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TUAW's Daily iOS App: MetalStorm Online
Z2Live is the Seattle-based developer behind the popular freemium Trade Nations title for iOS, and the company's latest release is another freemium app called MetalStorm Online. As you can see from the picture above, it's a combat flight simulator, which has you piloting a series of jets through the air and trying to take down enemies both real and computer-controlled. It's relatively simple, so flight buffs will be disappointed with how superficial the game is, but as an arcade flight simulator, I liked it. The plane is controlled by tilting your iPhone and tapping or swiping on the screen to fire or perform flight maneuvers, making for a simple but satisfying combat game. It's all freemium, so you can earn coins by playing (or buy them with in-app purchases), and then use those to upgrade your plane or its various components. You can play a versus match online with friends or strangers, and it worked surprisingly well for me when I played with a random person over Wi-Fi. You can also try single player against waves of enemies, or play co-op with a friend. Yes, the in-app purchase notices are annoying, but there's a fun flight shooter here even without spending a dime. MetalStorm Online is free in the App Store right now.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Chromanoids
Chromanoids is Hothead Games' second title for the App Store. The first was Bunny the Zombie Slayer, and it's done pretty well (even though most of the studio's previous work was for PC). This one's a more retro affair -- it's basically Missile Command, though obviously with the touchscreen rather than the traditional wheel. But the twist here is that the action is color based -- you need to not only line up shots against invading ships, but you need to match shot colors with ship colors, which means red ammo takes down red ships, and so on. Things do get more complex as the game moves on, with ships that use colored shields and even ships that change color as they fly, but despite those changes, this still isn't much more than Missile Command -- you're still just lining up shots with ships and hoping to hit home before they hit you. That said, Missile Command is plenty of fun, and if you like that game, you'll like this one as well. Chromanoids is US$0.99 for a universal version, and there are in-app payments for credits, which allow you to buy things like power-ups (though they aren't really needed to enjoy the game). Game Center integration is a nice bonus, and there are a few different modes to check out as well. For the price, this is a great sophomore title from Hothead Games, though I'm a little surprised it's coming so soon after the first one. We'll have to see what else the studio has in store.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Pinch 2 HD
You may remember Pinch, a drag-and-drop platformer that we featured a while back. The idea was that you dragged colored orbs around a map, navigating them through obstacles of various kinds and even combining or tearing them apart in order to line them up correctly. That game was well received, and a few weeks back, its sequel appeared on the App Store as an iPad-only title. Pinch 2 HD is an overhaul of the concept, featuring the same sort of drag-and-drop puzzle platforming gameplay, but with a few new colors in the mix and a few new elements to play with. The look has been given a complete update, and gameplay is superior on the iPad. The original iPhone version had you dragging the screen around a lot to see what you were doing, and while you can still do that on the iPad, the bigger screen lets you see the overall picture more easily. Game Center integration brings leaderboards and achievements, and the graphics and music work great. The game is a free download, with 20 levels unlocked to play and 80 more available to buy with a US$4.99 in-app purchase (and more on the way via updates). Both Pinch fans and newcomers will enjoy Pinch 2 HD.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Piclings
Piclings is an interesting one. It's a platformer, which means you guide a little character named Picazzo around a series of levels, picking up various coins and power-ups. It's cute enough, but the real draw is that Piclings lets you create your own levels by taking a picture with your iPhone's camera or using a picture you've already taken. You can use a level editor to design maps or let the app convert the image automatically, so even if you're not a great designer, any picture you've taken works. It's pretty intriguing. Obviously, it doesn't work perfectly all of the time, but that's kind of the game -- to see just how the app converts a picture that you take. Unfortunately, the controls are kind of hinky (you float around according to a meter rather than jumping like a normal platformer), but navigating is easy enough. There's also no real overall goal. You can earn achievements and collect things in the levels, but there's very little pushing you through the game as a whole. Game Center integration extends the gameplay a bit, and you can even "share" levels by passing your pictures around. Piclings is a good idea, and while it's not quite the best implementation, it's definitely worth a look for US0$.99 as a universal app, especially if you're interested in seeing how the picture levels work.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Samurai Girl
Samurai Girl is a 2D Korean RPG on iOS that's surprisingly deep. The combat is pretty traditional 2D stuff, but this game has all of the features that you'd expect in a full RPG, including over 50 quests and various skills to earn, a full collectibles and crafting system and even a pet system, which the game claims is the first ever seen in an action RPG (I'll argue that Torchlight has pets, but whatever). Unfortunately, the game suffers from a pretty cluttered UI, so while the controls are responsive, it might take a little getting used to all of the buttons and seeing around them. But the action is pretty fast and furious, and while the game's Korean heritage doesn't do it any favors (it can be a little confusing knowing where to go and what to do), the RPG elements are surprisingly deep and make for a nice big experience. Plus, the game's on sale for just a buck this weekend, so if you have any interest in playing this one at all, it's more than worth a try.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Hype Machine Radio
Streaming music is really impressive on the iPhone. For example, I've been using my Pandora app for workouts almost exclusively. I'm also a big fan of Hype Machine, a site that takes the best free MP3s from around the Internet's best music blogs and puts them all together in one place for your listening enjoyment. And now, you can stream all of that music straight from your iPhone with Hype Machine's new radio app. You can choose from great music blogs, like Stereogum and Gorilla vs. Bear, or just let the app mix new music for you so that you can discover what's out there. It's a great and easy way to hear new music quickly, and while it's not quite as full-featured as Pandora, Hype Machine Radio is a good way to introduce some new sounds into your listening. The app is US$2.99, which is higher than I'd expect -- I'd almost rather see some ads in the mix just to make the app free to download. But still, $3 is a small price to pay for what's basically an endless, customizable radio station. If you're a Hype Machine fan already, or if you just want something new to listen to while on your iPhone, give it a look.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Super 8
We've seen a bevy of vintage photography apps. Hipstamatic might be the most popular, though Instagram has a solid group of users as well. But, Super 8 brings a new idea to the party: vintage videos [Of course this isn't really "new" as apps like 8mm and Silent Film Director perform a similar function - Ed.]. Just like Hipstamatic, Super 8 will capture media from your iPhone that looks like it was photographed with an old camera. But instead of still pictures, you'll get old film-style videos. Just like the other vintage apps, there's a cool UI and plenty of extras to play with, including adding film scratches, titles and editing film clips on your iPhone. When your films are done, you can email them or save them to a computer with iTunes. It's very well done -- the app is actually put together by Paramount as a promotion for the upcoming JJ Abrams movie, but it's still very well done by marketing firm QMX Interactive and offers a lot of functionality to play with. Plus, for now, the app is a free download, so you can check it out without paying a thing. Very cool idea.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: First Touch Soccer
If you enjoy soccer or soccer video games and happen to own an iPhone, First Touch Soccer is a must-buy. I'm not a big fan of soccer, but this is an impressively premium title with great visuals, solid controls and lots of extras, including home team themed menus, multiple modes, social integration and even a real rock soundtrack. If there's a drawback to First Touch Soccer, it's that the game suffers from the same issues more traditional console sports games do. The gameplay obviously depends on your love of soccer, and things like the announcer tracks can get repetitive. Also, the teams aren't officially named; there are over 250 teams that are obvious versions of the various soccer clubs around the world, though they're tweaked enough to avoid official licenses. But those are small quibbles in the bigger picture: a full-scale professional soccer title running great on iOS. The game's a bargain right now at US$0.99. When you compare that to the $20 or $30 that you'd normally pay for a full handheld soccer game like this, First Touch Soccer is a no-brainer.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Pulse: Volume One
Cipher Prime is the developer behind the former Daily iOS App choice Auditorium, and the company has returned to the platform with Pulse: Volume One, an iPad game that has you playing with both rhythm and sound. The idea starts off simple -- hit the notes on the screen as the radiating circular pulse hits them from the center. But as with most music games, things start slow and build up quickly until you're frantically trying to tag all of the notes in their wacky patterns to match up with the song as it plays. When the game works well, it does feel like you're "playing" the notes as they go by, but when things get really hard, it can be confusing to keep up. Unfortunately, the game only has eight songs to play through. While the songs are good, that's not a lot of content. There's no Game Center integration or other modes to play with, either. With the lack of extras, it might be tough to justify the US$4.99 iPad price -- the game's not available on the iPhone yet. This might be one to wait for a sale on. Still, if you like the feel of a good music game, Pulse will likely get yours going. Update: While there are only eight tracks in the original version of the app, Cipher Prime emails to tell us that more are being added, at the rate of four new tracks a month over the next six months. All of the updates will be free, we're told, so that's a pretty excellent deal right there.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Enduro
Enduro is an old Atari game that's now on the App Store, and it's available as a universal version for iPhone or iPad. Personally, I don't really remember this one (it's a racing game that's similar to Pole Position, though the big innovation was that you could race through different environments like fog or snow), but bigger Atari fans than myself might be excited to see that it's now playable on iOS. The reason why Enduro is interesting, however, is that, as Touch Arcade reports, it's an unsanctioned port. Atari has already released several games for the iPhone, and those are all officially sponsored, presumably giving a little bit of money back to the original creators (or in most cases, whoever owns the rights to them). But for Enduro, developer Nemo has strangely been able to publish the app without the official rights to the software -- it's a completely unofficial port. At any rate, the game's currently available on the App Store for US$0.99. If you want to play it, you better pick it up fast. Nemo could actually go get the rights to the game to publish it -- that's exactly what the folks behind the Commodore 64 app did, and that app is now official and approved. But there may be some rough waters ahead for this one if the original Enduro IP owners get word of Nemo's app.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Magic Piano
Smule has brought its popular iPad app, Magic Piano, over to the iPhone and iPod touch this week, and one of the best things about it is that it's completely free. It still features all of the various music modes that the original app offers, including that one cats like so much, and the mode that allows you to play any number of famous songs just by tapping the screen on your own rhythm and time. This is a great app, which isn't a surprise from the fine folks at Smule, and it's good to finally have it available on the smaller iOS devices. The company is making its money through in-app purchases. While there are quite a few songs available when you download the app, you can buy more in packs, and there are even more coming out every single week. But it's nice to have the main app as a free download anyway. Whether you have enjoyed the app on iPad or haven't been able to see it yet, Magic Piano is a great one to pick up for free. It's a little bit of a shame that this wasn't made into a universal version, just to keep things a little more organized in iTunes' apps section, but the price should quiet any complaints about that. Go grab it right now.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Tactical Soldier Undead Rising
Tactical Soldier has been garnering some acclaim on the App Store lately, and it's well deserved. It's a turn-based strategy game that's reminiscent of the old X-com series that combines a horror story with turn-based tactical gameplay, sending you to guide your team through a full campaign exploring a military base overrun by the walking dead. You'll use various weapons to take out zombies while trying to keep your forces in formation and lined up for attack. The game's fun, though it suffers from some of the usual tactical strategy problems, including a super sluggish pace at times. The interface is clean and easy to use, so the only headaches will come from having to wait around as some of the levels drag on. Even then, this is easy to recommend for anyone interested in tactical strategy experiences, especially since there are some fun upgrade systems and power-up items. Tactical Soldier is only for the most recent iOS devices because it does draw quite a bit of CPU power with all of those zombies running around. Game Center integration is included for leaderboards, but there is no multiplayer yet; the developers have promised more content is coming in the future. It's available on the App Store right now for US$4.99.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Holy Moly Dragons
Holy Moly Dragons is a fun and colorful tower defense game in which you place down dragons (actually their eggs, but they quickly grow up into attacking dragons) to try to defeat waves of incoming enemies. It's a pretty standard tower defense game, but the stages are very open, so it's up to you to figure out how to guide the enemy waves around and where you want to strategically place your dragons. Additionally, you have access to various dragon types and special abilities, which can be used to take down the 15 levels and three various challenge modes. Holy Moly Dragons doesn't do a lot of new things with the tower defense genre, but it benefits from a solid presentation and an excellent and fun premise. Game Center integration rounds out the feature list. It's currently on sale for US$0.99 (there is a lite version out as well), so if you're a fan of the genre, definitely check it out.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Gears
Crescent Moon Games is the developer behind popular iOS titles like Aralon and Ravensword, and it's returned to the platform recently with a new game called Gears. This is a sphere rolling game in the vein of the old Marble Madness, though as you can see from the screenshot above, we've come a long way since that first isometric title. In Gears, you use a finger (or the tilt controls, though those don't work quite as precisely) to roll a ball around on your iPhone or iPad, guiding it through a series of obstacles of different types. As you might expect, gameplay's simple to pick up, but complexity gets added in later on with more mechanics and tougher levels. There are 27 different levels to play through, with undoubtedly more to come. While the app is a universal build, there are actually a few different graphical settings so that you can run it faster on an older device or make it look really great on a newer one. Game Center leaderboard integration is included, so Gears turns out to be a quality title wrapped in a very feature-rich package. Gears is at an introductory price of just US$0.99 as of this writing, and at that price, it's highly recommended. Crescent Moon has already shown that it can create really in-depth RPG titles, but with Gears, the company proves it can bring that polish to smaller titles, too.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Unpleasant Horse
Unpleasant Horse is the first iOS game put together by a division of the developer PopCap Games, the folks behind hits like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies. The app was originally rejected due to some violent content, but it's back on the App Store, rated appropriately and ready for a free download right now. The game was put together in a 24-hour game jam session, and as much as it pains me to say this about a game essentially put together by PopCap developers, this rushed development schedule shows in Unpleasant Horse. You play a horse jumping through the clouds with a few wrinkles in gameplay, like "pleasant horses" that you need to drag down as far as possible to earn points, or birds that give you an extra mid-air jump. It's all pretty straightforward -- you jump from cloud to cloud for as long as you can. I'd like to say the game feels like Tiny Wings, but it's not quite that elegant, despite some colorful art. There are no real extras either, with no other game modes and no Game Center integration. Still, PopCap started 4th & Battery because it wanted to experiment with some edgier ideas, and since the game is being given away as a universal version for free, I can't really complain too much. Here's hoping PopCap finds what it set out to find with 4th & Battery, and then gets back to making the well-crafted games that it's known for.
TUAW's Daily iOS App: Order and Chaos Online
All right, here we go. Gameloft's new title is called Order and Chaos Online, and in the Gameloft style, it's pretty much an iOS remake of Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Odds are that if you understand that sentence, you probably already know whether you want to go download this or not. But if not, I'll explain: Gameloft has a habit, as we've said, of making iOS titles that basically rip off larger console titles, and Blizzard's World of Warcraft is of course the extraordinarily successful massively multiplayer online RPG for PCs. So Gameloft has recreated the MMO on iOS for us, and while it supposedly works as promised (though there's a Wi-Fi restriction for playing, only four races available and not nearly as much content to start), it's obviously not quite as good as actually having WoW on iOS. In this case, a reasonable facsimile might be as good as the real thing, especially if you're a fan of the real thing. Gameloft's app is US$6.99 for a universal version, and it comes with three months of gametime for free. After that, you can subscribe for a buck a month, or go for three months for $1.99. There are also in-game purchases of gold and potions for various amounts, which is something WoW hasn't quite resorted to yet. At any rate, early reviews of Gameloft's app are good, so if you're a big WoW fan and wouldn't mind playing a copy of that game on iOS, check it out.
