A couple weeks ago we first caught wind of Archetype, an online first person shooter by iPhone developer MunkyFun which is comprised of veterans of LucasArts and the creators of both Shift [99¢] and Ivory Tiles [99¢] for the iPhone. Much like ngmoco’s Eliminate [Free], Archetype is said to work over WiFi, 3G, and also EDGE connections. Players will rank up as they play, earning experience and winning medals along the way.

The main differentiator between Archetype and other similar online shooters is that Archetype will be playable with up to ten players at once, in teams of five, with an assortment of six different weapons to choose from. We’re anxious to see how the game works, and likely won’t have to wait too long as per the Archetype web site the game is launching in “early July” for $2.99.

For more information on the game, including a few hands-on impressions from a few people who managed to snag the game early, check out the thread in our forums. I’m not entirely sure how MunkyFun is going to be able to provide a solid 5v5 first person shooter experience that will even play well over EDGE, but needless to say we’re going to be keeping a very close eye on this game to give it a try once its released.

The post Preview: Archetype with Video appeared first on AppTrawler.

EA has yet to announce a release date or pricing, but judging by how they’ve handled other pre-release games in the past on their Facebook, R-Type will likely appear on the App Store very soon. They’re claiming the game will be 100% true to the original, which seems like a lofty promise to make, but I’m keeping everything I have crossed that they manage to deliver. Tilt, touch, and virtual d-pad controls are included with multiple difficulty levels which will hopefully bring the difficulty of the game down to something a normal human can complete in their lifetime.

The post Preview: R-Type Screenshots Released appeared first on AppTrawler.

Developer notes:

Quizicards is an iphone application which turns the room into a quiz show. The application has two sides, the quizmaster and the contestant; the quizmaster can ask various questions to the audience turning any dinner party, gathering or bored moment into a fun packed quiz.  The app has loads of questions split into ‘general knowledge’ ‘categories’ and specialist subjects’ which means the game type can vary.  They can either choose ‘individuals’ or ‘multiple’ contestants which also changes the game type.

How it works
On load, the user will choose the game type and the amount of players and then the quizmaster will will show the user a pack of quiz cards with the questions and answers on. There will also be a timer for each question.  quizmaster will change cards by running their left or right thumb over the side of the screen (as if putting a card to the back of the pack). When a round is over the app tots up the players score and adds it to a table.  This repeats for the various contestants until the 1, 3, 5 rounds have been exhausted.

The contestant
If there are multiple iphone users playing the game they can also press the ‘contestant’ option which allows the users to choose a sound effect from various choices which will be assigned to their ‘answer button’.  The user can tap the screen to answer a question.

Create your own quizzes
Users can create their own quizzes, upload them to the site and download other peoples quizzes.

EARN $0.50 for each quiz uploaded (Terms & Conditions Apply)

Could this app make all the other quiz apps redundant? AppTrawler received a development build and the app looks easy to use and has a stack of options which might take time to get used to but it nice to be able to create a quiz to your own specifications.  If the quiz community get behind the app then we foresee this having a permanent position on our iphones.

The app has now been submitted to the App Store for review so we should have another update for you when its out.

In the meantime, check out this video:

The post Exclusive Preview: Quizicards – The Only Quiz App You’ll ever need appeared first on AppTrawler.

Deliverace is a top down racing game that seems to be what you would get if you were looking to cross the classic arcade game Super Off Road and the late 70’s/early 80’s TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard”. Racing through the various included tracks (with some unlockable by beating earlier tracks) amounts to keeping your finger firmly mashed on the gas, and drifting through each corner while hitting as many jumps as possible.
Almost every conceivable control option is included, from a set of right/left buttons seen in the video below, as well tilt controls, and two different kinds of virtual steering wheels. Six different cars are in-game as well that all handle differently, ranging from a pick up truck to a hummer and even a semi truck.

In the preview build I’ve been playing, there are three different game types: Standard races against AI opponents, a time trial, and delivery mode where you need to ferry cargo around a map as quickly as possible. Also, the game features a multiplayer mode, and although it is grayed out in this version, there is an menu option for internet multiplayer.

The craziest thing about Deliverace is this preview build is chock full of warnings about how it’s an early version with bugs and placeholder art, but even in its current state, it’s one of the coolest looking top down racing games I’ve ever played. Deliverace is still in development, and I’m really looking forward to playing a finalized version of the game.

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Though we haven’t had any play time with TotemHeadz as yet, from what we’ve seen TotemHeadz deviates from the traditional Worms model by scrapping the turn-based gameplay and opting for a real-time, action-packed combat system. How this manic gameplay will handle in practise remains to be seen, but we have high hopes for what is evidently an explosive portrayal of Totemic warfare.

Even from early screenshots and the trailer currently available, it is clear that TotemHeadz is shaping to be a visual treat; with rich, thematic, animated backdrops and detailed character and weapon artwork immediately standing out. TotemHeadz’s impressive production values bode well for the game’s other elements too, of which the full feature list which includes 10 levels, multiple weapons, and later plans for a level editor and multiplayer.

An early trailer for the game has also been released and can be viewed below.

A price point of $2.99 or $3.99 is still being considered for TotemHeadz, which should be ready for submission within the next month or so.

The post Preview: TotemHeadz – Tribal Warfare appeared first on AppTrawler.

Here are some screenshots from the latest build of the game:

They also released a gameplay video. While it isn’t the greatest quality, it at least gives you an idea of what the game is going to look like in motion:

For comparison, here is a video of the original running inside of the Daphne emulator. This latest version of the game for the iPhone will have the following improvements over the game from 1984:

• Full motion widescreen video, fully restored and presented in H.264 running at 60 frames per second.
• Vastly superior graphics and effects to match the on-screen action. Including an all new Cockpit, guns, missiles, and sound effects.
• Redesigned precision multi-touch controls.
• Accelerometer-based tilt steering! You really are in command of the worlds most awesome combat machine.
• Instantaneous seek time, providing a seamless experience where on on-screen action unfolds uninterrupted in real time.
• Unlockable Bonuses. Including Arcade Classic, and Expert Modes.

If Cobra Command is submitted this week like they’re planning, it should be available on the App Store sometime in mid-November.

The post Preview: Cobra Command appeared first on AppTrawler.

One of the things we’ve discussed at length during our podcasts is how much we enjoy games that foster the feeling of if you could only have managed to not make that last mistake you could have gone even farther, almost forcing you to play again to see if you could beat your previous attempt. Games like Flight Control and its associated spinoffs, Doodle Jump, and the recently discovered Boost 3D all provide this experience, and so far Wheeler’s Treasure is giving me a similar vibe.

The goal of the game is to see how many yarrds (get it?) you can accompany a wheel through a sidescrolling environment filled with all kinds of obstacles. Your character is moved using simple swiping gestures, and buttons in the bottom corner of the screen control the use of your items– Another clever feature of Wheeler’s Treasure.

The game includes achievements, such as picking up a certain number of jewels or stomping on a certain number of bats in one run. Each achievement unlocks a map that gives you a hint for where you can find items that your character can equip. During the tutorial you’re awarded boots that allow you to double jump, and a hook that you can use to grab on to the wheel for a brief period of time. Meeting the goal of the jewels achievement tips you off to where you can find the loot magnet, making picking up coins easier.

The entire game is wrapped in a whimsical hand drawn art style with music that matches perfectly with the look and feel of the game. Wheeler’s Treasure features complete OpenFeint integration, so when your game is finally over either from your death or your wheel’s destruction you can submit your score to the online leaderboards before starting again. These scores appear in-game as tombstones, providing an excellent indication of how you’re stacking up next to your friends’ performance.

The game world is procedurally generated, so no two games will ever be the same, and obviously the farther you go the harder the game becomes. As you progress in game, you also will unlock additional 3D scenes to reveal the story behind Wheeler’s Treasure.

Two Lives Left recently released this gameplay trailer, along with a few other gameplay videos and control demonstrations in their thread for the game:

Wheeler’s Treasure has already been submitted to Apple for approval and is expected to appear on the App Store sometime soon.

The post Preview: Wheeler’s Treasure appeared first on AppTrawler.

The iPhone version is based on the series of Big Buck Hunter arcade machines which originally debuted all the way back in 2001. Since then, there have been several spin-off machines that have you hunting things like big horn sheep, elk, and even antelope. The arcade game is played using a shotgun aimed at the screen to shoot whatever it is you’re hunting and often can be found at bars right next to the Golden Tee machine.

The iPhone, obviously lacking any light gun accessories uses your fingers to do the shooting. This mobile version of the game plays remarkably similar to the arcade machine, although quite a bit of the allure of Big Buck Hunter has always been playing it while you’re out drinking with friends and there isn’t much the iPhone can do the emulate that.

In the following video I go over all the functionality of the game including shooting deer, the bonus stages, online leaderboards, and even the ability to use your GPS coordinates to find the nearest arcade machine:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Big Buck Hunter has an absolutely massive following, and it’s great to see an iPhone port of the game that is actually fairly representative of the original instead of a quick cash-in on the series. Big Buck Hunter Pro is expected to be available soon, and while no price has been announced yet, I’m sure the iPhone game will be much cheaper than a single night of pumping quarters in to a real Big Buck Hunter machine.

The post Preview Big Buck Hunter Pro appeared first on AppTrawler.

As the title may imply, in Five Minutes to Kill Yourself, you’ve found yourself fed up with working in your monotonous office environment and have decided to off yourself. Utilizing various objects found around your office, you only have five minutes to do enough damage to put yourself out of your misery.

It isn’t that simple though, as your bothersome coworkers often initiate unskippable conversations with you. Much like working in a real office, these conversations accomplish nothing other than wasting your time. In some instances, through dialog choices you might get a coworker to attack you, but most of the time they just pester you about lunch.

You can staple your forehead, drink toilet water, pee on computers, and countless other things. The amount of objects that you can interact with and the objects that can be combined with others for even more lethal damage is pretty amazing. The following video shows the game’s tutorial, selecting clothing, and finally, killing yourself:

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself is also available as a free flash game on crazy games. It plays exactly the same as the iPhone version, the only difference is instead of using your mouse you use your finger.

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself should be available on the App Store very soon.

Update: Wow, we weren’t kidding about it being available soon. It was just released moments ago.

App Store Link: 5 Minutes to Kill Yourself, .99

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Namco has unveiled new details about their upcoming action adventure game Garters & Ghouls.

Unearth the strange and undying world of Garters & Ghouls! Control and command the newly-dead Marie Dupois as she battles the minions of The Thrum and horrors beyond description! With over 25 levels, randomized level generation and downloadable content, the action never dies!

Based on the screenshots released, the game appears to be a dual-stick survival shooter the likes of which we’ve seen before, but wrapped in a pretty extensive story and with a progressive level design. There also appears to be a wide variety of locations presented in the game.

This teaser video just shows some of the artwork, but no actual gameplay:
Namco is slowly releasing the background story to the game as well as character art.

The following screenshots show more details of the actual gameplay:

The post Preview: Garters & Ghouls appeared first on AppTrawler.

So, Ghosts ‘n Goblins it is.

Exactly which historic name Capcom would finally adopt for the iPhone version of their upcoming sidescroller has finally been revealed. IGN has scored some of the first screenshots for the iPhone version of Ghosts ‘n Goblins.

We had first heard of the port back in September at the Tokyo Game Show 2009. Capcom a then unnamed game that used 3D models in a 2D side scrolling game. In that respect, it shares many characteristics with the PSP’s Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins which was also rendered in 3D.

The iPhone version of the game appears to use a 4-direction virtual pad along with 2 on screen buttons.

No other details were revealed about the game, though we hope to see it soon. Gallery of images from IGN.

Update: More info about the game which is officially called Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Gold Knights:

Return to the Ghoul Realm as the legendary Arthur or impetuous Lancelot in Ghosts‘N Goblins: Gold Knights for the iPhone and iPod touch. Explore six stages of peril as you attempt to recover the missing maidens and learn the secret of the demons’ return.

Battle with sword, lance, arrow and axe against swarms of demons, monsters and undead minions in one of the most exciting platformers on iPhone.

Key features

– Brilliant 3D graphics and classic platform action!
– For the first time, play as two different heroes each with a unique play style.
– Master six different weapons per character and power up each weapon with magic.
– Destroy treasure chests to uncover weapons and more powerful suits of armor.
– Further customize your Ghosts ‘N Goblins experience with DLC.

The post Preview: Ghosts ‘n Goblins appeared first on AppTrawler.

**UPDATED: Release date announced for 21st October!**

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to re-launch those cows into orbit ever since we heard Gameloft was bringing the iconic, dirt eating, chewy length of worm flesh – Earthworm Jim – to iPhone and iPod touch back in August.

For those of you’ve been asleep on Mars since 1994, Earthworm Jim follows the exploits of an ordinary garden worm that becomes the recipient of a super powered super suit, which a galaxy full of desperately nefarious evil-doers want to get their hands on.

Jim quickly became a cult icon thanks to the gorgeous looking and immensely humorous platform games in which he starred, and even got his own TV cartoon series (which is well worth a watch, if you’re as infantile as I am).

I must admit to having some concerns over how well the high octane gameplay of Earthworm Jim will fare using virtual buttons on the iPhone’s touchscreen, but judging by the newly released gameplay video below it looks as though Jim is back and in full swing.

Groovy!

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Gameloft’s Derek Jeter Real Baseball [App Store] joined the rest of their impressive sports lineup on the platform this evening. Featuring full 3D graphics, several different game modes ranging from home run derbies to full season modes, and full in-game commentary, Derek Jeter Real Baseball seems to display the same high quality production as other Gameloft games.

We’ll post a more detailed look at this game soon as I’m anxious to get deeper into the game to see how it compares to Gamevil’s Baseball Superstars 2010 [App Store], another full-featured baseball game we recently gave a great review score.

Update: A hands-on gameplay video has been embedded below. The game offers two control methods for batting. There is no targeting of the ball for each method. The first is touch in which you simply tap on the screen to swing the bat as the ball approaches. The second method is slide in which you slide down to pull your bat back, and quickly swing upward in time with the pitch. Neither mode requires you to aim at the ball.

Pitching involves a combination of picking your pitch, timing a tap to determine power and accuracy, and use of the accelerometer to direct where the pitch will go. The video shows all these modes.

App Store Link: Derek Jeter Real Baseball, .99

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The studio that brought a revamp of Free Fall Associates’ classic ’80s strategy / arcade game Archon [App Store] to the iPhone is about to release a separate single-player spin-off title that should give fans of the game much to enjoy.

Upcoming Archon Conquest features four maps to play, 60 different quests or puzzles to complete, and a storyline that ties it all together.  Fans of the series may note that some of the maps are reminiscent of the layout of Archon II: Adept, but the similarity ends at the visual level.  Still, it’s a nice expansion of an already great game.

We’ve captured some early gameplay from the pre-release, preview build of the game that React was kind enough to send us.  Have a look at the action.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Archon Conquest will appear in the App Store shortly at a price of .99.

React is also putting the finishing touches on the v1.9 update to classic Archon for the iPhone, which should hit the App Store about the same time as Conquest.  This update will bring a complete re-work of the touch control system as well as various AI enhancements.  And the further-out v2.0 update of Archon will add multiplayer to the mix.  Stay tuned.

Both Archon v1.9 and Archon Conquest now feature Plus+ leaderboards and award systems.

Another piece of news for fans of the game is that React is bringing a four-player adaptation of classic Archon to the PC, featuring multiplayer support as well as a choice of classic 8-bit or redesigned artwork. After 25 years, the game returns to the desktop.  Pre-orders for the PC version start on October 15th at React’s website.

The post Archon Conquest’ & ‘Archon’ Update appeared first on AppTrawler.

FishLabs is bringing the highly rated mobile title Rally Master Pro, which we determined to be the best mobile game of 2008, to the iPhone and iPod touch.

The original mobile title has some of the best 3D graphics ever seen on a typical handset.  The iPhone version, as FishLabs indicates, takes things to a whole new level with 4x the poly count of the original and enhanced particle effects and dynamic lighting.

Depending on the track surface and weather, a variety of dust, spray, and even dirt particles will be generated for each individual tire. The various kinds of particles act quite differently. On dry, dusty tracks the car leaves a massive cloud of dust while racing through a forest on a rainy day you can literrally see the mud flying.
….
Thanks to the high-powered 3D chips (OpenGL graphics acceleration) in the iPhone, we can light the vehicle in a variety of ways, depending on the weather: with lots of light and shadows when it’s sunny, diffuse when the sky is overcast, and correspondingly dim in rain and storm.

The iPhone release will include 27 courses and weather effects for sun, rain, and snow as well as options for tilt or touch (analog or digital) controls.

FishLabs was kind enough to provide us with a pre-release build of the iPhone version of Rally Master Pro to play around with and share a glimpse with our readers.

See our brief gameplay video that shows early play across several different tracks.

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

The developers emphasis that what you see above is indeed a pre-release with unfinalized controls, physics, and sound.  As such, I’ll refrain from critiquing the gameplay, but I can say that I’ve had a rather enjoyable time putting the game through its paces.  Some parts of the various courses really take me back to days of spending hours in front of Sega Rally on the Saturn (which, in case you’ve not personally had the pleasure, is a very good thing).

What I’ve seen so far puts a rather optimistic light on the likelihood that the iPhone version will indeed go well beyond the mobile title.

FishLabs indicates that Rally Master Pro will hit the App Store sometime this autumn.

The post Rally Master Pro Preview appeared first on AppTrawler.

Red Alert is a prequel to the original Command & Conquer and takes place sometime during the 1950’s in a parallel universe following Albert Einstein’s creation and activation of a time machine. Einstein erases Hitler’s existence, but without Nazi Germany providing resistance and weakening the Soviet Union, Stalin’s armies grow increasingly powerful and he is intent on taking over all of Europe and Asia. As a fan of alternate history fiction, the Red Alert universe has always really appealed to me.

The iPhone version of the game is trimmed down from the original, but with so few solid real-time strategy games on the platform, Red Alert still clearly stands out from the competition. The version of the game I’ve been playing comes with an objective-based campaign for both factions as well as a skirmish mode. But even though the game has been compacted to the small screen, all of the features such as base building and unit micromanagement still are in game.

The screen is framed with all kinds of interface elements, and while seeming slightly cluttered, everything works well enough and I never felt like the controls were getting in the way of what I wanted to do in the game. The battlefield can be zoomed using standard pinching gestures, and to change your field of view you can either swipe your finger around the screen or touch the mini map in the top right corner.

Lining the right side of the screen are all the buttons and menus for building your base as well as training units. Just like the PC version, units can be queued up to train multiples at once. Placing a new building in your base is as simple as tapping it from the “build” menu, at which point a grid appears on top of the terrain and your building can be placed with familiar green and red highlighting indicating valid placement.

Once you’ve got your army built, you can organize units in to three squads assigned to the three buttons on the left hand side of the screen. To select units, you can either tap them to select individual units, or by tapping a button on the bottom left corner of the screen you can drag a selection box around units on the battlefield. From there, another button on the bottom of the screen allows you to assign your current selection of units to one of the three buttons on the left side of the screen.

While this may all sound slightly convoluted and confusing, the initial campaign missions walk you through all of the controls and once you get used to them you will be commanding your forces almost as effectively as you would be using a keyboard and mouse.

Here is a brief video of me (losing) one of the Soviet missions, and if you’re as nostalgic as I am about this game series, the title music alone will bring back memories–

[ Full HD version | Low Bandwidth version ]

Overall, Command & Conquer Red Alert in one of the more impressive iPhone games I’ve played lately. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of multiplayer included with this release which really would have pushed Red Alert over the line in to the “totally awesome” category. According to EA, the game will be available on October 23rd.

The post ‘Command & Conquer Red Alert’ Hands-On Preview appeared first on AppTrawler.

The recently formed Tarver Games (the brainchild of Chris Cross, an ex-EA lead designer and Quinn Banks, a business consultant) has done just that, with its location-based shooter Ghosts Attack.

The trick up its spooky sleeve is the way it generates the game’s environments. Depending on your location, and with the help of Google Maps, where you are is mirrored in the game itself. So if you happen to be in a Central London for instance, we assume the level will be more complex than if you’re sat in a field in Somerset.

As a result, what’s perhaps most interesting is the ability to vary the game simply by moving around. Unless you live near another player it’s fairly safe to say you’ll enjoy a different, maybe even unique, experience.

Quite how accurate and detailed the level generation is we can’t say, but it’s a fascinating concept with lots of potential.

by PocketGamer

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Obviously there’s only so much immersion that you can achieve when you’re pretending to play a guitar by tapping on the screen of your iPhone, but playing the tracks in the iPhone Rock Band works just like its console big brother in that every note you miss causes the music to be interrupted. This seems to add so much more to the game than just tapping along to a song like other similar games on the platform with music that just keeps playing regardless of how poorly you’re doing.

Each song can be played in four distinctly different ways– Guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Every instrument has its own track that you tap along with, and they all match up with the music just as well as the other versions of the game. Each mode is also playable in three difficulty levels. Easy should be easy enough for anyone to jump in to, and hard seems fairly challenging.

Rock Band features several modes of play. If you only have time to play a single song, there’s a quick play mode. If you want to play through various gigs as your band seeks fame and fortune there’s a world tour mode, and if you have friends with the game both online and local bluetooth multiplayer is included. I don’t have anyone to test these multiplayer features with, but they’re all in there, and I can imagine some pretty hilarious impromptu bluetooth jam sessions among groups of friends that have the game.

The online component uses Facebook to log in and connect you with your friends, and according to EA you will even get push notifications when friends of yours invite you to rock out online. Included in the initial release are 20 songs from a ton of great bands, and there is an in-game store where you can buy additional tracks. In the build I have, there is one additional content pack which features two Smashing Pumpkins songs for 99¢.

Included track list:

30 Seconds To Mars – “Attack”
AFI – “Girls Not Grey”
All American Rejects – “Move Along”
Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
Blink-182 – “All The Small Things”
Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
Foo Fighters – “Learn To Fly”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
George Thorogood & the Destroyers – “Bad to The Bone”
Jethro Tull – “Hymn 43”
Joan Jett – “Hymn 43”
Lynard Skynyrd – “Simple Man”
Motorhead – “Ace of Spades ’08”
Pixies – “Debaser”
Presidents of The United States of America – “Ladybug”
Rise Against – “Give It All”
Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Cherub Rock”
Steve Miller Band – “Take The Money and Run”
The Go Go’s – “We Got The Beat”

I went into Rock Band for the iPhone skeptical that EA could provide something that hadn’t already been done before by the existing rhythm game competition and came out fairly impressed. Rock Band has already been submitted for approval to Apple, and is expected to go live sometime next week!

By: Toucharcade

The post Rock Band Preview appeared first on AppTrawler.

Will plays in a world of the dead and completely alone. He jumps from buildings to buildings all over town trying to kill the thugs who work for the Old Lady (The Death) and avoiding the various obstacles.

The game is said to be structured as part side scrolling platformer and part comicbook with a heavy emphasis on the art and storyline.

According to iSpazio, the game will be delivered in 4 episodes, with the first due in November.

The post ‘A Skeleton Story’ – A Haunting Game Trailer appeared first on AppTrawler.