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Say what you will about Gameloft, the developer occasionally does a good job of filling the App Store void with iOS versions of console staples. N.O.V.A. 3 [ $6.99 ], the third game in the company’s perennial FPS series is one such title.  Capitalizing on the success of the previous two titles, as well as offering full support for the latest and greatest in Apple hardware, N.O.V.A. 3 offers a great action-packed single player experience complete with some very impressive visuals.

Following the never-ending trials and tribulations of Kal Warden, N.O.V.A. 3 continues the story as Warden is yet again recalled into action, this time to the ruins of San Francisco to aid an old friend. From there, you’ll travel to several more planets, a derelict ship, and even the home planet of the Volterites. I’ll save the spoilers for those of you that care about the story, but suffice to Kal gets tasked with saving the human race (again) from certain doom and will go through humans, Volterites and Judgers alike to accomplish that feat.

You’ll be saving humanity via gameplay that should be largely familiar for genre veterans. Like its predecessor, N.O.V.A. 3 has you exploring a wide variety of locales while battling enemy archetypes and hitting objective-marker based goals that shouldn’t offer much in terms of surprise. Also, you can expect the occasional break from the on-foot battle heroics by piloting Mechs, manning the weaponry on top of AI driven trucks and serving as sniper support for other NPCs. By now, it should be apparent that Gameloft has uncovered the formula for a successful FPS, and while N.O.V.A. 3 doesn’t offer much in terms of revolutionary gameplay, it certainly succeeds in what it does implement.

One interesting inclusion is an in-game store that offers unique weapons and upgrades that takes currency you earn by completing single player levels. It’s nice to see a system that actually provides rewards proportionally to how well you complete a level run. Unfortunately, the inclusion of IAP to bypass said currency collection lessens experience somewhat.

A well-done FPS is in some ways far more reliant on its controls than other genres. Thankfully, N.O.V.A. 3 works within its limitations to provide a competent scheme for a touch screen. The standard dual-stick controls are available, as well as generous use of a swipe gestures for swapping weapons and powers. I was particularly a fan of the gyroscope inclusion, as proper use of that option goes a long way towards making the game’s aiming accurate and fun.

N.O.V.A. 3 plays well on the iPhone, but I found the screen to be a bit cramped compared to the roomy iPad controls. Either way, a host of options such as auto-aim, attempt to help even touch-screen novices blast away with ease. While I imagine there are some folks that will never get used to touchscreen controls for an FPS, the fact remains that N.O.V.A. 3’s control schemes do a decent job of letting you take out baddies and navigate the environments with ease.

By the way, those environments you’ll be traversing across look absolutely gorgeous. N.O.V.A. 3 takes full advantage of the hardware offerings of the iPhone 4S and new iPad, which leads to one of the most visually impressive FPS titles I’ve played on iOS. The textures, weather and visual effects – even the shadows are all well done and simply stunning.

As nice as the game looks on the small scree, N.O.V.A. 3 begs to be played on a new iPad. The larger retina-display of the tablet lets you truly appreciate just how far the visuals have come in the series. The fact that the game manages to look this good while successfully running (for the most part) at a decent framerate is probably the most impressive accomplishment. Granted, there were a few mishaps with the graphics engine, such as a few instances of falling through environments, the occasional slowdown when there’s a lot of action on the screen and the unusually lengthy loading screens (that occasionally make you think the game crashed), but these do little to detract from what is an otherwise impressive visual system.

It would be easy to simply classify N.O.V.A. 3 as impressive eye candy and leave it at that, but Gameloft deserves credit for continuing the trend of creating a well-rounded FPS experience complete with a full story-driven campaign, a plethora of control and gameplay options and a balanced gameplay experience. We sometimes talk about games that possess that certain something that make them ideal for showcasing the might of iOS. I’d argue that, while N.O.V.A. 3 may not necessarily be at the top of that shortlist, it has enough going for it to warrant being close to such a classification.

This is part one of our two-part N.O.V.A. 3 review. In previous N.O.V.A. games, multiplayer played a very large component of how much our community enjoyed the game. With our early review copy, there obviously wasn’t anyone to be found to play with online. As soon as the game is released, and we can spend some quality time with the multiplayer we’ll post a follow-up focusing on the multiplayer aspects of N.O.V.A. 3.

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It’s been over a year and a half since we last covered the boy wizard and his Lego debut on iOS. Now, after much waiting the adventure is finally ready to be concluded with Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 [ $4.99 ]. While most Potter diehards will likely flock to this version and have a decent time, a few annoying missteps keep the title from having a wider appeal.

As was the case for the previous Lego Potter game, Years 5-7 is a port of an already existing portable game for the 3DS and more recently, PlayStation Vita. This means that you’re going to have (for the most part) a fully-featured game with a wealth of content. You’ll play through the final four movies of the series reimagined in the now-typical Lego way, each with its own chapters and sub-chapters. In addition, there are tons of unlockable characters as well as collectables. Suffice to say, there shouldn’t be any worries about getting your money’s worth with this title.

Gameplay is standard for what you’d expect from a Lego game at this point. You’ll spend the majority of the game engaged in simple exploration and puzzle solving, with some occasional combat thrown in for good measure. And, of course, you’ll spend a lot of time collecting studs which can be used to unlock new characters who have abilities that can open up previously locked areas. One new element added to the mix is the inclusion of Wizard Duels, which pits your character against another wizard in what is essentially a rock-paper-scissors battle for wand supremacy. While I didn’t think it added much to the overall gameplay, it was still a welcome sight for variety’s sake.

It feels strange saying this, but I was impressed with the visuals in Years 5-7. There was a certain clarity and visual sheen surrounding the in-game environments and character models on the iPhone 4S which put the game on par (or even better than) its portable console brethren. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the movie cutscenes, which were incredibly compressed. The audio suffers from a similar fate with annoying artifacts which simply feel out of place.

An interesting side effect is the fact that Years 5-7 will drain your iPhone’s battery very quickly. It seems like an obvious statement to make when you’re dealing with graphically-rich games, but I was still surprised at the how fast it drained (60-70% in about two hours of play). Just keep this in mind if you plan on a heavy gaming session away from a power source.

One of the areas we enjoyed in the previous Lego Harry Potter game was its intuitive control scheme, which used a more touch-centric (tap to move, swipes, etc.) method for controlling your character vice a virtual control pad. Unfortunately, Years 5-7 moves away from that style and settles firmly on a virtual joypad complete with various action buttons. While a virtual gamepad scheme is nothing new, the implementation feels off with small buttons that aren’t clearly labeled and the occasional non-register of a tap. Other actions, like specifically selecting a spell, become exercises in redundancy with the current control setup.

There are also a few nagging issues on top of the controls that just bring the experience down. The camera angle occasionally put you in a position where it’s hard to see pitfalls and other insta-death elements, causing sudden death if you’re not careful. I also encountered several situations where it was possible for your character to just get trapped on objects and just hang. Thankfully, the game will mercifully kill you after being this way for a while, but these sorts of bugs just shouldn’t be happening.

I’m happy to see that the Lego Harry Potter series finally completed on iOS. However, I’m not sure why it took so long for this port to land on the platform. Sure, Years 5-7 looks good visually, but the switch to a virtual gamepad along with the issues mentioned above deter the game from being better. As it is, the Lego gameplay is intact, meaning that fans of the series should continue to enjoy it. However, you can do better if you’re simply looking for the next great action/platform game.

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The folks at Halfbrick had been teasing their much ballyhooed Gadget update for Jetpack Joyride [ Free ]for the past couple of months, and just last week it finally landed in the App Store. And it was awesome. However, Halfbrick must have still had some gas left in the tank after that massive update because over the weekend they released yet another update for Jetpack Joyride, this time adding support for the Retina Display of the new iPad. Check out some screens from the newest build (click to enlarge):

In addition to the graphics upgrade on the new iPad, the visuals have also been improved for the previous generation iPads as well as the iPhone 4. Loading times have also been improved across the board as well as a whole bunch of minor tweaks and fixes. I was really impressed with the Gadget update that hit for Jetpack Joyride last week, and with this latest Retina Display update the entire package has really been fully fleshed out.

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Chillingo’s penchant for publishing dual-stick shooters returns with the release of Lock ‘n’ Load [ $0.99 ], a content-rich title developed by GameLab that hits all the right notes for the genre. While a lot of that content is initially locked away a bit tighter than I’d like, the gameplay, visual-style and presentation make up for that setback, leading to a game well worth checking out for the dual-stick shooter crowd.

Lock ‘n’ Load puts you in the role of a hockey-mask wearing protagonist taking on an evil magic-wielding girl whose minions trampled his garden bed. As you can imagine, the tone of the game is very tongue-in-cheek and does a great job making fun of itself. While the story obviously takes a backseat to the gameplay, I still enjoyed it more than most other dual-stick shooters, including the twist at the completion of the main campaign. Still, what’s more important is content, and Lock ‘n’ Load certainly has a lot of enemies to throw at you.

You’ll be taking on those hordes of minions with your choice of three weapons (you’ll have to unlock two of them) through mostly standard DSS gameplay. I say mostly because Lock ‘n’ Load does a great job spicing up the gameplay with good plot pacing and a variety of mini games. You’ll do collection quests, first-person carnival shooting – even a Space Invaders-inspired stint. Of course, there’s also a ton of opportunities to simply mow down the mobs. A second, harder difficulty is also available, along with a second unlockable campaign (and challenge missions) that focuses more on gameplay than story.

Visually, Lock ‘n’ Load looks impressive with a wide variety of backdrops and character models. I was particularly impressed with the assortment of environments used across the campaign, each with their own graphical effects. In addition, the game runs at a good frame rate and looked exceptionally nice on my iPhone 4S. Relatedly, I thought Lock ‘n’ Load did a great job with its auditory aspects, with the music setting the mood appropriately and decent voiceovers accompanying the story cutscenes and combat. It did get a little annoying hearing your character repeat the same catchphrases over and over but in general I thought the voiceovers did much more good than harm.

One of my few complaints about Lock ‘n’ Load is the way it handles unlocks with its in-game currency. Every upgrade and unlockable requires cash, which can be randomly dropped by enemies while playing the campaign or purchased en masse via IAP. As is becoming custom, while you can earn a decent amount of cash through a campaign run it won’t be nearly enough to unlock all the content.

Unfortunately, I think the amount of cash dropped in-game should definitely be adjusted. I ran through the entire campaign (with several restarts on some missions) and didn’t even earn nearly enough cash to unlock the first tier of upgrades. When you include all the challenge levels, skins, and second story mode, players will end up having to rerun through completed levels many times before they can earn enough cash to unlock everything.

On top of all that, unlocks don’t appear to transfer between iOS devices (unless you have the all-encompassing ‘premium pass’) meaning that simply spending a few bucks on cash to unlock extras isn’t going to cut it if you want to play on multiple devices. Also worth mentioning is a crash bug that’s affected some users. An update with a fix is already submitted, and in the meantime if this is affecting you turning on Airplane mode should work as a temporary fix.

Even if you have an adverse reaction to IAP, Lock ‘n’ Load still offers a decent amount of content with more that can be eventually unlocked (even if it takes a long time). When you combine that with the excellent visual style and content diversity, Lock ‘n’ Load becomes a highly recommended game. While we’ve had our share of good dual stick shooters, it’s rare to find one as well-rounded and content-rich (even if you have to unlock a lot of it). Gamers remotely interested in dual stick shooters owe it to themselves to check out this title.

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A long time ago, in July of 2010 to be exact, a little iPhone game by the name of Prisoner 84 [ $2.99 ] from Hidden Games had me sleeping with a nightlight. See, Prisoner 84 is a 3rd person survival horror game, and despite being on the tiny screen of my phone, it managed to pack in one of the most creepy experiences that I’ve had on any platform.

Now, I don’t want to oversell anything here. At face value, Prisoner 84 is a fairly basic, slow-paced 3rd person action game. It can be completed in just a couple of hours (or longer if you really explore), the various puzzles in the game are pretty straightforward, and the graphics aren’t really anything to write home about.

However, don’t let any of that turn you off. Prisoner 84 absolutely nails one aspect of horror games, and arguably the most important one: atmosphere. Footsteps echo in the otherwise dead silent halls of the cellblock setting. Soft murmurs and growls suddenly sound off in the distance. Gruesome scenes of violence hint that there’s something out there responsible and those who came before you weren’t so lucky. It can be downright chilling.

I could go on and on about how much I love the mood of Prisoner 84, but you can just read all about it in our original review. Really, what I’m more interested in talking about is the substantial update that has just hit this nearly two-year old game. Prisoner 84 launched in 2010, and aside from a maintenance and bug fix update that hit shortly after release, it’s been untouched since. That’s why I was completely blown away to see an update waiting for me in iTunes just the other day.

The game is now Universal and runs at Retina resolution on the iPhone 4 models and the new iPad. Also, on iPads and 4th generation devices additional graphical flourishes and more detailed character models have been included. The original release of Prisoner 84 sported some really blocky characters, and post-update things have really been improved.

It also looks fantastic in Retina resolution, though there are plenty of low-res textures you’ll run into that remind you you’re playing an older game. Still, from where Prisoner 84 was at originally, the difference is night and day thanks to these improvements. (Trailer is from the old version, FYI).

Rounding out the update is multitasking support, an improved user interface, and various gameplay tweaks – all welcome additions. I love when developers spring new updates on their customers, even if a game is years old, and if you missed out on Prisoner 84 before then now would be a great time to check it out. Just keep in mind that it is very slow-paced, and because it’s an older game it’s not quite as cutting edge visually. But if you can appreciate a moody atmosphere that will creep your pants off, then Prisoner 84 is among the best on the App Store.

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In January Namco Bandai released an excellent iOS version of their classic 3D fighter SoulCalibur [ $11.99 ]. A a fan of SoulCalibur on Dreamcast more than a decade ago, the faithful iOS port was a great way to re-experience the game. The virtual controls worked well, the graphics were crisp and high-res, and the finely-tuned mechanics withstood the test of time.

However, as good as iOS SoulCalibur was, it was strangely devoid of any kind of multiplayer, a key component for a fighting game. Over the weekend, Namco Bandai looked to rectify that omission by releasing a new update that adds Bluetooth multiplayer to SoulCalibur. The new versus mode works just as well as you’d expect it to, and squaring off against an opponent face-to-face is just as fun as it was back in the day. It really is crazy just how well SoulCalibur has aged after all these years, especially as a competitive game.

One important thing to note though is that multiplayer isn’t compatible with the iPod touch. SoulCalibur is a pretty technically demanding game anyway, and even upon release required at least an iPhone 4, iPad 2 or 4th generation iPod touch to run. It is likely the lower amount of RAM in that iPod touch device that is the reason multiplayer is a no-go.

If you’re a SoulCalibur fan in the iPhone or iPad camp then get to updating your game and go search out a worthy opponent. Believe it or not, SoulCalibur is actually on sale right now to celebrate the update, down from its normal price of $14.99, so if a lack of multiplayer caused you to pass on the game before now is not a bad time to finally pick it up.

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If you’re anything like my roommate who asks me multiple times a week, “Whatever happened to that western-themed Infinity Blade?” …We now have an answer. Well, sort of. The “western-themed Infinity Blade” in question, if you weren’t around for its original reveal back in September of last year is Bladeslinger. Maybe the trailer will jog your memory:

It was originally slated for release in Q4 2011, which, for any of you playing along at home, has already passed. Communication with LumaArcade and excited players went dark, leaving the thread in our forums abandoned by anyone other than random people bumping it. The good news is that a representative from Kerosene Games (Bladeslinger’s publisher) recently dropped some details in that very same thread.

Here’s the cliffsnotes: The game has since become bigger and longer, and they’re doing some ultra-cutting edge stuff with Unity. A specific example cited was dynamic shadows on everything, which Infinity Blade II doesn’t even do. Good news for the anti-rails crew, the game itself isn’t on rails at all. Launch plans are still a little wishy washy, but they’re currently shooting for a May release.

The iPhone 4S, as well as the new iPad and iPad 2 will definitely be supported, and it sounds like they’re not making any promises but have their fingers crossed for iPhone 4 and O.G. iPad support.

So, there, that’s what happened to “that western-themed Infinity Blade.”

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If you’re anything like my roommate who asks me multiple times a week, “Whatever happened to that western-themed Infinity Blade?” …We now have an answer. Well, sort of. The “western-themed Infinity Blade” in question, if you weren’t around for its original reveal back in September of last year is Bladeslinger. Maybe the trailer will jog your memory:

It was originally slated for release in Q4 2011, which, for any of you playing along at home, has already passed. Communication with LumaArcade and excited players went dark, leaving the thread in our forums abandoned by anyone other than random people bumping it. The good news is that a representative from Kerosine Games (Bladeslinger’s publisher) recently dropped some details in that very same thread.

Here’s the cliffsnotes: The game has since become bigger and longer, and they’re doing some ultra-cutting edge stuff with Unity. A specific example cited was dynamic shadows on everything, which Infinity Blade II doesn’t even do. Good news for the anti-rails crew, the game itself isn’t on rails at all. Launch plans are still a little wishy washy, but they’re currently shooting for a May release.

The iPhone 4S, as well as the new iPad and iPad 2 will definitely be supported, and it sounds like they’re not making any promises but have their fingers crossed for iPhone 4 and O.G. iPad support.

So, there, that’s what happened to “that western-themed Infinity Blade.”

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Since getting the new iPad last Friday, I’ve been having a blast playing through the games that have been updated to take advantage of the beautiful new screen. Of course, gameplay reigns king when it comes to any game, but the visuals are important too, and it’s pretty crazy just how much a big bump up in the graphics department can add to a gaming experience.

So far, my favorite example of this has been Zen Bound 2 Universal [99¢], which was just updated with Retina iPad visuals. In early 2009, the original Zen Bound was a technical showpiece for the iPhone in terms of its striking visuals as well as its incredible use of multi-touch. Right off the bat, the sequel followed in these same steps by being a launch title for the original iPad back in April 2010, and a few months later for harnessing the power of the iPhone 4’s gorgeous new Retina Display and Gyroscope capabilities.

And here we are again, not even a week into the launch of the long-awaited Retina Display iPad and Zen Bound 2 Universal is again a stunning showpiece of the new technology. The high resolution textures and fancy lighting effects combine to create remarkably realistic in-game models. If there was such thing as an uncanny valley for tiny carved sculptures, this would be it. Everything runs at a silky smooth framerate too, further making the visuals feel like they just pop right off of the screen.

The enhanced visuals have got me hooked on Zen Bound 2 all over again, just as I was when it first released, and if you haven’t checked out the game previously now would be an excellent time if you’re an owner of the new iPad. It’s a perfect game to show off the screen of the new device to people, and the unique multi-touch gameplay is just as impressive as ever, too.

With its slow-paced, meticulous gameplay Zen Bound 2 isn’t for everybody. But if you’re intrigued by the look of it and want something to show off your new iPad then it’s totally worth its current sale price of 99¢. The bonus is that if Zen Bound 2 is your cup of tea, it comes equipped with more than 100 puzzles to work through that can very easily eat up your free time if you aren’t careful, made all the better with the gorgeous new Retina Display iPad visuals.

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