A lot of gamers don’t know that before there was Halo, there was Marathon. The series, which Bungie created for the Mac almost 20 years ago, has finally made its way over to iOS, but not in exactly the manner you would expect. This is the tale of a labor of love, and a major studio being really cool with one of their properties.

Daniel Blezek was one fan of Marathon who really wanted to see the game come to iOS. Bungie couldn’t take time out of their busy schedule to port such an old game to a new device, so Daniel asked if he could do it himself. Bungie gave its blessing and in his free time, between raising 5 kids and working full time as programmer, Daniel managed to recreate not only all 27 levels of the original Marathon, but also port over the entirety of Marathon 2. He even built in a super-special “Master Chief Mode,” because he’s just that swell of a guy.

Daniel may also be crazy, because he’s giving away both Marathon games for free. Just hop on the App Store and download them and they’re yours for absolutely nada. So why not grab a copy and support a passionate fan who just wants to share the thing he loves with the rest of us?

FREE!

Marathon 1

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-07-07 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Marathon 2: Durandal

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-15 :: Category: Games

It was only a few months ago that we announced that Bungie, makers of the Halo franchise, were entering the iOS market. Under the name of Bungie Aerospace, it wasn’t all too clear exactly what games to expect of the developer. That is until now.

It turns out that Bungie Aerospace is the label given to a project by Bungie that’s set out to help small independent developers launch their mobile and social games. The first title undertaken through this concept is going to be that of Crimson: Steam Pirates.

Developed by HareBrained Schemes, Crimson: Steam Pirates has some great pedigree behind it with some of its team having contributed to the likes of MechWarrior, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies and numerous other titles.

Crimson: Steam Pirates is going to be a turn-based strategy game that promises a mix of strategy and action as players must anticipate and counter their enemies’ moves. As an iPad exclusive, Crimson: Steam Pirates offers the first chapter of the game for free and include 8 missions (or voyages, to keep the nautical theme) in all, as well as two ‘pass-and-play’ multiplayer scenarios.

Plenty of depth should be on offer with over a dozen types of ships, subs and airships promised. There’ll also be 20 crew members with unique special abilities, that will hopefully mix things up nicely. Something else to be excited about: there’ll be Bungie.net integration offering leaderboards and what we hope will be a plethora of statistics to compare with friends. Those who have played Halo online recently will know what we’re talking about. Bungie knows how to do online statistics wonderfully well.

For the lucky souls attending PAX Prime, Crimson: Steam Pirates will be available to play at the event. For everyone else, it’s not long to wait with the game set for release on September 1st on the iPad only.

When it comes to companies with a huge amount of influence in the game design space, it is hard to argue that Bungie isn’t among the frontrunners.  Having successfully birthed both the Marathon and Halo franchises, they also draw one of the largest fan followings in the entire industry.  After recently breaking ties from the Microsoft fold and signing a ten year contract with Activision to create a groundbreaking new game universe, it was assumed that they would be setting their sights on creating a new console franchise.  While this assumption may still be true, it seems like they may also have more ambitious, and dare we say portable plans.

Using the moniker of Bungie Aerospace, the name of Bungie’s business entity post-Microsoft, recently filed a trademark for the name “Crimson.”  As bland as the name may seem, this may be pointing towards the company finally making strides into the iOS space.  The official filing description reads as follows:

“Computer game software downloadable from a global computer network; Computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones; Downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices” — VIA USPTO Filing

Though I would hate to be the one to jump to conclusions too early, the wording above seems pretty definitive in stating Bungie’s intentions to at least breach the portable gaming front in some way, shape, or form.  It is hard to say whether this might be in the form of a full game, stat monitoring, or even a pre-release ARG, but one thing is for sure, this should be exciting news to all iOS gamers.  Lets just hope that they can continue their hot streak of amazing game worlds, because I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves next!

[ via Game Informer ]

After months of waiting for followers of the title, Gameloft have today announced the release of N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. Possibly one of the most anticipated App Store titles of the year, N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance is a science fiction first person shooter set in futuristic environments. Graphically stunning, the game centers around man-made artificial satellites called near-orbitals, created to allow people to live on due to the Earth no-longer able to sustain life.

For the protection of these separate near-orbitals they each came together to create N.O.V.A, or the Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance. A team of mercenary operatives tasked with the mission of fighting to defend mankind. Forced back into battle against your will, you play as Kal Wardin, a retired marine. Knocked out cold by members of the N.O.V.A, Wardin finds himself assigned to a string of life-threatening missions.

Highly compared to that of the Halo franchise which has become insanely popular all over the world on Microsoft’s Xbox platform, N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance plays out over a satisfying 13 campaign levels, each taking you to a different landscape, including: a jungle, snow, spaceship, bunker and a forgotten alien city. There are six weapons within the game which you can take advantage of to help you on your mission. These include: an assault rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, a handgun, a rocket launcher and a plasma gun. Plus, in certain levels you’ll also get to use grenades and even rock out on machine gun turrets!

As well as playing the game yourself, N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance can be played in multiplayer mode, too. In this mode, 2-4 players can play in local and online multiplayer deathmatchs, over Wi-Fi and you can versus up to 2 players via a Bluetooth connection. In total, the game’s mutliplayer option offers a range of 5 in-game maps in which you can choose from.

Already a 5-star hit wonder after less than 24 hours on the store, and receiving huge critical acclamation, I can’t help but think N.O.V.A is going to be an instant App Store hit, if it isn’t already! I have to say, having picked up the game myself and played through a level or four, this game sports some of the best visual based graphics I have ever seen on the iPhone (and iPod touch) platform. I’m not just saying it, it’s like N.O.V.A crosses that invisible barrier of mobile game to console wonder, and in my personal opinion, Gameloft has excelled.

Be sure to stay tuned for our full in-depth review of N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, very soon. In the meantime, feast your eyes on some in-game shots from the game below!

$4.99

N.O.V.A. - Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-12-17 :: Category: Games