Aurora Feint: The Arena Pt2
Currently you have to be online with your iPhone/iPod Touch to play in The Arena; but a future patch, set hopefully before the year is out, will add an offline mode so you can play on the subway, in a plane or atop a mountain. Alongside this patch they have also teased me with the fact that they will also be releasing something else very exciting, I just don't know what, I am hoping that it is an in-game 'Boss of the Blocks' called Turpster who can't be beat, though I doubt that.
I asked the team if there were any plans to include a Twitter add-on for the player's Walls. I think it would be a great way to keep everyone up-to-date with how many hours I have clocked in playing the game when I've managed to beat your ghost. Long story short, it's not in development but they did tell me that over on their forums they have a wish list board and pay a lot of attention to it really operating hands on with their community. Maybe people should start petitioning there for a 'Boss of the Blocks'...just an idea.
The team isn't stopping with this update either; they are prepared to launch into a full-blown MMO with the sorts of features you'd expect from the genre, "30 different characters to choose from, 7 million quests, guilds, many more puzzle games". Obviously this is a bit of fun, but the plans for Aurora Feint 3 are in motion and these features to some degree should make it through to release. Character classes affecting what you can and can't do in the puzzle games, the ability to customize your avatar, these are all very real plans for the future of Aurora Feint. "The grand vision for this is a truly complete and rounded MMO redefined for a mobile environment...a game that everyone who plays games has on their iPhone, spends at least 15 minutes a day playing, interacting with their friends, progressing, having fun with it. That's the goal – World of Warcraft on the iPhone"
They face a tough challenge with Apple not supporting a subscription-based model for their apps rising up challenges of how to support and finance the title. That being said, the developers have said that they would like to see the people who purchase Aurora Feint 2 being able to pick up Aurora Feint 3 for a discounted price, 'after all they are our fanbase'.
Don't panic if you haven't had chance to play the free version of Aurora Feint, it isn't going anywhere! It is going to act now as a demo of the basic features of the game but without the multiplayer or social interactions found in this latest installment. Aurora Feint: The Arena can be found on the App Store at a special holiday price of $7.99 (later it should retail for $9.99 - so get it while it's cheaper!)
