Seems like a lot of FANTASTIC games have been going free lately , and here are 4 more that you can add to your device at no charge to you. If you don’t have these already, they’re great games to check out, especially Project 83113, which is sitting comfortably at #2 on my favorite games of 2012 list right now. If you’re a platformer fan, Blobster is a nice one to check out, and Avenger is heavily influenced by Castlevania. Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels is a great dual stick shooter that feels like a cheat version if you’re familiar and use to playing the freemium version of Monster Shooter. So go ahead, spend some of your bandwidth, because these games are all worthy of snagging. =o)
Recently, a whole bunch of fantastic games have gone free. If you don’t yet have any of these, now would be the best time to snag em up! So pull our your iDevice, and get ready to download. =oD
I’ve been following Dotomchi’s ‘Fortune’ series since Sorcerer Of Fortune and Rebirth Of Fortune came out in late 2010. Not only are the games very well made, but developer Seok Kyu Chang has been extremely responsive and supportive when it comes to players issues, suggestions, and just all around feedback. Needless to say, this has made the ‘Fortune’ series even better.
If you’ve yet to purchase these great strategy games, now would be the best time to pick them up. Each Fortune game has gone free for a limited time. That’s right, Rebirth of Fortune, Sorcerer of Fortune and Defense of Fortune (including the HD [iPad] version) are all free. Want some even better news? Each of these games have great tutorials and are easy to learn, even if you’re new to the genres. Turn-Based Strategy, set up like Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Real Time Base Defense and Turn-Based Extermination set up like a board game. All 3 of these titles have great RPG elements, and once you get into them, each have quite a bit of depth, giving veterans and newcomers alike hours upon hours of fantastic gameplay.
My personal top contender for iOS Game Of The Year (so far) is definitely, without a doubt, Lightstorm3D’s cave exploration adventure title, Gene Effect. Since it’s release, it’s undergone quite the change; being released as an iPhone only game, lots of gamers were upset with the $5 price tag being that the game was from a basically unheard of company, and wasn’t Universal. About a week and a half ago, this all changed. Lightstorm3D added Universal support, along with Retina Display support for the new iPad, and loads of improvements, changes, additions and optimizations.
Unfortunately, Gene Effect’s sales haven’t been so great, and it’s always terrible seeing a developer you completely and totally respect, and a game you’ve come to absolutely LOVE not get the attention and sales that they/it deserve. Hopefully this price drop from $4.99 down to $2.99 will help stir up the gaming community, and get more gamers to check this mind-blowing game out.
If you’ve yet to hear about Gene Effect, or how amazingly fantastic it is, be sure to check out our review, as well as other reviews from around the net (getting a 5 out of 5 from iPhoneGamerUK, a 4 out of 4 at SlideToPlay [including their Must Have award], and others). It’s definitely a title you don’t want to miss out on, and encompasses everything iOS gamers have been begging for since the Free To Play model got so popular. No IAPs instead of a low price and the game pushing you towards additional purchases after your original purchase, a fantastically supportive and responsive indie development team, amazing graphics, an awesome story, and basically, a console game for the iOS, at an incredibly reasonable price, even by the AppStore’s standards. So be sure and check it out while it’s on sale, and tell everyone you know about this hidden gem of a game.
Robot Riot, a 2D side-scrolling sci-fi platformer from Glowing Eye Games and Retromite that was released in September of 2011, has just received a much needed update. With Version 1.2 the game has received Retina support for the new iPad, new levels, new power-ups, new bosses, enhanced visuals, upgraded sound quality, bluetooth arcade support, as well as GameCenter support. Although there’s only one leaderboard, and no achievements, hopefully the GameCenter support will be expanded in the near future. But with the inclusion of retina support, and the new content, Robot Riot has come back into play as one of the better platformers available for the iOS.
If you haven’t heard of Robot Riot yet, it revolves around a repoing robot who’s out to take back ships letting the captains know that IT AIN’T NO JOKE IF YOU DON’T PAY THAT NOTE! (BLAAAA haha… sorry) Anyway, the captains aren’t too happy about this, as you can imagine, and you’ll have to fight your way through various enemies and go through loads of backtracking, unlocking of doors, and avoiding loads of hazards throughout each of the ships sections. At the end of each ship, you’ll face off against the captain in an epic boss battle before moving on to the next one.
Originally, Robot Riot only had 4 ships, and about 10 levels, and with the game being as good as it was, players were begging for more. Even though the developers listened, the game now only has 5 ships and about 15 levels, but this is a giant step in the right direction. Hopefully Robot Riot will gain more attention, and that will push the developers to continue adding content, making it a fully rounded out game. For $0.99, it’s definitely worth checking out, especially considering the gameplay, graphics, level design, controls and physics are all top-notch. If you’re still on the fence, you can head on over to Kongregate and play the game in their Web-Based Unity Player. If you’re a fan of platformers, this is definitely a game that will make a great addition to that ‘Platformer’ folder on your iDevice. So be sure and check it out!
Squids, the action RPG from The Game Bakers, is getting a sequel; Squids: Wild West – to be released this summer for iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Players of the original Squids received an update yesterday that included 3 of the sequel’s missions (along with a new helmet, new enemy and new achievement; Ninja Bluff). If you’ve yet to hear of this fantastic Action RPG, head on over to OUR SQUIDS REVIEW and find out why this amazing game got a score of 10 out of 10.
From the press release:
“SQUIDS follows a band of unlikely heroes who must protect their idyllic underwater kingdom from the destructive black ooze settling over the seas. Set in the western kingdom of Seawood, SQUIDS Wild West takes the group into deeper, more dangerous waters as they regroup against oily crustacean enemies and search for a fallen comrade. They’ll help the feisty Calamary Jane save a besieged frontier town, explore native Squid lands and a volatile mine, and start to understand the evil they’re up against — but not without paying a terrible personal price.
SQUIDS Wild West will be a Universal App with more of the gorgeous cartoon art, jaunty music, and humorous storytelling that made SQUIDS a fan favorite. Like the original, SQUIDS Wild West combines tactical RPG-inspired gameplay with the convenient interface of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Although turn-based battles are easily fought using an Angry Birds-style “flinging” mechanic, SQUIDS Wild West provides a much deeper challenge than the average mobile game. Strategy and skill are required as players use environmental elements, the Squids’ strengths, and enemies’ weaknesses to succeed. With devious new enemies, four new playable characters, and nearly twice as many levels as the original SQUIDS, the upcoming sequel also has many fun gameplay surprises — including seahorses that you can corral and ride into battle!”
If you’ve been on the fence, Squids has dropped in price from $2.99 down to $1.99 to celebrate the new update. It’s hit the #1 spot on the RPG charts in 65 different countries, and has been downloaded over 1 million times, retaining a 5 star rating within the AppStore after thousands of iTunes reviews. Needless to say, it’s not too often an iOS game has a 5 star iTunes rating after thousands of reviews, or hits the 1 million download mark. If you’re a fan of adventure, RPG, action, or even physics games, chances are you’ll love Squids. Be sure and check it out. And we’ll have more info as the news becomes available to us about the sequel, as well as a review after it’s released.
One of our favorite Turn-Based RPG developers, Kemco, is having another sale on one of their fantasticly crafted titles. This time around, it’s the cyberpunk-fantasy Eve of the Genesis. The story takes place in the Empire of Gadalia. It’s kind of a matrix type story, with humans battling machines that ruled the empire, but were defeated 2,000 years ago. Now they’re back, and somehow able to travel through space, seemingly appearing anywhere they want to attack. Your characters are on a quest to try and find out how the machines are able to just appear anywhere they want, and eventually find a way to stop them from taking over the empire yet again.
If you’re a fan of Kemco’s titles, then you already know the quality of their games is fairly high. Eve of the Genesis is one of very few games here on The App Shack to earn a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. If you’ve never heard of Kemco, well… they’re comparable to the Square (Enix) of old, with their titles bringing back memories of playing Final Fantasy titles 3 through 7. The writing is fantastic, and the translations are just shy of perfect. There’s usually some pretty interesting equip or leveling up mechanics, and exploration for special items is something can be found in all of their titles.
So if you haven’t picked up any of Kemco’s titles yet, or have yet to pick up Eve of the Genesis because you’ve been busy playing one of their other great RPGs, now would be a great time to, with the price dropping from $8.99 down to $0.99. It’s definitely a Turn Based RPG that will have you hooked until you complete it, and have you ready to jump into another fantastic Kemco title.
In a few days, a collection of developers who sell their games directly through the AppStore will be lowering the prices of their games. It’s to celebrate the fact that these developers have complete creative control over their games, and their pricing, as well as being able to have 100% (minus what Apple takes) of the money you pay for their games to go straight to supporting the developer.
So, from May 24th to June 1st, a great list of games will be dropping their prices significantly. Games like World Of Goo, Eliss, Bean’s Quest, Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery, Osmos, Waking Mars, Spirits, EDGE, Eufloria, and many, many more.
If you would like more information on this celebration, you can get it from the Because We May Website – Games for the Mac, Android, and on Steam are also going to be dropping in price, making this a HUGE all around video game sale. Make sure you don’t miss out on this week long event!
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
-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.
FDG’s awesome sniper game, Clear Vision, tells the story of Tyler. An ordinary guy, down on his luck who decides to take up mercenary work to pay the bills, and gets a little too carried away. The game recently surpassed 1 million paid downloads, which is a huge milestone for any iOS game, and accompanying that great milestone are thousands and thousands of iTunes reviews, giving Clear Vision an average of 5 stars. Needless to say, the game is fantastic. If you don’t have it yet, you should grab it. It’s easily the most entertaining sniper game I’ve had the pleasure of playing on my PC (via the Clear Vision flash games) and iDevices. You’re able to purchase better sniper riffles, and adjust your shots depending on distance and wind speed, which is something very few sniper games take into account.
Now Tyler’s story will be continued in Version 1.1 of this awesome game, due to be released early next month (June). Since it’s an update, it will be free for everyone who’s already purchased the game. If you haven’t snagged this fantastic gem yet, and have even the slightest bit of interest in action or arcade games, you should definitely grab it and get in on the story. It’s only $0.99, and is Universal, making it a great buy… and if you’re familiar with FDG’s other releases, you’ll know the level of quality that the game will have. Check it out!
