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Daily iPhone App: Anomaly Korea polishes the award-winning Anomaly series even more
Anomaly Korea is, right out of the gate, one of the most impressive titles I've ever seen on iOS. Developer 11 bit Studios' Anomaly: Warzone Earth won an Apple Design Award for the way it looked and played, and as a rep from the studio told me recently, they decided to up the ante, adding even better graphics, with lots more flares, particles and other really great-looking visual elements. The core gameplay here is the same -- you're in charge of a convoy of vehicles heading through an alien tower-infested warzone, and you guide those vehicles down a path of your choice, supplying them with almost constant support power-ups as you do so. And because that gameplay didn't change very much, 11 bit was able to really polish and refine it, adding in a few new power-ups, and making the old ones even better. This isn't really a sequel to the first title, but it is all new content, and the real draw here is that 11 bit was able to make a game that was already great even better. The one issue I really have with this game is that it's not quite as direct as I'd usually like -- you are basically supporting your units, rather than actually playing as them. But 11 bit has even taken that note to task, and made the choices you make while moving around the map even more important than before. This is a great game -- odds are that you've already purchased quite a few this week, given all of the big sales and releases, but it's very hard not to still recommend this one at the launch price of just $2.99.
App updates roundup: Jetpack Joyride, Spelltower, more
Thursday on the App Store brings another round of new app releases, as well as some big updates. We've got news on some of those releases elsewhere, but here are a few of the app updates currently waiting for you in the App Store on your iOS device. Jetpack Joyride has gotten what Halfbrick calls "our greatest update ever" with a new mission system, a new forest area to play through, and lots of other add-ons and tweaks. Great game, only 99 cents, so go grab it if you haven't yet. Anomaly Warzone Earth is another great title that now boasts iCloud syncing for saved games, as well as some graphical and gameplay tweaks. Spelltower (above) is getting a (surprise!) universal update that brings this really terrific and well-designed word game to the iPhone's smaller screen. Minecraft for iOS hasn't updated yet, but Mojang has lots of plans for future releases. Zombie Gunship has gone free, as has The Adventure of Timmy. Pix'n Love Rush has an entirely new mode to play with, and the graphics look a little different at night apparently. Rebuild is a nicely polished strategy game for iOS that will push an update soon that includes support for the original iPad, as well as Game Center support. Attention, Alec Baldwin: Words with Friends for iPad has gotten an update with a few new metrics for showing how well your words are doing. And speaking of Zynga, that company's Poker app has been updated too, including some changes that make it much more independent of the Facebook game. There's lots of new content for some of your favorite apps this week. Not all of these are live just yet, but stay tuned, they'll be posted soon.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth out now
I first previewed Anomaly: Warzone Earth back in January, and then saw the iOS version at GDC. It's an excellent real-time strategy game, kind of a reverse tower defense, where you need to escort a military convoy through an area full of enemy towers. I enjoyed the game when previewing it, and if it sounds like your cup of tea, the title is now out and available on Steam for both Mac and PC as well as the Mac App Store. It's usually $9.99, but there's a launch sale on for just $8.99 on Steam, so if you need a free-time filler this weekend for under ten bucks, give it a look. The iOS version is still due out soon, and I really liked what I saw of the game on the iPad, though it's pretty different -- more of a fast-paced version than the deeper desktop client. It's supposed to be out by the end of the month, so we'll keep an eye out for that one as well.
GDC 2011: Chillingo's upcoming slate of titles
The good folks at Chillingo invited me to stop by their suite at GDC 2011 last week (which was actually run by EA, thanks to a new deal with EA's Partners program) to see the company's upcoming slate of titles on their way to the iPhone and iPod. On the next page you'll see previews of Blobster, Anomaly: Warzone Earth and Painkiller Purgatory, all due out in the next few months from Chillingo. Stay tuned -- I also got a chance to speak with co-founders Chris Byatte and Joe Wee about their role publishing games for the iPhone and the iPod touch, including, of course, Angry Birds.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth coming to Mac, iPhone and iPad
Anomaly: Warzone Earth is a tower defense game with a twist -- instead of placing towers to take down attackers, you actually control attackers, trying to navigate a convoy in between alien defenses. Through both a 14-mission story/campaign mode and a few endless options, you command your squad using deployables like Smoke and Decoy, various unit types that can be upgraded and tweaked, and whatever strategies you can dream up. The game is a nice mix of strategy and action, constantly driving your convoy through alien turrets while planning out the best and safest route to take. The game has already been announced for the iPhone, iPad and the PC, but this post serves as the official announcement that the game is coming to Mac as well. It is scheduled for an early 2011 release, and we're told that the Polish developer, 11 bit studios, is planning to bring the game to the Mac App Store, though a price hasn't been determined yet. We'll keep an eye out for the game when it releases -- in the meantime, feel free to browse through and check out these exclusive shots of the game's Tokyo level in the gallery below. %Gallery-114617%
