Category Archives: Upcoming Games

‘Race After 1977′ – An Upcoming Post-Apocalyptic Racer

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‘Race After 1977′ – An Upcoming Post-Apocalyptic Racer is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Xpect Games is nearing the release of their upcoming post-apocalyptic racer, Race After 1977 which has been in development since January of 2009. The game takes place after a massive nuclear war of sorts, leaving the world ravaged and the survivors just racing their pieced together racecars around Mad Max style. Xpect has built a completely customized 3D engine for the game with physics tweaked for realistic driving across all different types of terrain, jumps, ramps, and other obstacles as you fight your way to the finish line. (Or, as realistic as any post-apocalyptic racer can get I suppose.)

The developers have released two videos of the game, the first of which is a teaser trailer seen below:

The second video is a hands-on gameplay trailer which shows several different cars being driven around a few different tracks. The game is being played on an iPhone 3GS in this video, so presumably the framerate should be even smoother on the iPhone 4 and new iPod touch:

Race After 1977 is being released this fall, and as someone who loved Mad Max, the Fallout series, and really anything to do with crazy post-apocalyptic stuff, I can't wait.


Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic

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Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

A few weeks ago we showed a new trailer for an upcoming gravity-based puzzle platforming game called GravBot from Team Phobic. They have since sent us a near-final build of the game, and after completing nearly all of it, I'm thoroughly impressed with just about everything that GravBot has to offer. Team Phobic has already proven that they know how to bring cute, colorful graphics and excellent level designs with Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2 [$3.99/Lite], and those skills have translated well into the creation of GravBot. The levels start out simple enough and ease you into the different elements in the game, but as you progress GravBot will really test your puzzle solving skills and force you to look at each level from every angle.

In GravBot, you'll play as a tiny robot who must collect all of the batteries on each perilous level. In order to accomplish this, you can spin the entire level either 90 degrees left or right or entirely upside down to change the direction of gravity. Your robot can travel left and right on its single tire, and will fall towards whichever way happens to be down at the time. Levels are filled with hazards like spikes, enemies, and lasers which will kill instantly if not avoided. The batteries can be tricky to get to, and a color-coded system of trapdoors, elevators, and various other obstacles will need to be triggered by switching a lever or pushing blocks onto buttons – all in the name of snagging every last battery on a given level.

While just completing each level is sufficiently challenging and fun, the real hook to GravBot is trying to obtain gold medals for each one. The game keeps track of how many times you switched gravity to complete a level, with bronze/silver/gold medals awarded for using it efficiently. What is really satisfying is when you figure out a way to win gold using fewer gravity switches than is required. Due to the physics engine in the game, you can sometimes make it to a hard to reach area without changing the gravity and instead gliding through the air or just barely catching the edge of a platform and hanging on. These types of moves can be risky however, and if you don't pull one off just right you can easily fall to your death. If you do happen to beat a level using a ridiculously low number of gravity switches, you will be immortalized in leaderboard form thanks to the Plus+ network, and there are a number of achievements to obtain as well.

GravBot looks and sounds absolutely great, with Retina Display enhanced graphics and catchy music and sound effects. I especially love the little blips and bloops that your robot will spout out during the game, and he has a ton of personality for essentially being a TV set with a wheel. GravBot has already been submitted and Team Phobic is shooting for a September 30th release. The game will be free to download and comes with 12 levels, with two additional 20 level packs available as in-app purchase for 99¢ apiece. The 12 free levels aren't terribly difficult and serve mostly to get you familiar with the game, but the additional level packs contain some seriously challenging stuff that should keep you busy for quite a while. Make sure to head over to the upcoming thread in our forums to check out more about GravBot, and we'll take another look at the game when it hits the App Store later this month.


‘Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions’ – Not Being Released On September 15th After All

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‘Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions’ – Not Being Released On September 15th After All is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

The Final Fantasy Tactics series is on its way to the iPhone, but not as soon as we had hoped. Recently some rumors had been spreading around that Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions would be released on the 15th of this month, which unfortunately has been debunked officially courtesy of the Square Enix Facebook page.

The release date is still to be determined per Square Enix, but as a bit of a consolation prize they did release the above screenshot of the currently in development iPhone game. Being huge Tactics fans, we're more than a little disappointed that we won't be playing the game as soon as we had hoped, but we're definitely going to keep an eye out for more news on the game's development.


Hands-On with Upcoming ‘Sonic 4: Episode 1′ – This is What We’ve All Been Waiting For

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Hands-On with Upcoming ‘Sonic 4: Episode 1′ – This is What We’ve All Been Waiting For is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Yesterday during Sega's iPhone Games Day, easily the most impressive and fun game that I had a chance to play was Sonic 4. It finally feels like the Sonic game that we've all been wanting for the past 15 years, with no gimmicks, unnecessary characters or outlandish stories. Just pure 2D side-scrolling Sonic goodness, with heaps of Blast Processing. We previewed Sonic 4 during E3 in June, where we had a chance to play an early version of the game. Yesterday at Sega I was shown a nearly complete build of the game that included the previously unannounced Labyrinth Zone, two exclusive iPhone levels, and the special Chaos Emerald bonus stages.

The best thing about Sonic 4 is that it's incredibly simple to play, to the point of almost rendering the virtual controls a non-issue. I say almost because it still can be tricky playing a platformer without tactile feedback, but with only an analog stick and one button to worry about it certainly simplifies matters. Sonic 4 plays similarly to the original trilogy where you can run down hills and roll through loops or perform a spin dash by crouching and mashing the button to build up speed, but one significant new maneuver has been added to Sonic's repertoire. After performing a jump, you can hit jump in mid-air and execute a homing attack that will send Sonic spinning into nearby enemies or interactive objects which get target locked automatically. This adds an interesting dynamic to the game and makes it far more playable on the touch screen, as you don't have to be quite as precise when trying to defeat enemies.

Previously, Sega has shown off the first area of Sonic 4 called Splash Hill Zone. This zone is reminiscent of the beginning stage in earlier Sonic the Hedgehog games, with bright blue skies, green grass, and plenty of loops and hills. Yesterday they revealed Labyrinth Zone, which is also akin to levels from the old Sonic games. It's an underground cavern area with moving platforms, boulders falling from the roof, and underwater portions. This is also where one of the iPhone exclusive levels is based, called Lost Labyrinth Zone. This level has Sonic riding in a mine cart that is controlled by tilting the device while negotiating maze-like caverns. Sonic 4 deviates from the linear level progression of the originals, and once you've completed the initial Splash Hill Zone all three areas in each of the four zones are made available to play in any order. The catch is that you will not be able to play the fourth boss area for each zone until you've completed the previous three.

Another returning feature from the classic Sonic games is the addition of bonus levels. If you complete an area with at least 50 rings in your possession, you'll have a chance to jump into a gigantic spinning ring at the end which will take you to a special stage and give you an opportunity to earn a Chaos Emerald. These stages are re-imagined versions of the ones from Sonic 1, and if you remember those stages you'll understand just how well suited they are for tilt control. Whereas you controlled Sonic himself as the stage spun around you in the originals, in this iPhone version you'll actually be controlling the stage by tilting and twisting the device while trying to get a stationary Sonic to the Chaos Emerald in the middle. Collecting a total of 7 Chaos Emeralds and completing the game will yield an alternate cliffhanger ending that will hint at things to come in Sonic 4: Episode 2.

Yes, Sonic 4 will be an episodic release. Sega couldn't comment on how many episodes will make up the entire experience, but have assured me that there is a definitive end to Sonic 4 and they won't just be releasing a new episode whenever they feel like adding a new set of levels. Sonic 4 is also looking quite stunning visually, and will be nearly identical to the console versions save for the 2 exclusive iPhone levels and tilt controls. Remarkably, the game runs at an incredibly smooth rate, and I didn't experience even one hiccup during my time with the game. Also of interesting note is that Sonic 4, the long awaited spiritual sequel to the classic original trilogy that fans have been clamoring for for years, will not be appearing on either the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP. While this may have Marcus in a huff, it shows just how committed Sega is to this platform and its fans.

This hands-on video from our E3 preview in June demonstrates Sonic 4 in action:

I can hardly describe just how much I enjoyed Sonic 4, and I cannot wait for the final version to be released. Sega won't pin down anything more exact than “sometime this Fall” but the game was looking mostly complete and hopefully it won't be too much longer before we can all finally play Sonic 4: Episode 1.


CAVE Announces ‘Mushihimesama Bug Panic’ for iPhone

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CAVE Announces ‘Mushihimesama Bug Panic’ for iPhone is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Japanese gaming company CAVE seems to be on a roll with the App Store. After the release of excellentEspgaluda II and Dodonpachi Resurrection games, CAVE has announced their first original title for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Mushihimesama Bug Panic is an original title featuring Bug Princess Reco, star of the Arcade and Xbox 360 game “Mushihimesama Futari”. They aren't offering many details on the new game but provided this trailer:

The game is categorized as "Bug Busting Action". Of note, CAVE seems to have drawn a line in the sand and will continue to only support high-end devices. This new game will be compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, 3rd Gen iPod Touch and iPad only. The game will be released in the Fall of 2010.


Screenshots of Upcoming ‘The Sims 3: Ambitions’ and ‘EA Sports MMA’

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Screenshots of Upcoming ‘The Sims 3: Ambitions’ and ‘EA Sports MMA’ is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Earlier today EA Mobile posted some screenshots from two of their previously announced upcoming iOS games on their Facebook page. Based on the little bit that is shown, it seems that fans of the previous iPhone versions of The Sims games will be getting a new iteration of that series called The Sims 3: Ambitions. For the more violence-prone audience, EA Sports MMA will bring the competitive sport of mixed martial arts to the touch screen. Click on any of the images below to get a larger view.

The Sims 3: Ambitions – This newest Sims game looks to include all of the same customization and social interaction that you've come to know from the series, but with an added focus on fulfilling your particular character's passions and turning them into paying professions. In the PC version of Ambitions, you could become a firefighter and would have to put out hazardous fires and rescue other Sims from burning buildings, along with the more mundane tasks like properly maintaining your equipment. There were also more creative jobs like a tattoo artist or stylist that let you actually change the look of your fellow Sims. Other cool additions will be the ability to raise children and build and customize your own living spaces.

It remains to be seen what exactly will be in the iPhone edition of The Sims 3: Ambitions, but based on these screens chances are it will be similar to its PC counterpart. An exact release date hasn't been given aside from Summer 2010, and with Summer just about to be over we might very well be seeing the game released in the coming weeks. Until then you can join in the discussion going in our upcoming games forum for The Sims 3: Ambitions.

EA Sports MMA – While this title was announced way back at E3 in June, there still isn't a whole lot of information about it. What we do know is that EA Sports MMA will be a mixed martial arts fighting game similar to the popular UFC, but without actually being affiliated or licensed by the UFC.  Still, if you follow the sport of MMA you should recognize some of the fighters in EA Sports MMA like Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko who are shown in the screenshots below. It also appears that you will be able to customize and train your fighter.

Again, a firm release date hasn't been set for EA Sports MMA, but we would venture to guess that it can't be too far off since screens are being posted on Facebook. What we're really interested to see is how the game will actually control with the touch screen, and how much depth there will be in regards to different moves and holds. We'll let you know if we hear anything more about EA Sports MMA, and in the meantime head on over to the upcoming game thread to talk about the game in our forums.