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Daily iPad App: Tipping Point Adventure for iPad is clever and engaging
My experience as an adventure game player goes way back to the text-only Colossal Cave game, which then morphed into the classic Zork text games from Infocom (which, by the way, you can play even now on iOS with the Lost Treasures of Infocom app). Now, with speed and graphic power, games are a lot more immersive and fun to play. Tipping Point Adventure, is a recent iPad-only release that is rich in puzzles and high quality graphics. The game is currently on sale for U.S. $1.99 in the app store. You begin the game sitting in your virtual home watching TV, when a strange message sets you off on an epic adventure. At first, I was stabbing around the screen looking for things to interact with, but soon I saw a logic to the way the game was constructed. I liked a lot of the subtle things the author has done, like picking up the TV remote and selecting stations has old movies actually playing on the TV. The game has built-in hints available but there is no in-app purchase required to get them, so unlike some other games, you don't have to buy them. I still needed one or two of the built-in hints. One hint told me I had to go to a particular TV channel for a message, and with hundreds of channels available, I don't think I would have figured that one out for myself. %Gallery-187323% There's a sizable story line, lots of puzzles and challenges to play with, an original music score, and quite a few surprises to find. Tipping Point is a great, reasonably priced diversion that offers up a nice throwback experience to those old text-only adventure games of old. The game is a hefty 255 MB download, and requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Angry Birds Friends coming to the App Store this week
Rovio has announced today that a new game called Angry Birds Friends will be out on the App Store this week, offering up yet another iteration on the extremely popular series about frustrated avians. As you can tell from the name of the game, Angry Birds Friends will be a social take on bird-throwing, combining elements of the popular Facebook version and the iOS version's touchscreen gameplay. I think Rovio might be a little behind on this one, as asychronous Words With Friends-style multiplayer has fallen out of favor a bit on the App Store lately. But Angry Birds is one of the strongest brands out there, so if anyone can get people playing with their friends, it could be Rovio. We'll have a full look at Angry Birds Friends after it releases later on this week. [via AppAdvice]
Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi coming to the 3DS in America
Aksys Games has announced a North American release of Hakuoki: Memories of the Shinsengumi on the Nintendo 3DS. The game is based on Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom, which made it to the PSP last February.The female-focused "otome" romance game comes to Nintendo's handheld with new story content and some 3DS-specific features, like 3D graphics and the ability to take your potentially creepster picture with the story's main characters.No release date has been announced yet, but those interested can stay tuned to the official site for more.
Guild Wars 2 gets a retro 2D platformer, thanks to an April Fools' joke
ArenaNet, the developer behind Guild Wars 2, has released a 2D platformer called Rytlock's Critter Rampage, available to play for free in your browser.The game's derived from an '80s-style commercial the company made as an April Fools' joke earlier this month. The commercial itself was for a 3D platformer called Super Adventure Box, which ArenaNet also created for real inside its popular MMO.ArenaNet says Rytlock's Critter Rampage was going to be cobbled together from a few sprites for the sake of the joke, but cinematic artist Delly Sartika had wanted to build a retro platformer and did the whole thing in about three weeks.
Firaxis' Haunted Hollow appears on, disappears from the App Store
There's good news, bad news, and the best news on this one, and I'll give you the good news first. Firaxis' Haunted Hallow appeared on the App Store this morning, which means the game is just about ready for prime time. The free-to-play strategy title was one of my favorite games I got to see at GDC a few months ago. It's a board game, basically, in that you move various monsters around a board trying to claim and conquer space as best you can, though there's a fun house-building mechanic as well, in the way you choose which monsters to summon and fight for you. Firaxis, the creators of Civilization and the recent hit XCOM: Enemy Unknown, are some of the most experienced strategy developers out there, and Haunted Hallow is a free-to-play gift from them straight to the App Store, so it's great to see the game is almost done. The bad news, however, is that while I was writing this post to let you know the game was out, the title has disappeared from the US App Store. It is still available on the New Zealand App Store, so if you want to change your country to download the app from there, you can do that. But presumably this means the app wasn't supposed to be live on the US Store yet, so either there's more testing to be done, or we'll have to wait until this evening, as new App Store titles go official across the world. The best news is that Haunted Hallow is just the beginning. Firaxis has also announced that it's porting XCOM to the iPad in the future, and there are some other, not-yet-announced exciting strategy titles on the way as well. Firaxis has some great things planned for iOS, and this game is only the first. At any rate, Haunted Hallow is almost ready, and that's worth getting excited about. It's free to play (you get a certain number of monsters to start with, and you'll be able to buy more via in-app purchase), so whenever it is ready to download in your region, it'll be a must grab for sure. Update: 2K has confirmed that this was an accidental release. The game will be available worldwide next Thursday, May 2. So we just have a short wait until then!
Two great board games headed to iOS: Talisman Prologue and Eclipse
There's some great news today about two different -- both excellent -- physical board games headed to digital versions on the App Store. First up, the game Eclipse has been submitted to the App Store as a digital app. This is a great galaxy-spanning civilization builder, and the physical component has dozens and dozens of little miniatures and pieces to play with, so it'll be nice to have an iPad-based version around. The price hasn't yet been revealed, and it's unclear just how soon the game will be out, but if Apple doesn't have any problems with the submission, we should see it later on this week. In other board-game-to-digital-app news, we'll see a version of Games Workshop's Talisman, called Talisman Prologue, on the App Store later on this week as well. Prologue will be single player only, but it will use the game card-drawing mechanics of the physical game, and the short preview trailer that developer Thumbstar Games has released makes it look like an excellent time. There's no word on price for this one either, but we'll know soon enough: The game is set to be out in the US this Thursday.
Status Board updated with bugfixes, performance improvements
Panic's well-received Status Board app has been updated to version 1.1, and as you might imagine, it's mostly a bugfix update. The biggest issue fixed was probably a bug with sending standard video out, but that should be all taken care of according to Panic (sending HD video out still requires an in-app purchase). The Calendar List panel also deals with resizing much better, and there are now options for either Celsius or Farenheit listings for each Weather panel you have showing. If you're enjoying Status Board, you may also want to check out our five surprising uses for the app, or take a look at some of the other widgets users have been putting together for the service. Status Board is wonderfully designed, but the app itself is really just a container. It's up to you to fill it up with whatever you'd like to be updated about. If you haven't gotten Status Board for your iPad yet, you can grab it from the App Store for US$9.99. That's a premium price, but Panic clearly put a lot of work into this one-of-a-kind utility.
Fieldrunners 2 sprinting to Android next week
Subatomic Studios has announced that Fieldrunners 2, having already hit iOS and Steam, is hoofing it to Android next week. The release won't have any Android-only content, but it does have the original's twenty-plus hour campaign, colorful hand-painted graphics, and Time Trial, Sudden Death, and Puzzle modes.The Android version of Fieldrunners 2 will be available on April 24 on the Google Play store. Subatomic says its next focus will be on releasing an update for the iOS version.
Surgeon Simulator 2013 transplanted to Steam tomorrow
Surgeon Simulator 2013 will be available for download on Steam tomorrow, April 19. It started out as a cheeky (and wince-inducing) game jam project by four developers made in just two days, and was later approved as a full release by Steam's Greenlight program. You can still play the original jam result online for free, but the full release includes more surgery scenarios, including an operation in the back of a moving ambulance. The physics have been improved, too, and the developers say it'll work on Windows, Mac or Linux on day one.Upon its launch on Steam, the game will cost $9.99 - way cheaper and less grueling than years of medical school.
Shadow Era gets a new expansion, a new website, and a new app
These days, the only iOS card game I'm playing with any regularity is SolForge -- I wish there was a little more to it, but the mechanics are very well-constructed. Shadow Era, one of the first collectible card games on the App Store, is still kicking around, however, and has gotten bigger than ever. The game's developers, now called Wulven Game Studios, have sent along word that they've just added a new expansion to the title, and they've released a brand-new app for that expansion, called Shadow Era: Dark Prophecies. Dark Prophecies adds about 150 new cards to the game, along with a new mechanic called Steadfast, and a new format, called Meltdown. The game also has a brand-new website to show off all of the latest content and news, so you can head there if you want to learn more. As always, Shadow Era remains free to play, with the opportunity to buy extra "crystals" if you want to pick up more cards sooner. With Blizzard's Hearthstone announcement and the onset of Rage of Bahamut-inspired card battlers, collectible card games are about to get even more popular on the App Store. But Shadow Era was one of the first out there, and it remains one of the best.
Vendetta Online now available on the iPad
Vendetta Online was officially released for the PC back in 2004 -- it's a space combat-based massively multiplayer online game that has been updated and developed almost constantly since it first went online in 2002. A few years ago, the game went mobile on Windows tablets, and today, Vendetta Online has made its way over to iOS. It's now available for the iPad. There are a few interesting things about this one. First of all, unlike the great Galaxy on Fire 2, which also features space-based combat and trading, Vendetta Online is a real MMO, which means you'll see hundreds if not thousands of other players flying around the game's universe with you. Vendetta's been updated many, many times over the years, and all of the core game's features have made it over to the iPad, along with iOS-specific features like achievements on Game Center. There's also cross-platform integration, so you can play on iPad alongside players also playing on Windows, Mac, and Linux. And finally, because this is a full MMO, it requires an extra cost to keep the servers going. Buying the app for just 99 cents gets you a month of service for free, but the app will cost another dollar per month after that. $12 a year isn't bad at all for a subscription (WoW still charges more than that per month), but it may be more than most iOS gamers are willing to pay. Still, Vendetta Online is a classic title at this point with a dedicated audience, and it's nice to finally have it available and running on the iPad.
Little Inferno out on Mac
Little Inferno arrived on iOS in January. It's a wicked, little satirical adventure about burning toys that's gotten a lot of critical acclaim. Now, the game is available on the Mac. You can pick it up directly from the developer Tomorrow Corporation, or grab it on Steam or Gamersgate. Tomorrow Corporation says it's also working on an iOS version that's designed to work with older hardware, so the game will soon be playable on the iPhone 4 and fourth-gen iPod touch models as well. There's also a Linux version in the plans. I haven't played much of Little Inferno, but the reviews on it are really great, and it looks like a creepy, yet moving take on consumerism and "play" itself. And, of course, great games are always welcome on the Mac platform. [via Joystiq]
Darkfall Unholy Wars finally launches
The next iteration of Darkfall is underway! Aventurine today announced that Darkfalls Unholy Wars has finally released after several delays and a lengthy beta. The sandbox MMO is a complete revamp of the original Darkfall with several new features, and it requires the purchase of a client and a subscription fee to play. Aventurine General Manager Tasos Flambouras seems relieved to have reached this stage: "After five months of beta we are happy to launch Darkfall Unholy Wars. We are grateful to our playtesters for their contribution to the game and we're happy to have them with us as players today. Darkfall Unholy Wars is the best combat MMORPG experience and our pledge is that it will continue evolving and pushing the PvP envelope."
Alleged Office roadmap says Office for iOS possibly not until 2014
The rumor mill had previously stated that Office for iOS might be coming as soon as last month, but obviously that never happened. Now, an alleged roadmap for the Office family of products from Microsoft says we may not see Office for iOS this year at all. ZDNet reports that it has obtained a roadmap from the company which does not list iOS or Android support for Office until fall of 2014. The roadmap doesn't specify if we'll see Office for iPad or Office for iPhone then, either. Instead, it just says that iOS will finally be supported. But if this roadmap is indeed legit, fall of 2014 represents a much longer wait than anyone expected for these tools. The roadmap also says that April of 2014 is when Microsoft will have the next version of Office for Mac ready, and the plans also include a number of updates to the Windows desktop and Windows Phone and RT versions. Just like all of the rumors we've heard about these releases before (and there have been quite a few), these roadmap plans are completely unconfirmed. But if ZDNet's information is legit, there's still quite a while to wait for that iOS version of Office to see release.
Age of Wushu launch day roundup [Updated]
Don't let the delicate beauty of Age of Wushu's looks fool you: This is one savage MMO. We've been tracking the progress of Snail Games' localization and tweaks for Western audiences for months now (as well as voting the game our most anticipated of last year's E3 awards), and the day of its launch is finally here. Age of Wushu is a free-to-play martial arts sandbox that's set in a semi-historical China. On top of several schools of fighting styles, the MMO includes unconventional features such as kidnapping, offline professions, crafting battles, and weddings. Check out Massively's extensive coverage of Age of Wushu after the jump and stay tuned for Patrick's impressions of the launch! [Update]: Snail has released an Age of Wushu launch trailer, viewable after the break.
Daily iPhone App: Badland is a gorgeous alien journey
One of my favorite things about the App Store is that it can offer some completely original and crazy ideas. Developers do have to get approval from Apple to be published, but that approval doesn't require a game to make sense or be clear, only that it works as advertised. Badland is one such product of this system. It's a wild and wacky, totally alien experience that I don't think would get published anywhere else but on a platform such as the App Store. It's a platformer of sorts. You guide a little creature with some weird, flappy arms through a 2D environment on an alien planet, touching the screen to send him flapping upwards and releasing it to let him float back down. I don't know what your creature's name is, or even what he is -- the game works without words, communicating the premise and the story entirely through gameplay. But as you move through the levels, avoiding dangers as best you can, you collect various objects that give you other abilities: You can split the little guy into a few different creatures, grow or shrink him, or speed him up or slow him down. That's just in the first levels. Badland is simply oozing with creativity, both in terms of the gameplay situations it throws at you, but also in that incredible art. The actual levels are essentially drawn in black 2D outlines, but the game's background is a colorful, crazy planet, full of life that seems completely alien. The game's audio is very impressive as well -- you can clearly hear each clank and thump as your creature bounces his way through the world, and the ambient sound is also very well done. Badland is a treat, and we're lucky to have it. It's available for US$3.99, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a must-play game. Developers might argue about how "open" Apple's platform is, but being able to see such an original game like this on iOS makes me believe that Apple's doing something right.
Ultima Forever looks impressive, but may have some freemium problems
Ultima Forever is one of the weirdest brand experiments I've seen pop up on iOS so far. Ultima is, of course, one of the oldest and best-loved RPG series in video games, with over a dozen different variations and versions. And EA has decided to bring the Ultima series to iOS with Ultima Forever, which is sort of a remake or reimagining of Ultima IV, one of the most popular versions of Ultima. "Remake or reimagining" is still sort of a simplification of exactly what this game is, and even after having seen and played it at GDC last week, it's still kind of tough to put down exactly how this game is related to Ultima IV and the rest of the series. There are some quests and storylines from the old game, and the graphics are related. But some of the quests are set years in the future, as if it's a sequel to the old title. And some of the gameplay ideas are taken directly from the old game (it's a fantasy action RPG that has to do with you as a character questing up to try and become the Avatar while honing your various values like Honesty and Honor), but others are very new: There are some freemium elements to this title, and it's an MMO, so you'll see other players questing around you as you play, and you'll be able to team up with friends while taking down dungeons. In other words, Ultima Forever is a weird one. It is fun -- the game offers up a lot of really interesting content, and while the combat is tight and fun, there's also some interesting questlines to follow, and stories to discover around the world that should appeal to both old and new Ultima players. There's a nice amount of complexity in the leveling as well, with new gear to discover and equip and plenty of reputations and attributes to grind out and grow more powerful in. At the same time, however, EA has integrated some freemium elements into the game, which can get annoying very quickly. As you play through the dungeon, you earn keys, which can then be used at various points to open chests and give you a random chance at some loot. The lowest quality keys can be easy to find, and they will award you some (relatively cheap) loot. But higher quality keys are rarer, and some will need to be purchased with real money, and then used to unlock ability slots or better gear. Even in the few minutes I had to play through the game at GDC, dealing with the keys was an annoying pain, and it's frustrating that EA here isn't willing to just let players play with the game directly, instead inserting this currency mechanic at every turn. It's still too early to pass judgment on the finished title, but the keys seem like a bad mark on an otherwise very impressive game. Older Ultima players, especially, might be really disappointed to see their old memories tarnished with constant, cheap attempts to sell in-app currency. Perhaps that's too harsh, though -- the game's not done yet, and it's going to go through a thorough beta period before it finally arrives worldwide later on this summer. Hopefully, EA will tune it right, so that those who fondly remember Ultima can enjoy this celebration of it without being constantly pestered with freemium nonsense.
Darkfall Unholy Wars to launch April 16
Any Darkfall fan can tell you that it's been quite a wild ride from the launch of the original game in 2009 through the waiting period for Unholy Wars to release. Just do a search on this site for the keywords "Darkfall" and "delay" and you'll feel their pain. But the wait is almost over as Aventurine has announced a final release date of April 16. That's 2013, folks! Sardonics aside, we imagine the dev team wants to make sure the game is done right this time, which is the whole point of Unholy Wars in the first place. New features like salvaging, Prowess Points, the Primalist role, and Steam integration will make for a fuller experience, and fans of the game can then judge if Aventurine's claim of creating the "best PvP MMORPG experience" will hold true. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
RaiderZ launches Broken Silence expansion
The first expansion for RaiderZ, Broken Silence, is now available for players to tackle and conquer. The region of Cowen Marsh should be the first stop for players looking to see fresh sights in the world. Senior Producer Mark Hill is jolly well thrilled as one might expect: "We are excited to bring our first RaiderZ expansion to our devoted players. We hope players will enjoy the new content and we are looking forward to adding even more in the future." The expansion raises the level cap to 40, while adding new areas, bosses, and gear. Players will see an improved matchmaking system in Broken Silence, as well as a battle "Wave System" and a PvP arena. [Source: Perfect World press release]
Trion Worlds promises that it's addressing critical Defiance issues
Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson has mixed emotions in regards to Defiance's release. "This first day of launch of Defiance has been as awesome as we expected it to be," he wrote in a state of the game post. "And by awesome, I mean we're neck deep addressing all the issues that come up when you scale something up to a million people from a test environment of thousands." Richardsson promised that the large Trion team is working hard to "update, patch, fix, and improve" Defiance post-launch. The most critical problems that he identifies are connectivity problems, missing pre-order items, the scaling of bosses and arkfalls, and broken chat and VOIP. "We appreciate the trust that you are showing us by coming with us and we will address all these issues," he concludes. Speaking of awesome, check out the main theme to Defiance, composed by Bear McCreary, after the jump!
