Good news, gamers! If you’ve run out of things to play on your iPhones, you’ll find five excellent titles to liven up your fun folder.
Everything from classic tower defense, an industry-leading shoot-em-up, innovative runners and stunning pocket aviation await you after the jump …
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Hordes of Nords
Let’s get started with a freebie, shall we? Hordes of Nords is a multiplayer tower offense game where you take on the nasty Dankvart on a viking hunt for gold.
Gameplay is very much the familiar TD fare, but since the tables are turned and you’re attacking, the action can get quite interesting. Many different power-ups will unlock (for money, or skill & patience) that can help you gain the upper hand, and the touch-and-drag controls make battlefield management feel simple enough to keep the focus on the goal.
The game’s best feature is its multiplayer, allowing you to duke it out against your Game Center friends or trust the servers to set you up with a random player. There are a whopping 50 maps for multiplayer, so you’ll have plenty of challenging arenas to test your mettle in. With strong presentation values and core gameplay that’s tight and responsive, there’s much to love about Hordes of Nords, especially if you’re a social gamer.
Price: Free
Developer: Gaia Interactive, Inc.
Download: App Store
Bounty Arms
Bounty hunting can be a messy profession, especially when you’re part of an intergalactic team called the HOGS, traversing the universe in search of targets for your fly swatter.
Besides ludicrous weaponry, Bounty Arms delights with its ludicrous visuals — impressive enough to be considered a showcase alongside Infinity Blade for the power of the Unreal Engine on mobile devices. Though it is a side-scroller, Bounty Arms is rendered in full 3D and is oozing depth and layers in its level design. The missions are open ended and fun, allowing you plenty of opportunities to test out weapon combinations alongside your pets. There are pets, you see.
Needless to say, the game is also packed full of secrets to be uncovered, and while it’s not a one-dollar grab, the utter lack of IAP means you’re paying for the full experience up front and can look forward to humour, challenge and charm to go along with the sublime presentation. Bounty Arms is a must-play.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Kerosene Games
Download: App Store
Sine Mora
Among the most highly rated multi-platform games out there, Sine Mora made quite a splash on XBLA before finding its way to PC/PS3. The game is a shoot-em-up that plays horizontally, but there’s more to it than that.
For me at least, it’s the environments that make the game. Each of the seven stages is lengthy enough to feel like a journey, and each is rendered in loving detail that you’ll barely have time to absorb as steampunk structures whiz by. Statues and machines juxtaposed against canyons and pinnacles of natural beauty make for an extraordinarily beautiful backdrop for the game’s frantic combat.
As is the norm for the genre, Sine Mora is fast-paced, ruthless and utterly engrossing. The game’s Story mode caters more to beginners and uses its story to gracefully introduce the genre and its conventions. Then the Arcade mode remains open for those itching for an old-school challenge. Whatever part you play, Sine Mora is a spectacular piece of gamed design that we’re lucky to have on iOS.
Price: $5.99
Developer: Digital Reality Software Kft
Download: App Store
Sky Gamblers: Cold War
I hope you’re not tired of flight, because we have more time to spend in the air — this time with Atypical Games’ Sky Gamblers series, which has just seen a new entry: Cold War.
As the title suggests, this installment puts you in the heart of the jet fighter era and challenges you both with a campaign and with a variety of extra single-player modes. Needless to say, there’s also a robust array of online multiplayer options. The game itself remains true to the series’ roots, delivering smooth and impressive aerial combat with graceful touch controls and some surprisingly sophisticated visuals.
Without a doubt, this game is impressive to see on an iPhone, but where it really shines is making use of its AirPlay compatibility to beam things over to a nice HD TV, where you can battle it out cinema style. However you play, Sky Gamblers: Cold War has something to offer you, and fans of flight games won’t want to miss out.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Atypical Games
Download: App Store
Flyro
Still flying, we take a look at Flyro, from the amusingly named Brute Farce development team.
Flyro is a game about a bird saving his frozen town from a nefarious mouse. Luckily for Flyro, he discovers some superpowers … she can harness the power of fire to blaze through obstacles and burn away baddies with balls of flame. The mechanics are simple and aided by an intuitive touch-based control scheme. A standout element is the “Moustermind Tech” artificial intelligence engine that dynamically scales the game’s difficulty based on how well you’re doing, so that it’s always challenging but never frustrating.
With achievements, no IAP, and a terrific dynamic musical score by Portal 2 composer Mark Morasky, there’s a lot to love about Flyro.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Brute Farce
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
Next week, we’ll bring you a brand new set of great games to occupy your time as the summer wears on!
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