Lightstorm3D’s first foray into iOS gaming hit the AppStore about 2 weeks ago. Since then, Gene Effect has received 4 reviews, all giving the game perfect scores. SlideToPlay also gave Gene Effect their ‘Must Have’ award. It also won 2nd place on Touch Arcade’s Game Of The Week vote, placing right under King Of Fighters 2012. Considering it was up against some other big name games from big name companies (Including Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7, My Little Hero, Dreamworks Dragons, Brainsss, Luxor Evolved, Tractor Trails and more), it was a pretty big deal.
Lightstorm3D was fairly active on the TA Forums, as well as with gamers through e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, all the while, gathering information on what could be fixed, what players wanted, and just general suggestions. A couple hours ago the first update for Gene Effect went live, and believe me when I say – it’s one hell of an update!
Here’s what’s new in Version 1.1.0 —
New
-iPad HD resolution is now fully supported
-Added animated plasma effect to Jukebox that reacts to the music
-Added brightness graphics option
-Landscape left/right display switching is now supported
-Size of controls can now be adjusted in control options
-Added color grading post effect
-Added screen based light radius falloff
-Anomaly now uses color grading post effect
-Menu voice can now be turned off in sound options
-New ship warp-in sound added at level start
-Collisions now cause a short, global light failure
Improvements
-Increased texture and font resolution for iPad display
-Dynamic frame rate throttling added
-Collision detection performance improvements
-Sound performance optimized
-Game HUD performance improved
-False ancient door switch order effect enhanced
-Warp gate teleportation effect enhanced
Changes
-The game no longer exits on suspend
-Removed exit button from main menu (iOS build)
-Warp gate engine’s sound volume lowered, audibel distance increased
-Post bloom settings have been adjusted to reduce artifacts
-Mission 1: More animated spiderwebs
-Time trophy limits have been increased by 2 – 6 seconds
-Increased camera distance
Fixes
-Sound effect volume setting will now be applied properly
-Lens flare post effect settings will now be recalled properly
-Fixed audio click when leaving anomaly
-Tank HUDs will now properly show an empty tank after withdrawel
-Warp gate’s sound will now properly pitch up when engine starts running
-Fixed rock vertex colors that caused black gaps
-Fixed some text passages and typos
-Menu frame rate will now properly revert to 30 FPS after leaving a mission
-Text slider will now reset when changing chronicle page
-Mission 1: Fixed spiderweb causing z sorting problem
-Mission 2: Corrected floating background plants
-Mission 9: Fixed light flicker problem at scanner
-Mission 19: Fixed invisible spore plant
Now if that doesn’t get your blood pumping, I don’t know what will. Gene Effect has already found itself in the #1 spot on my Favorite Game of 2012 list, and judging by this update, will not be knocked down any time soon. It definitely brings console gaming to the iDevice, and offers up a large 8-12 hour campaign, depending on how many of the secret items, some used to upgrade your ship, you’re determined to find. After that, there’s still 4 medals and 2 awards for each of the 21 stages to try and grab, and a Hard Difficulty Mode which is unlocked after beating the game on Normal. The graphics, physics, music… everything about the game is reminiscent of a true console experience. So if you’re a hardcore gamer looking for games that push the iDevice forward in the best way, Gene Effect is definitely a title you need to check out. This first update for Gene Effect also proves that Lightstorm3D is dedicated to making Gene Effect one of the best gameplay experiences that they can. $5 for this now Universal version of the game is a steal. If you’re even remotely interested in exploration, adventure, action, arcade, or cave/mining games, GRAB GENE EFFECT NOW! If you were waiting to see if Retina Support for the new iPad was coming, you now have nothing to keep you from taking the plunge. My hats off to Lightstorm3D!
Also, the next update for Gene Effect will include grammatical fixes for all of the text in the game, so be on the look-out for that. Once that’s fixed, Gene Effect will be one of the very few perfect games available for the iOS.
