nova-2
Latest
New games flood App Store before impending holiday release freeze
The App Store is in constant danger of new release bombardments, sure, but many companies adhere to a regular, weekly bombing run beginning each Wednesday, through the wee hours of the night (UTC), dropping their new iPhone and iPad games on Apple's marketplace while many of us are snoozing. Last night was no exception -- actually, scratch that. It was exceptional! Pending the start of the "iTunes Connect Holiday Shutdown" next Thursday -- a six-day lockout period when developers will be unable to release or update apps, including games -- an army of companies, armed with their big holiday releases (for little iDevices), launched a massive attack on the App Store last night. What began as a few warning shots yesterday grew into a full-on assault, led by Gameloft's crisp clones, NOVA 2 and Shadow Guardian, and Square Enix's surprise (and apparently rushed) port of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Even Sega couldn't resist launching a few more classics in Altered Beast and Sonic Spinball. And what's this ... Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3? Hey, if Street Fighter IV worked ... Pursue our complete list of new release highlights after the break, and then make double-sure "Santa" knows you've been good enough for an iTunes gift card this year.
NOVA 2 evolving mobile combat on Dec. 16
Things we learned this morning from GameLoft: NOVA 2, a sequel to last year's iPhone FPS NOVA, will be released on the iTunes App Store on December 16 (that's this Thursday), in case you don't have your 2010 Halo Clones novelty calendar handy. "NOVA" is an acronym that stands for "Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance" (which is totally different from an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper or the First Encounter Assault Recon folks). The game was also given a fully featured trailer (found after the break), with everything from vehicle combat to landspeeder chases. If it doesn't prove to you that these dudes are totally vanguards, we're not sure if anything will.
Gameloft's holiday iOS releases: NOVA 2, Asphalt 6 and Shadow Guardian
Gameloft kindly allowed TUAW to sit in on a preview yesterday of the games it's planning on releasing later this year, and we got to see three new iOS titles. NOVA 2 (seen above) is the sequel to the very popular first-person shooter for iPhone. Asphalt 6: Adrenaline is the latest in Gameloft's high-quality racing series and Shadow Guardian is a brand new IP that borrows a lot from popular action/exploration games like Tomb Raider and Uncharted. After the break, you'll find descriptions of all three titles. They will be available for both iPhone and iPad sometime later on this year. Gameloft is also releasing three more titles this year that we didn't get to see: Dungeon Hunter 2 (which is the sequel to the popular Diablo-style hack-and-slash RPG), and two games called Eternal Legacy and Space Fracture. We'll have more about those games soon, and we'll likely see them live on the App Store before long anyway.
Gameloft announces NOVA 2 and the Uncharted-inspired Shadow Guardian
Mobile games publisher Gameloft is showing no signs of slowing down. The company announced its upcoming slate of iOS games at a press conference in Paris today, including sequels to some of the company's most successful properties, such as Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and NOVA 2, a follow-up to the company's Halo-inspired portable FPS. NOVA 2 adds new weapons and new enemies (with jetpacks!) and will offer multiplayer. Not only does it continue the story of the first game, but will reward players of the original with bonus XP. Perhaps of most interesting title was Gameloft's new IP, Shadow Guardian (pictured above). In typical Gameloft fashion, Shadow Guardian bears more than a little resemblance to other popular console games, notably Uncharted and Tomb Raider: You travel through a variety of locations, from temples to cities, climbing and leaping through the environment in search of treasure. In addition to the requisite puzzle-solving, you'll also be able to shoot your way through waves of enemies, taking cover, blind-firing, and rushing in for melee kills. Yes, you've seen all of this before -- but have you seen it running on an iPhone? All of these games should be available later this month, "before Christmas."
