiasts very happy. Furthermore, with the promise of many more tables in the queue (most likely as IAP), this game should keep you entertained for many balls to come.

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This is neat. Double Fine, the creators of Brutal Legend and, most recently, a swarm of lovable and unique downloadable titles like Iron Brigade and Costume Quest, is asking its fans via Kickstarter to donate a total of $400,000 towards the production of a brand new point-and-click adventure title that’ll be created by “a small team” and one of the adventure game genre’s most influential developers, Tim Schafer.

The fans have answered, too. In under ten hours the project has received well over half a million dollars in backing. And with over 30 more days to go still, you almost have to assume that Double Fine will be forced to use dollar bills as toilet paper to rid itself of all the extra cash it’s going to receive.

The project doesn’t have a real name yet. It also isn’t exactly slated to hit iOS — the initial pitch was for the development of a PC point-and-click “utilizing modern touch technology.” Double Fine says that if it raises more than what it’s asking for, as the project has, it might put the game on Mac or iOS.

This seems like a big deal for Double Fine: it’s a small, but notable studio that’s triumphantly shedding the typical publisher / loan shark model that it usually uses to make something that it has complete creative control over. But, this is also a studio that has been OK with funny funding deals. It let a dude pay for several PC ports in the past, and it’s apparently currently in talks with Minecraft creator Notch about funding Psychonauts 2.

So, when will you be able to play this game? It’ll be awhile. Provided everything goes as planned, it might appear on Steam as early as October 2012. However, backers will see the game as it’s being developed — this entire experience will be documented by 2 Player Productions and private videos will be released on an ongoing basis.

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We’ve been covering the existence of ngmoco since the very beginning in mid-2008, back before they dropped the extra colon from their logo even. A month later, we were on top of their initial round of funding, and with the launch of nglabs and other amazing future promises, quite a few people (myself included) thought ngmoco was going to become the unquestionable king of iOS game development.

It’s been a long four years since then, and while we once knew ngmoco for releasing absolutely classic must-have games like Rolando [99¢], Rolando 2 [99¢], and Star Defense [99¢], they switched gears to championing the free to play game market in a major way in late 2009. We were blown away when it was announced that Eliminate [Free] was going to be free, and We Rule [Free] was equally popular around here as ngmoco made a splash on the App Store with one of the first available free to play Farmville-like building games.

Since that original free to play explosion in 2009, Ngmoco hasn’t done very much to interest our community. They’ve seemingly stopped both publishing and releasing games, with the last major release that made much of a splash around here being Godfinger [Free], another free to play building game which hit the App Store in late 2010. Even more confusing is what in the world ngmoco has been doing with Freverse, the beloved former Mac developer, since they were acquired.

With Freeverse onboard, ngmoco’s proverbial financial katamari was large enough to lure Asian gaming giant DeNA was acquiring ngmoco for $400m, and since then it seems they’ve fallen even further off the map. Not even people familiar with the situation have been able to explain what ngmoco has been up to in the last two years aside from pushing hard into the Android world with questionable success utilizing their cross-platform game engine Mobage (which is pronounced MOH-bah-GAY, if you were curious).

Throughout all of this, it seems that ngmoco has been hiring all sorts of people, and still are, if their positions page is any indication. Sadly, TechCrunch is reporting layoffs at the former iOS gaming giant:

Ngmoco recently had a round of layoffs — maybe somewhere above 30 people, according to one source. The number isn’t huge, but among the departed are senior leaders including a director of platform tech and the chief marketing officer, this person tells me. One game has apparently been shut down, while another has been pared down, with some engineers remaining to see it to launch.

Ngmoco CEO Neil Young was quick to respond, making it sound as if they layoffs are a result of Ngmoco and DeNA merging, eliminating any duplicate positions leftover from the restructuring process:

“Armed with the insights we’ve gained from both the Western and Japanese markets and after completing the integration of a series of key acquisitions, we’ve organized our global operations to best support and deliver on our mission to build the leading Global Social Mobile Game Platform company.”

To add another interesting wrinkle to the potential fate of Ngmoco, Inside Mobile Apps is reporting that Ngmoco has missed their first earnout date, putting a large portion of that $400m acquisition amount in jeopardy if ngmoco (assuming this report is true) has been unable to meet the agreed upon performance milestones.

It’s hard to say what this all means for the future of ngmoco, but as a fan of all of ngmoco’s pre-freemium titles, it really saddens me to look on what the company used to be (and the promise they represented to iOS games) and what they are today. The weird thing about all this to me is that ngmoco championed the free to play model, then sort of just disappeared to build mobage while other developers went on to become overnight millionaires utilizing it.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what, if anything, they do next.

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Ignite is an indie arcade racer released on Steam last October, and developer Nemesys Games has sent word that a port to iOS is currently in progress. I haven’t tried Ignite myself just yet, but I’ve heard good things. It’s your typical stylish arcade racer, but has an interesting twist where you can earn points for pulling off fancy driving maneuvers, stunts, and destruction. Once you’ve earned 1000 points, you can use it immediately to gain an advantage in the race or you can save it until the end and get a time bonus instead.

Ignite features 3 different modes, 35 circuits across 7 locations, and a ton of different configurable cars to burn rubber with. Oh, also, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Let’s not forget that. There’s no clear release date for Ignite on iOS just yet, but the developers stated that the porting project just started in January and that the game is already up and running in a playable state. More videos and screens are said to be coming soon, but it sounds like it shouldn’t take too long to get the game on the App Store. We’re intrigued, and will definitely be checking out Ignite when it comes to iOS in the (hopefully) near future.

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It’s not often I can be completely sucked into a world on the tiny screen of my iPhone. Don’t get me wrong, it happens, but in the back of my mind I always know that there are dozens of other games waiting for me at the press of the Home button, all ready to feed my ADD-riddled gaming habits at a moment’s notice. It’s like I can never fully forget all the cool stuff my iPhone is capable of long enough to get lost in a game for any great length of time.

That certainly isn’t the case with The Hacker [99¢], though, a story-driven faux hacking game from developer Angry Bugs. When I fire it up, my iPhone is transformed into a Glider OS-equipped computer that becomes my gateway into an international tour de hacking which leads me to uncover a devious plot involving my former employer. It’s far from the first game to let you take on the glorified role of a top level hacker, but it executes the idea incredibly well and offers a fantastic level of immersion with a fairly compelling story.

The Hacker starts with you trying to log into the Glider Operating System on your computer, an OS you helped develop as an employee of Glider Corp. You’re notified on the screen that several things failed to install properly, but you finally boot to the desktop. When you try to connect to the ‘net, you’re denied, and then contacted via email by someone who claims to be a former coworker. He is one of a handful of developers, including yourself, who worked on Glider OS and were unceremoniously fired shortly before it was set to launch.

He informs you that he’s discovered a trojan in the Glider OS and suspects that Glider Corp is up to something shady, and since you have experience with the software he recruits you to join him and several other ex-employees in hacking into Glider Corp’s system and getting to the bottom of things. From there you’ll go on to experience several twists and turns as you dig in and discover just what Glider Corp is up to.

The coolest thing about The Hacker is that it hardly ever breaks character in terms of presentation. It tries to simulate a computer you might find from the late 80s with a green monochrome screen and very basic graphics, and it does it very well. There’s rarely a time when navigating through the game that you don’t feel like you’re actually operating a computer (minus the fact that everything is touch enabled, of course). This level of detail is very cool for people who remember when computers looked like that, but a younger generation might not appreciate such a low-fidelity presentation.

The Glider Corp system is spread across 8 servers around the globe, and the way you “hack” in into each one is by completing various types of mini-games. These are mostly just logic puzzles disguised as computer-y things.

For example, one type has you moving little nanomachine bugs onto trigger pads placed on a circuit board in order to “open the ports” into a server. The catch is that all the bugs move at the same time, and you’ll need to use objects on the board to get each one into the proper position to have them all be on their respective pads at the same time. A couple of the hacking games use similar mechanics to the classic Pipe Dream, like creating a path out of sections that will lead power to a set of dead nodes. Outside of the server mini-games, another bit of hacking lies in “decrypting” emails by completing a slightly altered version of a lights out game.

The mini-games aren’t necessarily anything groundbreaking, but they are really fun and can be quite challenging. It makes you feel like you’re doing real work by putting your brain to use and then being rewarded with an unlocked server and a new part of the story. I won’t spoil too much, but there is definitely more beyond the 8th server including some very cool secrets and surprises.

If you finish the initial 8 servers and still want more you can choose from 3 new areas to buy as in-app purchases for 99¢ each. These 3 areas each have 5 new servers to hack into, and completing each area will lead to some periphery story bits and additional secrets. There’s also Game Center achievements and leaderboards for every area as well as an overall leaderboard.

Doing pretty much any kind of hacking will earn you experience, which acts as an in-game currency. You can pay a bit of XP to pass a mini-game if it’s giving you trouble, or buy an assortment of sweet backgrounds for your virtual desktop that feature ASCII artwork. These definitely bring a nostalgic tear to my eye. But the coolest thing you can spend XP on is unlocking arcade games from the G.A.M.E. portal on your desktop. These playable games include takes on familiar genres like snake, brick breakers, shmups, cave flyers, and dodging games. There’s even a hidden platformer game in there too (but you’ll need to find it yourself).

There aren’t too many things that I didn’t like about The Hacker, but there were a couple of issues that stuck out. There are a ton of spelling mistakes throughout the game, which on the one hand feels a bit sloppy but on the other sort of fits perfectly with a game based around communicating with people over the internet. Our grammar has certainly suffered since the rise of the internet age.

The other problem I encountered was an inconsistent difficulty. The mini-games appropriately get more complex as the game progresses, but at several points no matter where I was in the campaign I ran into puzzles that stumped me for a frustrating amount of time. Then, after finally figuring out the solution, the very next puzzle or two I would beat in a matter of seconds. It could be that’s just how my own particular brain handled certain challenges, but to me the difficulty curve felt kind of choppy.

While at its core The Hacker isn’t much more than a collection of mini-games, the fantastic presentation and little details really pull you in. The story might be a bit cliché, but the way it’s gradually revealed to you as you access each new server compels you to keep hacking away to learn what happens next. Plus, the mini-games and accompanying arcade games are really pretty fun on their own, and can be played over again as many times as you want just for kicks or to earn some extra XP.

Above all else though, The Hacker does a great job at making you feel like a bad ass international hacker, which is what it should really all be about anyway.

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I avoided the movie Snakes on a Plane because the premise of reptiles causing an aerial ruckus seemed a little lame. So my expectations were equally low for Gorilla Gondola [$1.99], a game about a silverback gorilla who’s riding on the roof of a moving gondola. But fortunately it turns out this debut iOS release from UK developers Electric Pixel Factory is pretty entertaining.

The word “Gondola” has a few different meanings. To clarify, this gorilla is not riding on a flat-bottomed boat in Italy or an open railway freight wagon (that would be ridiculous). It’s actually  standing on top of a ski-gondola on a cable, which moves along automatically. By swiping up or down with your finger, the Gorilla jumps or stomps. The further and faster you swipe, the stronger it’s movements, causing the ski-lift to rise and fall.

Why jump and stomp? Because it helps him reach yummy bananas and power-ups like banana magnets or rising helium balloons. It also helps you use the gondola to squash “agitated birds” (which resemble certain fat Angry Birds) or to bounce the ape and gondola over or under approaching obstacles. The ski-lift doesn’t explode after a crash, instead it gets snagged and you’re given an opportunity to quickly tap the screen to destroy the blocking obstacle. If the snagged ski-lift moves off the left of the screen then you lose a life.

If the bananas or mines are slightly to the left or right, you can tilt your device to swing the gondola. As it sways, the gorilla totters, but don’t worry he never falls off. I’m not generally a fan of games that involve simultaneous tilting and swiping, but it felt appropriate – although your hands might tire after a long session of tilting, swiping and tapping.

The eight levels start with a tutorial and include the ‘Crystal Caves’ which feature stalagmites and giant mushrooms to avoid, the underwater ‘Reef’ and a gondola in space. Each level is dynamically generated, so the layout is different each ride. There’s also a variety of soundtracks, including one with distinctive lyrics in a deep voice: “Go-Go Gogo Gorilla! Do it! Oh yeah!!!“

Gorilla Gondola uses an interesting approach to unlocking levels by requiring a set of objectives to be satisfied. For example, collect X bananas, clear X gates and clear X obstacles without crashing. Some of these objectives can be earned across multiple games, and it tracks your progress as you go. This approach to unlocking levels is slower than many other games, but also  makes unlocking a level feel more rewarding. Especially the “Factory” level which has eight objectives to satisfy before it unlocks, including reaching certain scores on earlier levels.

Timing your jumps right is a skill which improves with practice, as the screens become increasingly full of explosive monkey-mines, fans to activate with a tap, bonus gates for the gorilla or gondola to pass through, and lasers. The levels are quite long and contain roughly  5 sections, so it can feel frustrating when the screen abruptly becomes cluttered with mines and causes multiple deaths in quick succession, sending you right back to the start to try again. Personally, I’d rather finish the entire Gondola ride each time and receive a lower score.

The Game Center scores are based on obstacles passed, bananas collected, the number of enemies and gates, and your overall awesomeness. How do they measure awesomeness? Dean from Electric Pixel Factory explains:  “If you collect all banana’s, clear all gates, kill all birds and clear obstacles with maximum risk (i.e – closest possible distance) then you will be 100% awesome. Missing bananas and ramming obstacles will gradually chip away at your awesomeness.”

Gorilla Gondola is a quality release, with responsive controls, good graphics and energetic music. The gameplay feels fresh and there’s definitely skill involved with bouncing the gondola through the tight spots. The way multiple objectives are used to unlock levels feels well-balanced and is rewarding, providing an incentive to keep that fearless Gorilla jumping and stomping.

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We first checked out Liv Games over a year ago with Legendary Wars [$0.99 / HD], a great take on castle defense. Now the developers are back with Monster Wars [$0.99], the latest addition to the genre. Billed as a ‘follow-up’ to their previous game, Monster Wars succeeds at preserving the same great gameplay of its predecessor while tweaking elements and offering a new story complete with a load of new units.

For folks that played Legendary Wars, Monster Wars will feel very familiar. The majority of campaign missions still feature the same castle defense-style gameplay where you collect resources, build units, defend your own castle from the opposition while simultaneously moving forward attack units to take out the opposing fortress.

The campaign also brings back the side-scrolling ‘hack n’ slash’ levels from the previous game (for better or worse). Each successful mission rewards players with coins to spend on unit upgrades, with an occasional soulstone (premium currency that you can also purchase using IAP). Most importantly, the deep character customization also returns, giving gamers a ton of incentive to play the game as much as possible simply to level up your character stats.

Despite these similarities, Monster Wars does tweak some of the gameplay by adding new variations on the types of missions we’ve seen in the past. For example, there are a lot more escort quests that have you guarding a ‘Named’ ally or a catapult as you make your way towards the enemy castle. In the case of the catapult, you have to actually use it to take down supplemental castle defenses before you can even damage it. The side scrolling levels have also seen some additions, with endless runner and other objective-based missions being thrown into the mix. In general, these tweaks don’t really do much to change the core gameplay, but considering how well done it is, I don’t care too much.

While Monster Wars improves upon its predecessor in a variety of different ways, I think the aspect that folks will appreciate the most is the sheer amount of content available. The campaign is huge and takes an investment to complete. If you want to take a break from the main story, the game features several endless modes which put you right into the action for as long as you want. The fact that you earn gems and soulstones, which can be used to improve your units within the campaign, is a nice (and necessary) touch. Finally, once you’ve conquered everything you think Monster Wars has to offer, additional difficulties are ready to challenge you all over again.

Another great way Monster Wars differentiates itself is with the all-new cast of monsters that you command in your army. There are over 15 new creatures, from the lowly Skelly to the awesome Lich, with each offering different attacks, special moves, and stats to improve upon. Each of the base units also allow you to upgrade its tier, giving the unit new stats, a new look, and even occasionally new specials.

There is a ton of variety in Monster Wars, and considering you can only take a certain number of units into battle, there are a lot of different ways to plan and play. I was a little disappointed in the fact that ‘tier-upgrades,’ (along with the ability to unlock some units) required as many soulstones as they do. Considering Monster Wars doesn’t pass out soulstones as much as I would want, players will either have to shell out some cash or grind a bit in the endless levels in order to earn enough stones to see everything.

From a controls standpoint, Monster Wars does a decent job. Buttons at the top of the screen let you quickly set attack and retreat orders as well as set simple formations. I did find it particularly tough to specifically select units during the heat of battle as your characters all tend to bunch up while attacking. However, I can’t really think of a better way of implementing something within the confines of castle defense.

Monster Wars also continues the excellent overall presentation started with Legendary Wars. A great soundtrack sets the overall tone of the game while retina-quality visuals paint a vivid picture throughout the course of your adventures. The story, a tongue-in-cheek narrative telling the Legendary (pun intended) tale from the monsters’ perspective, feels a bit trite at times, but still does a good job keeping the player engaged. There were a few strange UI issues, like certain screen buttons not registering taps (almost as if the tap window was smaller than the actual buttons), but nothing detracting from the gameplay too much.

I imagine some folks may complain that Monster Wars feels too much like its precursor without much of a change to the core gameplay. I say, why mess with a good thing? While the game does feel like a re-skin at times, Monster Wars still does a great job taking the classic gameplay from Legendary and transplanting it in a new setting. Add in all the new content combined with the deep character customization and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be checking out Monster Wars.

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Kotaku is reporting that Crytek, the company behind the CryEngine technology and the Crysis series of visually high-end first-person shooters, is in advanced stages of a new social gaming network that they’re calling GFACE. Yes, GFACE. I’m as baffled as you about the name, “game+Facebook” maybe?

Anyway, what the service known as GFACE actually claims to do sounds pretty cool. It runs completely in the browser and lets you do all the sorts of social things you would expect from your Facebook, Google+ or Twitter – add friends, post about your interests, discover new people, and plenty more. You can also meet up with people online and enjoy media-type things together, sort of like how you can watch a movie with friends in an Xbox Live party.

And of course, you can partner up and play games together. But this is the surprising part – all the game’s are streamed from the cloud on GFACE’s end, similar to how the OnLive system works. There’s a drag and drop party creation system that Kotaku likens to Battlefield 3‘s Battlelog, and then everybody plugs into the game on GFACE’s servers from their individual locations.

The interesting bit is that the type of gameplay seems to scale depending on what device you’re using. Like the graphic above, someone can be playing a first-person shooter on their PC while other players are connected to the game via their mobile devices, but with secondary roles. The person on the iPad has a commander role from a top-down perspective and the person on the iPhone-lookalike is directing a support weapon.

It’s a pretty exciting prospect thinking about being able to play games with people online in this fashion, utilizing different devices and gameplay perspectives all in the same game. I need another social network like I need a hole in my head, but the other features of GFACE sound pretty interesting as well. That name, though. Yeesh.

You can see a video of GFACE in action at the original Kotaku article or the GFACE website. The UI is bananas, everything is so smooth and high-tech feeling. I’m actually eager to check it out. Right now GFACE is in closed beta, but whenever it finally launches it will be interesting to see if it’s able to make an impact in the fledgling streaming game market or the nearly-impossible-to-compete-in social network market.

[Via Kotaku]

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