Archive for the ‘Tablet’ tag
Call of Duty Elite App Launches Tomorrow
Call of Duty Elite for mobile, the companion to the , is coming to iOS tomorrow and Android next week, . And it’ll bring a few interesting control options with it. Inside the app, you’ll be able to check your stats and other players’ stats, hit up after action reports, scope map information, track your challenge progress, and modify your loadouts all without ever having to look at your console.
While that’s a ton of cool support, fans will inevitably be noting what’s missing. In a conversation with , Beachhead Studios Chacko Sonny said Beachhead learned a a few things about Elite’s stunningly bad launch, so it won’t be tossing out features until it knows they’re “at the level” fans actually want.
Speaking to the MacRumors about future features, Sonny said:
“We view this as the foundation. We want to hear from the community: how do they use this? What parts do they like? What parts aren’t as useful? We want to drive additional development going forward from people who play the game every single day. That’s going to help us deliver a better set of iterated features going forward, and for the forthcoming tablet version as well.”
During the rocky launch, we’ve all kinda gave up on Elite. The release of the mobile app definitely gives us reason to give it another shot, so we will. Tomorrow!
[via ]
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2011 TouchArcade Staff Favorites – Eric, Nissa, and Troy
After getting together to pick our official best games of 2011, we also had our writers take a look back at the last year and compile lists of their personal favorites along with their reasons why.
Among the many things that changed around here this year at TouchArcade was massively ramping up our writing staff with freelancers from quite literally all over the world. We now have writers in four of the seven continents, checking out games and writing reviews around the clock. Maybe in 2012 we’ll pick up some people to review games in Africa and Asia, but I’m really not sure how we’re going to swing Antarctica.
Our content output is through the roof compared to previous years, which has allowed us to broaden our focus to include games that we normally would have passed on just because of not having the bandwidth to review anything but the absolute best games. I think it’s made TouchArcade a much more varied, and better daily read, along with giving a bunch more games some exposure. 2012 should be even better, as ramping up even further along with releasing the TouchArcade app!
Anyway, Eric, Nissa, and Troy were our most active freelance writers in 2012, so I asked them to join the party in compiling lists of their top five games. Check it out:
Eric
Avadon: The Black Fortress HD, $9.99 – [Review] – [] – I’ve been a big fan of Spiderweb Software since the days of playing Exile on my Performa, so I was intrigued when I first heard that they would be releasing a classic style, isometric RPG. Avadon does not disappoint as it not only succeeded in taking me back to the glory days of 1990s-era Mac RPGs but it also made the entire genre accessible to a whole new generation of gamers. All I can say is that after this fulfilling nostalgic experience, I’m hungry for more.
Jetpack Joyride, Free – [Review] – [] – Jetpack Joyride has the honor of being the first endless runner to successfully capture me in its grasp for a very long time. Its
presentation, style, and approachable gameplay are top notch making the game appealing to even the most reluctant of gamers. Most importantly, it has that rare quality of making each run feel new and unique – something that so many other similar games try to achieve and fail.
Dungeon Raid, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – I’m not the biggest fan of match three games. Yet, out of all the games on my list, Dungeon Raid has probably gotten the most hours played than any other. Maybe it had something to do with the way its RPG elements meshed seamlessly with the standard match three gameplay. Or maybe it was the huge amount of unlockable classes, spells, and equipment making each play through different. Regardless, Dungeon Raid has continued to be my de facto option for quick gaming sessions on the go. If you’re one of the few that haven’t played this by now, hurry up and grab it.
Battleheart, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – Battleheart gets a lot of elements right, but in my opinion it’s really all about two things: versatility and multitasking. With so many different classes, equipment, and spells, I spent a lot of time playing this real time strategy action-RPG simply to discover various combinations and styles of play that worked. Add in the fact that the game successfully implemented a control scheme that had you simultaneously control four different characters, each with their own abilities and class roles, and it’s not hard to see why Battleheart is one of the better strategy games of the year.
Mega Mall Story, $3.99 – [Review] – [] – You really can’t go wrong with any Kairosoft game, but Mega Mall Story was by far my favorite release from them this year. Taking a more concrete approach than some of the other ‘Story’ games, Mega Mall had more short and long term goals littered throughout the game while still giving you enough leeway to build mostly anything however you wanted. I also loved the wonderful pacing that the game set; providing countless rewards and incentives to continue playing while making them just rare enough that they continued to be meaningful throughout the playtime. Also, how could you not love building your own tower?
Nissa
Async Corp., $0.99 – [Review] – [] – This is the one game that can cheer me up in nearly any situation. It has smiling blocks, bright colors, and cheerful music, which is pretty much the perfect recipe for a good mood. Add the constant positive reinforcement you get for being a productive worker and there’s just no way to be down when playing this game – unless you think about what happened to the team who made it. But layoffs aside, Async Corp is by far my favorite matching game. I appreciate the variety of modes it has on offer, but what really gets me is that it’s just so relentlessly cheerful.
Wind-up Knight, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – At some point in the past year or two, I went from hating difficult platformers to craving them. Wind-up Knight is the cream of the crop of that genre. It’s gorgeous, runs smoothly and is unfailingly punishing. But it’s never unfair, and that’s why I love it. That, and the terribly clever storytelling conceit that’s tucked away in its loading screens.
Mighty Fin, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – I’m a huge sucker for endless-whatever games. Runners, climbers, cave fliers, you name it and I can probably name five I adore. Mighty Fin topped the pack this year with something like nineteen endless levels to obsess over, and an equal number of more traditional arcade levels. It also has an adorable protagonist, high production values and dozens of unlockable costumes.The one thing that really makes it stand out from the crowd, though, is that it’s updated regularly and still manages to stay entirely IAP free.
Elder Sign: Omens, $3.99 – [Review] – [] – This one goes out to all my fellow tabletop nerds. In its tabletop form, Elder Sign is one of those overly complex card and dice games that I hate to love – they’re just so messy. On iPhone, the experience is streamlined and still tons of fun. I’ve rolled a lot of dice in my time, and Elder Sign makes it a particularly compelling activity. It’s a little bit RPG, a little bit board game, and a whole lot of Elder Gods devouring your face. I hope this is a sign of more great things coming to iOS from Fantasy Flight.
Poker Pals, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – As Words With Friends becomes increasingly bloated, I’ve moved away from it as my asynchronous game of choice. Poker Pals has taken its place. It’s not an incredibly deep game, but it is super accessible, so I can play with just about anyone I know. Seriously, if you’ve somehow managed to avoid learning how to form poker hands, it’s a skill you can pick up in under a minute. The game’s progression system is also pretty cool. But when you get right down to the heart of it, what I really adore about Poker Pals is that it (almost) fulfills my long-standing wish to play Sword & Poker online with friends.That game gave me a serious love of poker puzzling, and Poker Pals brings it right back.
Troy
jAggy Race, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – This fantastic game gave me so much pleasure – I know this because I happily re-played the same tracks hundreds of times, searching for the optimum routes. I loved memorizing each crazy track and searching for new gravity-defying jumps, or short-cuts to shave a second off my times. It was especially fun to compete with the skilled TouchArcade forum members, who dominated the jAggy Race leaderboards, because each time someone else achieved a top score, I knew my own strategy needed some adjustments. The blend of fast-paced cart-racing, memorization and strategy made jAggy Race a personal favorite.
Dungeon Raid, $1.99 – [Review] – [] – Dungeon Raid is one of my favorite games to play on the smaller iPod screen, which is unusual as I generally prefer playing match-3 games on the iPad. Initially I loved it’s simple appearance, the way it’s so responsive to rapid swipes, the excellent sound effects and it’s ability to reverse out of the lines you’re drawing (which is handled better than any other line-drawing game I’ve seen). But mostly, it’s the deepness of the RPG elements which gave it a longer lasting appeal and for that reason it’s staying on my iPod.
Vetica, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – I love innovative games which are relatively unknown, because it gives me a smug satisfaction, as if I’ve discovered something that other people have missed. Vetica is one of my favorite shmups of the year, mostly because it creatively constructs animated enemies using the helevetica font (which I totally dig), but also because it’s also entertaining to play, not just a gimmick. It’s hard enough to be challenging, without being too difficult to complete.
Perfect Cell, $2.99 – [Review] – [] – I’m a sucker for platform games in general, but Perfect Cell was particularly fun because it added a line-drawing mechanic for rapid dashes. I never tired of decapitating multiple guards in a murderous high-speed dash, or taking them down by knocking their legs out. The ability to split in two (or three) for stealth ambushes or for puzzle-solving was a neat feature. Technically it came out at the very end of December 2010, but I’m listing it here because it came out just after our annual round-up last year… and because it’s awesome.
Tiny Wings, $0.99 – [Review] – [] – Tiny Wings is a cute and lovable gaming experience that manages to be both soothing and challenging at the same time. I loved the way it was packaged to perfection with a likable soaring bird, unique procedural graphics for the islands, perfect one-touch controls and a totally chilled out sound-track. I usually spot areas for improvement within most games, but Tiny Wings ticked all of my boxes and made me smile each time the bird chirped. It also felt like a special success story because it came from an indie developer (ie: I was willingly caught up in the buzz of popularity it generated).
Yes, I realize we included Dungeon Raid twice in these lists. The game is that good.
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What a Couple of Weeks! ‘Sonic CD’, ‘Grand Theft Auto III’, and Things You Might Have Missed
WOW! This week, or actually, the last two weeks have been insane. We’ve been pulling some crazy hours here getting everything up, and as a result, the front page of TouchArcade has been moving at about mach 3. I’m pretty sure Brad, Jared, and I all Tebowed at one point this week in hopes that the emails would stop coming.
Anyway, here’s a reverse chronological recap of the stories really worth checking out over the past couple of weeks, in case you missed anything! If you’ve already read everything I’m linking here, congratulations, you just earned your TouchArcade holiday season merit badge.
Best iOS Games November 2011
Our ratings for games we reviewed in November are now in place, and we now present to you the ones that are on the top of the heap. Each game reviewed receives a 1-5 star rating relative to the other games from that month. Generally, a three-star or higher is considered a “good” rating.
The ‘Time Ducks’ Trailer Will Melt Your Brain
A couple of weeks ago, released their first iOS game called Time Ducks [$1.99], and I’m going to be honest, I bought it based solely on the fact that it was called Time Ducks. I figured with a name like that, there was no way I could go wrong. As it turned out, Time Ducks ended up being a pretty fun and unique take on line drawing games, and it sort of sat on the back burner as something I’d been planning on writing about.
Controller Update: More on the GameBone, A Bluetooth 4.0 Revelation
iPhone controller accessories have been generating a good bit of news, here lately. More and more existing iOS titles are gaining physical control options via updates, and just last week we detailed the upcoming Gametel Bluetooth controller that will soon become a game-enhancing iOS controller option, alongside the iCade and iControlPad. The more the merrier, true, but long time readers may recall yet another controller we covered over a year ago that has been off the radar ever since. Does anyone remember the GameBone?
Microsoft Releases Official Xbox Live App
Microsoft, via , has just announced the immediate release of the company’s first Xbox Live iOS app, My Xbox Live [Free]. It’s a free app that basically acts as a mobile companion to some of the more important aspects of the service. You can read and send messages to anyone on your Friend’s List, manage that list or invite new people onto it, edit your profile, gander at all of your hard-earned achievements, or even mess with your Avatar’s apparel.
The OnLive iOS Client is Finally Arriving
At E3 back in June of this year, we got an impressive hands-on demo of the OnLive service running and playable on the iPad. In case you’re not familiar, OnLive is the cloud-based gaming service that allows you to play from a fairly large selection of console and PC games by way of streaming them to an OnLive client running on your computer or a specially designed set-top box that connects to your TV. In simpler terms, it’s a lot like instantly streaming movies over NetFlix, except it’s video games, and you get to actually play them in real time with minimal lag if you’re internet speeds are up to snuff.
Out Now: ‘Batman Arkham City Lockdown’, ‘Mini Motor Racing’, ‘Six Guns’, ‘TXT Fighter HD’, and More
Holy jeez! We’re pretty used to the typical Wednesday onslaught of new releases in the App Store, but today has been a truly insane undertaking. Between Batman making a surprise drop from the shadows and into the App Store with Arkham City Lockdown, the exciting OnLive iOS client finally seeing the light of day (soon anyway), and the normal barrage of new releases we usually see every week, it’s been a wild roller coaster ride of iOS craziness. To top it off, Eli is out in Finland hobnobbing with The Mighty Eagle, ensuring that Brad and I are up to our ear balls in busy work.
Dragon Shout: A Great ‘Skyrim’ Map App
Dragon Shout [Free] has cleared the certification hurdle and it’s available now at the low, low price of $0. What it does, it does well, and it proves a point. Games as deep as should be embracing mobile companion apps across the board. Dragon Shout is an app that not only makes Skyrim better, but down the road, it might add an entirely new layer to the experience: social.
‘Chrono Trigger’ Hits the App Store
Hey guys! Here’s a surprise, Chrono Trigger [$9.99] just came out of nowhere. Well, not entirely out of nowhere, since Square Enix had mentioned that it was coming this month… But after the rampant delays that Final Fantasy Tactics saw, my hopes that they’d hit this release window could be best described as “cautiously optimistic.”
Apple’s “App Store Rewind 2011″ Features ‘Tiny Tower’ and ‘Dead Space for iPad’ as Games of the Year
If you’re new to iOS devices, or haven’t been following the scene as closely as you should have been over the last year, Apple’s year end feature App Store Rewind 2011 has an incredible amount of must-have games and apps that, in my opinion, you can basically just blindly download as they did a great job of picking out the cream of the crop.
‘WildChords’ is One of the Coolest Things I’ve Seen the iPad Do
Earlier today I got a live demo of Ovelin’s WildChords [Free], an edutainment musical game that never really had much reason to be on my radar. But using nothing more than an iPad, any kind of guitar, and some technical wizardry on their end, WildChords can teach you how to play the guitar.
‘Batman Arkham City Lockdown’ Review – The Dark Knight Tries His Hand at ‘Infinity Blade’
Earlier this week, Warner Bros. and Mortal Kombat developer NeatherRealm Studios surprised everybody by dropping Batman Arkham City Lockdown [$5.99], an iOS spinoff of the critically acclaimed console series, into the App Store.
Remember ‘Star Command’? Well It’s Still Coming, Here Are Some New Screens
Easily one of my most anticipated games this year, and I’m sure many of yours out there as well, is ‘ Star Command.
‘Kinectimals’ Review – Making Connections
Kinectimals is an experiential game that does a solid job of luring its users into forming an emotional bond with its assortment of on-screen, rascally pets.
Out Now: ‘Bug Princess’, ‘Ice Rage’, ‘Marathon 2′, ‘Sonic CD’, ‘Trenches II’ and TONS More
If you’ve been sitting on a waiting for the right occasion to open the first gallon sized can of preserved potato chunks, this might be it.
‘Sonic CD’ Review – Absolutely Incredible and Redefines Expectations of iOS Ports
The only way I can start this review is with a little history lesson, both for people who aren’t familiar with Sonic CD, as well as those of you who might not have been reading TouchArcade since the summer of 2009. Let’s start at the beginning, so everyone can truly appreciate just how wonderful the very existence of this game is.
‘Grand Theft Auto III’ Review – Ten Years Later, Still a Great Game
Prior to Grand Theft Auto III I’d say I had fun messing around in Grand Theft Auto games, but never really enjoyed myself. The top-down view felt incredibly claustrophobic, and, at least for me, made getting immersed into the game world incredibly difficult. I don’t think it’s hyperbole at all to say that GTA 3 changed everything.
Remember when we wrote about the fact that Carcassonne [$9.99] will receive expansion support in the future? It has that right now.
‘Mad Dog McCree’ Coming To iPhone Next Week
’s so-awful-it-ends-up-being-good FMV shooter, , is coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch this December 20, according to caretaker . This is a port of the original arcade release of the game, so don’t expect anything too fancy, however the team is noting that it has converted the game’s silly footage for phones and even added an “all new casual mode” for those without hardcore gunslinging skills.
‘Bug Princess’ Review – Unsurprisingly, CAVE’s Latest Bullet Hell Shooter is Another Winner
In April of last year, iOS gamers scored big when longtime Japanese developer decided to task their mobile division with bringing some of their classic shooter titles to the Apple App Store. All of these games – Espgaluda II, Dodonpachi Resurrection, and Deathsmiles – received critical acclaim from media and gamers alike, and set the benchmark for what we should expect from our bullet hell shmups on the App Store.
I told you it has been a crazy couple of weeks! I only cherry picked the really good stuff that we posted for this list too! Now, it’s time for a beer and a weekend away from my inbox…!
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‘Kinectimals’ Review – Making Connections
Kinectimals is an experiential game that does a solid job of luring its users into forming an emotional bond with its assortment of on-screen, rascally pets. As an adult, you see why the user’s relationship to the pet is so important: without one, the entire experience falls apart. If you aren’t clicking with your animal, you don’t want to pet it, you especially don’t want to get up and interact with it, and you sure as heck don’t want to do the game’s mindless assortment of mini-games alongside it.
Little ones, from what I understand, generally respond to its adorable baby cheetahs, its equally adorable Bengal tigers, and its other scarily expressive animals. When the game asks, kids enthusiastically move about and shout and jump, and reach to the TV.
That’s well and good, but now Kinectimals has made the jump to iOS. Obviously, the Kinect hook has been dropped with this particular version. So, this begs the question: does the game and its, er, magic still work?
I can’t give you a straight answer on that.
What I can say, though, is that a good chunk of the charm of the original has made the platform leap. Just as in the other game, you pick and name a gaggle of cats to directly interact with, each one as viscously adorable and playful as the next. Once you grab one you’ll be teleported to a field of sorts and given the opportunity to either pet, feed, instruct, or initiate tricks with the thing.
This initial screen, and the subsequent backgrounds you’ll move on to as you level up as a pet owner, is essentially a sandbox. The animal seemingly acts randomly, but you or a young one are ultimately always in control of what to do next. Usually, that Next Thing involves a good scratch behind the ears or a ball throw.
For what it’s worth, Kinectimals iOS is arguably on par or better-looking than its Xbox 360 counterpart. It also runs as smooth as butter, in our experience: the animations of the cats, which are surprisingly lifelike to begin with, are sharp, the menus load in a matter of a second or two, and even “level” transfers are nearly seamless. It’s nice.
The implementation of touch is good, too. The contextual gestures and swipes make sense, and the responsiveness is something other studios doing ports should study. I think the controls in particular are simple and intuitive enough for a young one to put its head around. Want a cat to jump? All it needs to do is swipe up. Want to pet it? Just toss down two fingers on the screen, wait for the camera to zoom, and then go to town.
That said, I think there is a layer or two of, let’s say immersion, lost in translation; since you aren’t directly pantomiming actions with your body and arms, the interaction doesn’t feel as substantial. The animal, on the other hand, is much more in your face with a tablet, and there’s something to that. Also, let’s not forget just how darn cute, bouncy, and willing to be interacted with these things are.
This all in mind, and the controls taken into account, I’d argue that the touch versions are as viable as the Kinect one. Sure, there’s some loss of weightiness, but overall the game still works thanks to some smart design / port decisions.
Actually, while we’re exploring some possible negatives, let’s talk about some concrete ones. This game’s UI is borderline terrible — it’s hard to navigate for one, but it’s also tough to see what’s important. Also, the game’s over-eager lemur that guides the experience isn’t in this version, so its up to the young ones to puzzle out how to play, how to progress and how to discover new levels.
The latter in particular is a big black eye. Just remember: the points you earn are like a level currency. At some point, you’ll earn enough for the game to invite you somewhere else.
The actual meat of the experience, or at least what I believe is supposed to be the main feature, the mini-games, are accounted for, too. These are definitely not for adults, as each are as mundane, easy, and almost job-like as possible. I’m thinking, though, that a kid will especially dig the monotonous jump-roping, ball throwing, and picture taking.
And that’s the rub; I’m not sure how to evaluate this game because I know what a tape deck is. I will say this, though. Most of the parts of the original game, which worked for kids apparently, is fairly well translated in this version. And even though it lacks 1:1 body-to-game interaction, I think a solid connection can still be formed between digital cat and real, whiny “Give Me A Pet” kid. Give it a look with him or her, but I’d advise to stay away if it’s just you looking for a game.
A couple of side-notes: If you buy this, you’ll get the ability to import your iOS Kinectimal to Kinectimals on Kinect via QR code and vice versa. You’ll also be able to unlock five new Kinectimals in the main game, just like owners of the Windows Phone 7 version were able to when this game debuted on that platform. Check out our for more information.
TouchArcade Rating: 
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See ‘LostWinds’ iOS In Action, Get Ready For Holiday Release
Earlier this summer, we caught word that ’s LostWinds was headed to iOS and Android. Now, we’ve got a great first-look at the iOS version title in action — and, guys, it’s silly gorgeous.
Once , Frontier has obviously pushed the visuals to the max for our phones and tablets. And if you look, you’ll notice that it’s a fairly HUD-free port with specific touch actions, which has us thinking that we’re actually in for an all mobiled-out experience.
No solid date or price point have been announced, but we do know that LostWinds is coming to every iDevice this holiday as a Universal app. Also, it’ll ship with a “new map feature” specific to touch devices. Our popcorn is ready, for sure.
UPDATE: Yay, technology! The trailer we originally posted was cut short for some… reason. This is the full thing.
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‘Angry Birds’ Celebrates Its Birthday With Barnes & Noble
is celebrating the second “birthday” of Angry Birds [$.99 / Lite / HD / HD Lite] in style. Of course, the app has been updated with new levels — specifically, 15 birthday-themed levels, complete with cake and candles and hats. But Rovio is also taking the celebration to the streets. Starting at 11AM, are holding exclusive events complete with prize raffles and Mighty Eagle scavenger hunts.
As , Barnes & Nobles at The Grove in Los Angeles is probably going to be the best place to see this party in action. Rovio’s North American GM will be there, and he’ll apparently be carrying tons of swag with him. If you’re going to go, send us some pictures. We’d love to see that “Birds & Noble” sign in particular.
Love it or hate it, Angry Birds is huge. And it’s huge enough to score a re-branding partnership with a popular retailer for a good chunk of a Sunday afternoon. While it seems silly, this kind of thing does wonders for our favorite phone and tablet hobby, so here’s to hoping the momentum continues.
[Via ]
Angry Birds, $0.99
Angry Birds Free, Free
Angry Birds HD, $4.99 (iPad Only)
Angry Birds HD Free, Free (iPad Only)
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The OnLive iOS Client is Finally Arriving
At E3 back in June of this year, we got an impressive hands-on demo of the OnLive service running and playable on the iPad. In case you’re not familiar, OnLive is the cloud-based gaming service that allows you to play from a fairly large selection of console and PC games by way of streaming them to an OnLive client running on your computer or a specially designed set-top box that connects to your TV. In simpler terms, it’s a lot like instantly streaming movies over NetFlix, except it’s video games, and you get to actually play them in real time with minimal lag if you’re internet speeds are up to snuff.
Basically, the iPad demo at E3 showed off just how versatile the OnLive service is. They simply created a client for the iPad and it allows practically the exact same OnLive experience that you would get using the service on your computer or television. It really felt like the future, but today, the future is now! (Sorry, I’ve always wanted to say that). But on a serious note, the OnLive iPad client is scheduled to launch today, as in like right now, for FREE.
There is a catch, however, as the OnLive mobile app is currently only available in the US and UK. There’s no word yet on if or when the service may launch in other territories. As part of the mobile app’s support, more than 25 of the games available on OnLive have been outfitted with touch-specific controls, meaning they can be played directly on the device itself without any additional peripherals. Included in that lineup of 25 titles is Rockstar’s hugely successful LA Noire, as well as Lego Batman: The Videogame, which will actually be available for free for anybody to try out the service just by downloading the OnLive client.
The majority of OnLive’s nearly 200 other available titles will also be playable on iOS, but won’t have the virtual touch controls baked into them. For these games you can pair the Universal OnLive Wireless Controller with your device and play them just like you would on a traditional console, or as demonstrated in the E3 demo video. Not every title will be able to be played on every device, OnLive cautions, but it sounds like the vast majority of them will be fully playable using the controller or virtual button setup.
One cool thing about OnLive is that whether you purchase a game through their service on your iPad, computer, set-top unit, or whatever, it will be available on any of those devices, with full cloud-saving functionality. So, if you’re in the middle of an OnLive game on your TV, you can stop what you’re doing and seamlessly pick up where you left off on your iPad, for example. You’ll also have access to all the social features that are built into OnLive no matter which device you’re playing on.
While the OnLive iOS client hasn’t quite hit the App Store just yet, it is supposed to be arriving any time, and we’ll update this post with a link as soon as possible. Since it’s free and comes with a free game, there’s really no reason not to download it and check it out. If you’re interested in ordering a Universal OnLive Wireless Controller, those will be available sometime soon, and you’ll be able to get it in the for $49.99 or the for £39.99.
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‘Grand Theft Auto 3′ Releases December 15, Will Support Single-Core Devices
The wait for Grand Theft Auto 3 on iOS and Android is almost over. a few minutes ago, Rockstar revealed that the 10 Year Anniversary Edition port of the game-changing open-world title will hit the App Store and Android Marketplace on December 15th at an agreeable price point of $4.99. A new trailer giving you another taste of what’s to come is expected to release next week, but we’ve got some new screens right now to hold you over.
Oh! And in other related-and-cool news, GTA 3 will support more than just iPad 2, iPhone 4S, or a beefy Android device at launch. Single core phones and devices are now game. Here’s an updated list of what will be supported at launch:
- Apple iOS Devices: iPad 1 & 2, iPhone 4 & 4S, iPod touch 4th Generation
- Android Phones: HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2x
- Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive
[Thanks, !]
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‘Elder Sign: Omens’ Review – Cthulhu Approved
is a company that’s known for creating very complicated tabletop games from geek-friendly properties, like A Song of Ice and Fire, Battlestar Galactica, The Lord of the Rings, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. One of their most popular offerings is Arkham Horror, a game with approximately 700 cards, tokens and markers to keep track of and a play time of up to four hours. Earlier this year, the company released Elder Sign, a game that takes the Lovecraftian horror of Arkham Horror and distills it down to about half the time and only 200 pieces or so.
I love these games, but there’s really no such thing as a quick game of, well, any of them. Between set up, tear down and the inevitable time taken to teach new players and reference forgotten rules, you’re looking at a full evening’s entertainment. So imagine my delight playing Elder Sign: Omens [$3.99 / HD], the first of Fantasy Flight’s more mature games to arrive on the App Store. It’s quick to play, can be learned (mostly) as you go, and can be played solo or hotseat with friends. What’s not to like?
Elder Sign: Omens is harder to explain than it is to learn, but let’s give it a shot. Azathoth, one of Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones, is showing signs of awakening. This would basically be the end of the world, filled with eldritch abominations and mindless gibbering, so you must assemble a team to stop this from occurring.
You can choose from a list of 16 investigators to create a team of 1 to 4 members. The investigators all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Some have more sanity, others more stamina, some get more items than others and all have unique abilities to help you on your mission.
Once you enter the museum in which Elder Sign takes place, you’re faced with a selection of missions. Each one is horrifying in its own way, and your investigators risk losing their lives or their sanity by facing them down. In each mission, you roll the dice (proverbially in this game, and literally in the tabletop version) to see if you can match the symbols that come up, things like Terror, Peril and Lore, to the symbols needed to defeat the nameless horror you face.
If you do, you’re well rewarded, earning items for your investigators that help you improve your odds and occasionally Elder Signs. If you don’t, you fail the mission and suffer, losing sanity, stamina and sometimes gaining Doom. If the Doom Track moves up by twelve spaces before you collect the fourteen Elder Signs needed to seal away the Great Old One, Azathoth awakens and all is lost.
There are a few other details that can effect the outcome of your game. As you succeed at missions you earn trophies that can be exchanged for healing, items or expensive Elder Signs. Time passes on as you take your turns, and at midnight terrible things happen depending on how many monsters or Midnight signs you’ve left on the board. And occasionally portals open to Other Worlds, where the stakes are higher but so are the rewards.
As a result, success in Elder Sign is part luck, part strategy, but it’s certainly weighted toward luck. If you fail at rolling the signs you need, there’s little you can do. But making sure you pick the right investigator for the job, keep them alive and choose the missions you can defeat — therein lies strategy.
For the most part, the transition to digital has been very kind to Elder Sign. Azathoth is the only Ancient One that features — the others and their varied win conditions aren’t present in Omens. But otherwise the game is intact and elegantly presented. The interface is superb, aside from a few small oversights. I would prefer to be able to see what items can do at a glance even when they’re not usable, and I didn’t discover that tapping the title of a mission would bring up more information about it even while you were in the midst of it until I was quite deep in the game. But on the whole, Fantasy Flight has done a fantastic job of making a complicated game simple and easy to play.
They’ve done such a good job, in fact, that you don’t need to worry about learning much at all before you play. I’d recommend watching the tutorials so you don’t get lost, but this is a game you can muddle through and understand within a single playthrough. That’s outstandingly intuitive for this sort of thing. Playthroughs are much quicker than in the tabletop game, too, though not as speedy as they could be — a bit too much focus is placed on fancy but slow scene transitions.
You can play Elder Sign: Omens alone, using up to four investigators to explore the museum. You’re given a local high score when you finish the game, win or lose, and it’s endlessly satisfying to try to defeat that score with different teams and strategies. Alternately, you can play hotseat with friends — assign each person to a single investigator and pass your device around. The game doesn’t change, but it works brilliantly both ways.
Best of all? Win or lose, no one has to clean up the table when you’re done. There’s no overstating how much I’d like to see more of Fantasy Flight’s catalog brought to iOS. If you agree, voice your support in our . And do try to keep your sanity intact while you wait.
TouchArcade Rating: 
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‘Epoch’ Preview: Making The Cover Part Of The ‘Cover-Based Shooter’ Fun
I don’t think I give enough credit. Not only did it make a good game in Infinity Blade [$5.99], but it also created an entire mobile game structure and set of mechanics that has caught fire with both developers and mobile game fans. There are good reasons, too: the instance-based conflicts, progression, repetition are perfectly bite-sized for mobile and tablet play and visuals, while the over-the-shoulder slide, tap, and swipe controls are undeniably touch intuitive.
This didn’t hit me in a vacuum, by the way. I just spent a couple of hours with ’s Epoch and describing the way Infinity Blade gets down is the easiest way to start a conversation about Epoch. Sure Epoch is cover-based shooter based in a broken-down sci-fi world populated by robots, but on a finer level it takes and adapts a lot of what made Infinity Blade so great and applies it to its own action model and structure.
The proof of what this does for Epoch is in its pudding: the game’s top-notch visuals are allowed to look great all the time, while the core play consistently stays fun and intuitive. It doesn’t hurt to mention that it has the breeziness to make it possible to play on-the-go, but I don’t think many of us will be able to put it down as quickly as our loved ones would like.
Epoch is a “guided experience,” meaning exploration is a no-no. Actually, you’ll never be allowed to leave its bread-and-butter, the cover you’ll need to sit behind to take out foes. That’s because the entire game’s action model, and the fun you can have, hinges solely around sliding, jumping, and shooting, and positioning around cover objects.
It sounds like a bummer on the surface, but Epoch doesn’t suffer from this decision. Swiping to move from piece of cover to piece of cover is a fairly smooth and excitingly kinetic experience. You move fast with flair and there’s some variety to it. Different enemies with different kinds of guns are constantly challenging your choice of barrier. Some enemies, for example, can shoot timed grenades, while others a steady stream that can clip through a barricade as if it didn’t exist, forcing you to jump over the wide beam. It’s really fun to play with the cover system, which is an unusual sentiment since guns are involved.
But while shooting takes a little bit of a back seat due to the more action-oriented style of the cover part of the equation, shoot you will. Epoch is seperated into insance-based fights, all of which are gated by kills. Swipe to move from cover, tap to target. Shooting is automatic once you target an enemy, but you never feel out of control. Your robot dude only shoots when you put it in a position to do so. If he’s shooting like a moron, it’s always because you are making stupid tactical approaches.
Speaking of robots, Epoch takes place in some bizarro future where machines may or may not have had an uprising of some sort. Every area I’ve seen in the game so far has been ultra-bombed out, while every robotic enemy has seemed to have been made purely to kill any opposition that swings its way. To be fair, the robot protagonist you play as seems to have been tuned in the same fashion, but your dude has a mission: find a princess — at least, I think that’s the mission.
The story-telling in particular in Epoch may not be the greatest thing ever, but I love the approach. Uppercut Game’s isn’t telling you much. Your robot doesn’t talk and you’re just exploring a world in which, obviously, something has gone horribly awry. To piece events together, the game dishes out optional diaries and messages from important people to the game world’s civilization.
The lack of story cut-scenes keeps action clippy, and it’s obvious that this is the kind of game that wants you to keep re-doing missions before going to the new ones. Your robot can upgrade its gun through an in-game store with credits earned after battle. There’s also a basic level-up system and a host of upgradeable special moves you can deploy in battle, including armor, missile, and grenade abilities. These in particular are cool, as they operate as crowd-clearing mechanisms and factor into the overall strategy. And, as I’ve discovered, you get pretty wrapped up in upgrading everything you possibly can.
Epoch does enough via its weapon systems and cover-based action to make it play and feel like a different game. And that game part, taken outside of the structure, seems to be pretty good. There’s a lot of Infinity Blade mixed into it, too. The controls, the game’s focus on repetition for better loot, its entire presentation, and a lot of its systems are undoubtedly influenced directly by Chair’s work. I’m not sure if this formula and structure are wearing on you yet, but if it’s not, you’ll probably want to check this one out when it launches. According to Uppercut, expect it soon.
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