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Yesterday the popular Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series made its debut on the App Store with Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard [$6.99] courtesy of Gameloft. We’ve given the game some thorough play time since then, and have come away pretty satisfied with how the series has translated to the iOS platform. The single player component offers some enjoyable tactical gameplay, but the part of the game we were most excited about – the online cooperative play – turned out pretty disappointing. Even still, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a competent FPS that’s in line with Gameloft’s previous offerings, and should satisfy fans of the series’ recent console titles looking for a fix on the go.

The single player campaign in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard spans 11 missions as your 3-man team works to take out a terrorist organization. The premise and storyline bits are fairly cliché, but the missions themselves are quite fun. Each mission is pretty lengthy and features several different ways to go about completing your goals, which requires much more forethought on how to approach them than your typical FPS game. You have two AI teammates in the game, a recon specialist and a demolitions expert, that you can direct them to take cover at specific areas or clear rooms for you. Taking cover behind walls or using a snake camera to peek under doors to see what’s awaiting you on the other side is imperative, as just barging your way through the game trying to run-n-gun will usually result in a speedy death, especially on harder difficulties.

The online portion of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is pretty good as well. It features online deathmatch or team deathmatch with up to 10 players spread across 5 specially designed multiplayer maps. There’s also an online cooperative mode that lets you team up with 2 other players and have a go at the single player campaign missions. This mode sounded extremely promising when it was announced, as there isn’t really anything akin to that on the iPhone yet. While it’s a technically sound mode, the lack of any sort of chat feature sucks the fun out of the experience. Playing cooperatively means being on the same page as your teammates, and without the ability to communicate with each other this mode loses almost all meaning.

Both the single player and multiplayer portions of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard let you earn experience for killing enemies which can then be used to unlock additional weapons and equipment. This is a nice touch and gives you more motivation besides just merely completing levels, though the extent of items and customization is lacking compared to something like Modern Combat 2 [$6.99/Lite/HD]. The graphics look quite good for the most part, though not mind blowing. It utilizes the same engine used in countless other Gameloft titles, giving it a somewhat generic look. Controls also work well though they can feel cramped on the tiny screen and there is very few options to suit them to your liking.

Overall, Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard gets the job done. It’s not nearly as deep or strategic as the console titles it’s modeled after, but it feels similar enough that it should win over fans of the series or those looking for a more tactical FPS experience. The competitive online modes are very good, though not quite as strong as those found in N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99/HD] or Modern Combat 2. The cooperative play may serve you well while playing locally with some friends so you can discuss tactics with each other, but playing this online is largely forgettable. Surprisingly, the campaign is actually the star of the show in Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard, and is much more engaging than the campaigns in either of the previously mentioned titles.

The best way to sum up Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is that it’s very competent in every area, but far from the killer app that many might have hoped it would be. Players seem to be enjoying the title in our forums, and if you’re looking for an entertaining new FPS experience then Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is a pretty solid choice.

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Imagine your life as a fat multi-armed dude named "All Waka" chilling out in space relaxing and eating rocks all day. Sounds good, right? Well, what would you do when an irritating alien race known as the "Wikus" come crashing your siesta? Slap them back in to space of course. I mean, it only seems logical, doesn't it? That's the premise of Get Outta My Galaxy! [99¢] in a nutshell.

All Waka's movement in the game is controlled by tilting, and your multiple appendages can be sent flying by tapping anywhere on the screen. Each level, much like Super Mario Galaxy is a unique planet with different kinds of vegetation, obstacles, and more. They're all spherical in shape, and generally are small enough that you never really get lost. Progressing in the game requires clearing a planet of Wikus, which just involves giving them a smack with one of your arms. There's a number of different types of Wikus, and various power-ups as well to mix things up. After you've "dealt with" all of the offending Wikus, you need to make it to a glowing stone of sorts, hit that, and you're off to the next planet.

You can see how this goes together in the following gameplay video:

The game starts off incredibly simple, with you just randomly running around open planets slapping errant aliens. It's almost too simple, and really my first complaint is how slowly the difficulty of the game ramps up. I about got bored of it just as it was starting to get cool, and it does get cool. Planets slowly evolve in to worlds filled with plants that can hurt you, maze-like walls, puzzles involving switches to open doors to access restricted areas, and more. It's a ton of fun once you get to the more complicated levels, so make sure you stick with the game at least through the first galaxy.

Another thing I'd really like to see tweaked is how the tilt controls actually work. I feel like you need to tilt way too much to make your character move, and would much prefer a higher sensitivity setting. However, this and the difficulty progression are minor complaints, and shouldn't dissuade you at all from giving this game a shot.

Forum members are having a great time with the game, and I can't help but agree. Get Outta My Galaxy is a fantastic little game that not only looks great, but also is a lot of fun. Just make sure you stick with it long enough to see some of the more interesting level mechanics.

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I’m not sure how much of a big deal this is, but Cut The Rope [$.99 / Lite / HD] took home a BAFTA the other night becoming the first, as a press release tells us, iPod Touch and iPhone title to win an award at the UK-based event. Specifically, Cut The Rope won one for “handheld” where it was competing against games like Super Scribblenauts, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and Sonic Team’s Sonic Colors.

If you’re not on the up and up on video game awards shows, BAFTA is the British Academy of Film And Television Arts. It pays attention to the achievements in films, television, and, yes, even video games, and then rewards their excellence. Cut The Rope was able to compete against Nintendo DS and PSP titles, so hey, our medium is definitely becoming much more “mainstream,” eh?

If anything, we’ve an excuse to utter “Cut The Rope” again. It’s a fantastic game, full of heart, creativity, and expression. It totally deserves awards and we’re glad it’s been recognized by a big old establishment, too. If you somehow missed the game, check out our review.

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Before you get good and unsober later tonight, EA would like you to take a spin in a tricked out Need For Speed Undercover car. Or kick a soccer ball. Or punch a dude in the face. Or piece together a tower of multi-colored blocks. That’s right, another holiday sale is in full effect on the App Store. EA has slashed the prices of a bunch of its stable in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the the latest holiday-related excuse to have a sale.

A lot of games are on sale, so I’ve assembled a little list below. And, as usual, there’s no mention of when or if this sale will end.

• FIFA 11 — $2.99
• Madden NFL 11 — $2.99
• Mirror's Edge — $.99
• MMA By EA Sports — $.99
• Monopoly — $.99
• Need for Speed SHIFT — $2.99
• Need For Speed Undercover — $.99
• Scrabble — $.99
• Tetris — $.99
• The Sims 3 — $2.99

Scrabble for a dollar? Yeah, I’ll take that.

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In case you’ve been under a rock, Tiny Wings [$.99] is the new App Store sweetheart, replacing Angry Birds [$.99 / Lite / HD] as the must-have bird based mobile game. The two differ, but both have one thing in common: a wonky physics engine that informs the core mechanic. In Tiny Wings specifically, you fiddle with momentum, gently pulling a fat bird downwards towards a slope in order to feed it more gas for its next abrupt flight.

Now, we’ve got Pilot Winds [Free], another bird based game based on a similar idea. There is no chicken and the egg drama here, either. Pilot Winds was apparently in development before Tiny Wings launched.

Pilot Winds wants you to wrap your head around momentum, too. The distinction is that your avatar isn’t a chubby bird with meager flying skills. No, in this game, you control a penguin who slides on ropes constructed in a series of slopes, all designed to give you the speed to rocket it into the air at fast clips. The motions reminds me of skiing, but as you'll notice, the penguin isn't equipped with skis.

There are a couple of hooks to it, too, mainly in the points area. When you press your finger on the iPad or iPod to bring the penguin down, you can, optionally, “bounce” off a rope to maintain modifiers. You can also give yourself an extra boost by timing a jump or landing without sacrificing speed. So, basically, this is a game about scoring big.

There are individual modes to support the leaderboard-infused nature, but most of them are nestled behind the .99-cent pay wall. “Mad Minute” is a 60-second dash to score the most points, “Checkpoint” is a progression-based mode that requires you to hit flags within a certain time frame, and “Freeplay” is your basic, Zen-like ski-a-thon.

You can download a chunk of the game for free right now, but for what it’s worth, Pilot Winds is a solid download. My caveman brain is enjoying the simplicity of the one-tap control and the basic acrobatics that you can pull off in the rush to gather points. As a whole, this is a pretty low-key, hardly involving game that is enjoyed in bursts.

My one knock on the game involves the physics. They feel stiff. You’d figure the ropes would have a little more give and so would the penguin’s knees. That said, once you wrap your head around the engine and what the game desires, you’ll perform just fine. The tutorial seems annoying at first, yet it actually does a great job at pounding home how the game expects you to play.

I’m not going to get into the debate of what’s better, Tiny Wings or Pilot Winds, or why every App Store game stars a bird, ropes, or both, but I will argue that Pilot Winds is worth your time. I mean, c’mon, you can try it for free.

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Gameloft is getting increasingly blatant with their clones as of late. Starfront – Collision [$6.99] was so StarCraft-y that I've had friends who were shoulder surfing me flat out ask how I got StarCraft on my phone. They're not stopping there though, the latest teaser trailer released by Gameloft revealed today that their sights are set on… World of Warcraft, believe it or not.

Feast your eyes on this:

Details are scarce currently, and it remains to be seen how this game will be sold. Apple has recently added the ability for in-app subscriptions, so Gameloft could be following the typical MMO subscription route. Much more likely though is that this game will have some kind of freemium mechanic to it, which is where I'd place my bets. We'll have to wait and see!

For details as they're released, keep an eye on Gameloft's Facebook page.

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As readers are by now aware, the iPad 2 launched last week, bringing with it a powerful dual-core CPU and a dramatically more capable graphics subsystem. And, aside from pushing more polygons and tossing more texels, the GPU in the A5 at the heart of the iPad 2 is capable of mirroring its screen to an external display via the Apple Digital AV Adapter, which provides HDMI-out.

To give a folks a look at this feature in action, I've put together a video of the iPad 2 running through a number of games and apps, with video mirrored to a 50-inch plasma HDTV.

(Note that we can't be responsible for any rifts in space-time caused by watching this video on an iPad 2 outputting to an external HDTV.)

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Last month we learned that Warner Bros. Studios and developer Square One had a remake of the classic arcade game Tapper (better known as Root Beer Tapper) in the works for iOS, and the game known as Tapper World Tour [99¢/HD] is now available in the App Store. The aim of Tapper World Tour is to keep the original gameplay mostly intact while adding a couple of bells and whistles and wrapping the entire package in the wonderful art of legendary animator Don Bluth. And Tapper World Tour succeeds beautifully at this, creating a game that retains the feel of the original while bringing it into the modern era.

Tapper World Tour has you playing as the quick-on-his-feet bartender Sam from the original game, or his equally capable daughter Nikki. Gameplay involves manning several bar counters at once and serving drinks to the patrons whom are slowly approaching the end of each bar. Dishing out drinks sends these folks back down the bar from which they came, and a level is complete when all patrons have been served and cleared out.

Eventually more gameplay elements enter into the mix. Thirsty drinkers will send empty glasses back at you when they’re finished which must be collected before sliding off the end of the bar and breaking. Also, some customers will leave you a tip at some position along the length of the bar which must quickly be collected amidst all the rest of the chaos to score some bonus points. You have a certain amount of lives for each level, and if you let too many glasses break or leave too many customers without drinks then the level is failed and must be tried again.

A couple of brand new elements have been added to Tapper World Tour which mix up the classic gameplay described above. In later levels customers will request specific types of drinks and you’ll have to switch to the appropriate one using an icon in the corner before serving them. Also, multipliers can be earned by successfully serving consecutive customers which will earn you power-ups like a special drink that guarantees you receive a tip or one that temporarily disables having to serve specific drinks.

Another new aspect is special entertainment shows that are enabled after a certain amount of time in a level. These activate a special sequence, like a sports game on TV or a bull riding show in a saloon, which draws the attention of the customers and causes them to temporarily stop, giving you a chance to catch up on orders. One new addition in Tapper World Tour which falls a bit flat are occasional mini games which can be completed after a level to add to that level’s score. These are simple derivatives of “3 shell shuffle” and “whack-a-mole” style games, and while they do break up the normal gameplay they aren’t very engaging.

These new elements fit right in with the classic Tapper gameplay in Tapper World Tour, making for some frantic and extremely challenging fun. One thing that is a huge improvement over the original is the use of touch screen controls. Simply tapping the taps works incredibly well for serving drinks, and tapping on the screen to move between the different bar counters allows for much quicker reactions than you could get with physical controls. There’s an option for a virtual d-pad and button for a more traditional feel, but I definitely think you’re at a disadvantage when using this control setup.

Tapper World Tour contains a ton of content, with more than 40 levels in Story mode and an additional 50+ expert levels when Story is completed. There is also the Endless Shift mode, which is basically a survival mode that lets you play on any unlocked level for as long as possible until you fail. Each Story level has 3 stars to earn based on score, and every Endless Shift level comes equipped with its own Game Center leaderboard, though at this time it appears the Game Center leaderboard functionality isn’t working properly.

All of the gameplay and content in Tapper World Tour is complemented by the excellent art of Don Bluth and his team. The game takes place across 11 different cities in 3 different countries, each with their own unique drinking establishments and customers. The game just oozes all sorts of personality, and it’s hard not to just sit back and enjoy what’s happening on the screen during play. The fact that the gameplay is so solid just serves to enhance that enjoyment. If you were a fan of the original Tapper games or if you enjoy a good fast-paced arcade experience, then Tapper World Tour will satisfy.

Note: Some players in our forums are reporting that the game is unplayable on their device due to a graphical defect. This issue appears to affect 4th generation iPod touch and original iPad owners as far as we can tell. I had absolutely no issues with the game on my iPhone 4 or iPad 2, and a 1.1 update is in the works to fix these issues and will be released as soon as possible.

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If you're a thrifty gamer looking for a great deal, then Hemisphere Games has got you covered for today. One of the finest games available, Osmos, is now just 99¢ whether you own an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Mac computer. Osmos was originally released as a PC game back in 2009, and went on to win a crazy amount of awards from all four corners of the media.

It was definitely a heartwarming indie developer success story, but when the game was ported to the iPad last Summer, things got even more interesting as Osmos felt like it was meant for the large touch screen and an already great game was suddenly even better. Then just a couple of months later, Osmos surprised us again by making its way to the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod touch. Despite less screen real estate, Hemisphere did a fabulous job retaining the awesome gameplay experience of Osmos. Finally, when the Mac App Store launched this past January, Osmos returned to its roots as a personal computer game and played just as well as it ever had.

If you need some more convincing, you can check out our full review of the iPad version of Osmos, as well as our initial impressions on how it played when it released for iPhone and iPod touch. Honestly though, for 99¢ each, they just don't get much better than Osmos. It has a relaxing, puzzle-like aspect to it, but it still remains a challenging game. The audio and visuals make for a unique experience, and it's the type of game that you can just get lost in while playing. It might be too slow going for some gamers, but for myself and plenty of other players around the world Osmos is a must have title.

App Store Links:

• Osmos, $0.99
• Osmos for iPad, $0.99 (iPad Only)
• Osmos, $0.99 (Mac App Store)

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Back in January Gameloft revealed that they were working on a new entry in the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six series titled Shadow Vanguard. We’ve previously posted the official trailer, a hands-on gameplay video, and an interesting interactive trailer that Gameloft created that takes you through part of the first level. After all of that anticipation, at long last Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard [$6.99] has finally gone live in the App Store.

The game features 11 single player missions where you lead a special elite group of soldiers in taking out a terrorist organization. Unlike your typical first-person shooter, Rainbow Six games rely on tactical gameplay choices rather than an all out run-n-gun approach. Taking your time to investigate each situation closely and determine the best plan of attack will get much better results than just bursting in and blasting anything that moves.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect to Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard is the multiplayer options. It features a traditional deathmatch mode with up to 10 players in a game, but there is also the option to team up with up to 2 buddies and have a go at the campaign cooperatively.

Gameloft has proven they can create competent FPS experiences with games like N.O.V.A. 2 [$6.99/HD] and Modern Combat 2 [$6.99/Lite/HD], both of which feature great single-player campaigns and robust online multiplayer options. In the case of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard, we’ll be holding off our full review for a bit so that the servers can populate with other players first and we can get a good feel for all the online functionality in the game.

Until then, there is a forum thread filling up with early impressions of Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard if you’re interested in hearing what your fellow gamers have to say about the game. We’ll put it through its paces as well and report back with a review soon.

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