As the weather gets chillier, you might find yourselves wanting to snuggle up at home with your iPhone and a hot beverage rather than face the elements. We don’t blame you, and luckily we have a number of addictive new games out this week to spend time with by the fire …
Dark Incursion
With remarkable agility, Big Blue Bubble has released and updated their newest title, Dark Incursion. With the initial control issues resolved, the game now stands as one of the finer hack-and-slash side-scrollers on the App Store, channeling the spirit of Castlevania with its steampunk style.
Playing as Anya, you navigate an alternate 1800s universe where a military laboratory is plotting to create and use a sinister biological weapon. Bent on stopping them, you’ll find yourself up against all manner of creative enemies. Luckily, you’re well equipped with weapons and can make use of a “fuse” system (similar to powerup schemes in Castlevania) to augment your abilities with extra speed or elemental force. Fuses are not infinite, which means you have to manage them well, adding an extra layer of strategy to the otherwise straight-forward gameplay.
Dark Incursion is both stylish and fun to play, and as more content gets added to the game, it’s sure to become a cult favourite among steampunk fans of the iOS realm.
Price: $2.99
Developer: Big Blue Bubble
Download: App Store
Whale Trail
A recent favourite on the App Store, Whale Trail follows in the footsteps of the various flying animal franchises and replaces the birds with … a whale. Somewhat less aerodynamic, one would think, but Willow — the main character — is a special whale whose rainbow tail trail keeps him aloft.
That tail power is the key to your survival, so you’ll spend most of the game zipping through the air collecting bubbles to replenish it. All the while, you’ll have to look out for ominous (ok, they’re actually adorable) thunderclouds and perform acrobatic loops to reach speed boosts and perform bubble combos.
Sometimes a game comes along that balances charm and simplicity with such effortless enthusiasm that it seems destined to succeed, and Whale Trail is among them. This is a completely recommendable game that’s perfect for casual gamers.
Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation
Right alongside its console cousins, the iOS shore series Modern Combat has recently seen the release of its latest sequel: Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation.
Gameloft’s latest iteration in the series is a strong and gorgeous FPS experience that carries many of the typical genre tropes over to the mobile world. Incredible visuals bring to life a conflicted world where you’ll fight across 13 campaign missions. Controls are familiar, but have been refined to include the ability to sprint and even slide, though you’re likely to find those abilities more useful in the extensive multiplayer segment of the game.
12 players at a time can join the multiplayer matches, and a competitive system of collecting experience points determines what equipment you have access to. This ensures plenty of replay value, and since your game data is saved in the Gameloft cloud rather than your device, you can log in from any device and pick up right where you left off. If you like shooters and demand the best even while you’re on the go, you should check out Modern Combat 3.
Robo5
Robo5 is the story of a robot seeking its purpose and identity. The simple premise is supported by visuals with a strong steampunk personality, a terrific box-based puzzle mechanic, and a number of extras to augment the core levels.
The object of the game is to reach the top of each level, and to do this you’ll need to shift and manipulate boxes to construct a path. Thankfully, the controls are extremely straight-forward and never get in the way, which means the focus is always on the actual challenge of the puzzle — and make no mistake, Robo5 is no walk in the park. Not only are there special blocks with differing abilities, some levels also have a limit on the number of moves you can make, or on the time you have to complete the puzzle.
All these elements come together into an extremely compelling whole that gives puzzle fans a lot to chew on. Good play is rewarded through special diaries that reveal more of the story, and some diaries come with hidden levels as well, meaning there’s a lot to explore. Don’t miss this one!
Galaxy Pirate Adventure
For those who are still hung up on the demise of Freelancer or any of the other classic sci-fi space sims, you’re in luck: Sunfish Studio brings you Galaxy Pirate Adventure.
If you’re on an iPhone 4S, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that the graphics are incredible. The high-resolution textures and shading effects are among the best you’ll see on the App Store, and the eye candy helps cement a sense of immersion in the game’s sprawling world of 10 star systems. You play as the son of a pirate king, and while that may sound like an intriguing setup, the story struggles to be interesting and is often impeded by awkward English.
That being said, Galaxy Pirate Adventure is still a very fun game with a huge amount of content to explore and a thorough system of tweaking and upgrading ships as you build your fleet. It’s no EVE Online, but it’s about as close as you can get on your iPhone.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Sunfish Studio Limited
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
We always love hearing from you, so jump into the comments if you have something to say about our game selection for this week, or if you have another title to suggest for us. See you next time!