Sometimes it’s not the external threat of invasion that is dangerous, but rather what’s happening inside one’s own body. That’s the premise of the upcoming Tentacle Wars, a real-time strategy game in which players dive inside the body of an alien and take control of its last antibody cell in the hopes of fighting off the infection that will kill the creature.

As the trailer shows, gameplay revolves around utilizing uninfected antibody cells to send out “tentacles” to purify the contaminated cells. The infection won’t just sit back and let you kill it though, as it will send out tentacles of its own to try and weaken and convert the few healthy cells you have left. This push/pull mechanic should make for some intense battles, and in many ways reminds of us Eufloria on a cellular scale.

Tentacle Wars will be out on the iPad in April, with an iPhone version planned to launch later in the year. If you can’t wait another minute then feel free to try out the Flash version of the game to tide you over.

It’s not the most obvious choice of franchises to make its way to iOS devices but regardless, Total War Battles: Shogun has just been announced, set for release next month.

Promising to be a re-imagining of the popular Real Time Strategy PC game, Total War Battles: Shogun has been designed with touch based gaming in mind. It’s a different experience from the PC with elements of Plants vs. Zombies in there through the use of lanes to direct attack and defense. The campaign promises to weigh in at around 10 hours alongside bonus challenge missions and head to head multiplayer which complete the package.

Throughout, experience can be gained in order to unlock new buildings and troop upgrades. So far, there’s no sign of microtransactions and hopefully it’ll stay that way for the sake of purist strategy gamers keen to enjoy the series on the move.

We’ll have more information when we get it but for now, check out the screenshots below.

Total War Battles: Shogun is set for release April 19th.

The iPad is a nearly perfect platform for real-time strategy games. And yet, quality RTS games made specifically for the iPad isn’t a booming category. Rochambeau is a real-time strategy for the iPad that breaks the genre down into its basic parts: paper, scissor, rock.

It’s an “area control” game that takes place on the increasingly popular hexagonal board or a linear board with only three pieces for each player. It’s a local multiplayer game; the players sit across from each other and play on the same iPad. On the hexagonal board, gameplay consists of dragging one of the three pieces (paper, scissor, or rock) in a path on the board. The game mixes the simplicity of a game of rock-paper-scissors with the complexity and strategy involved in a real-time strategy. It’s even possible to play multiplayer with more than just two players!

Rochambeau is currently available on the App Store for free. Rochambeau was released on February 11 by Randall Li of Triple Li.

FREE!

Hexagonal Rochambeau

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-02-11 :: Category: Games

I’m obviously excited about Legendary Heroes. It’s got me all in a tizzy, so to speak. But why is it so noteworthy? Read on for a better explanation than “it’s looking freaking awesome!”

First of all, it does indeed look awesome. It’s another iOS strategy game, which tend to fit the platform quite well. It features some pretty impressive-looking graphics. It takes the typical 2D castle defense genre and adds a third dimension, so there will be multiple paths to take in order to reach the enemy’s tower. Lots of power-ups can be used to bolster the team’s stats. And then there are the heroes.

Eight different heroes, each with their own abilities. Smaller units are still around, but it’s the direct control of the hero unit that really sets Legendary Heroes apart. Plus it sort of fits with the name. Anyway, it’s looking like an iOS mash-up of castle defense strategies, the fodder-pounding available in games like Dynasty Warriors and the inclusion of unique player-controlled hero classes that has been all the rage lately thanks to League of Legends.

Really now, how could someone not get excited about that combination? Oh but don’t just take my word for it. There’s a cleverly placed trailer sitting down there that should close the deal. Legendary Heroes will be out sometime in early 2012 and will be free-to-play.

Zombie Invasion HD, previously known as Defense Craft, has just seen an update for the iPad. Why any of this required a name change, which subsequently led to a bunch of time wasted trying to figure out why the heck the game I was trying to link to didn’t exist, is completely beyond me. However, it’s a thing and it exists now. Best to talk about it.

Whatever it’s official name is at this point, the game is primarily about tower defense. Players fend off hordes of weird floating zombies using even weirder towers. The original release offered up close to 25 levels, multiple enemy and tower types as well as a handful of themes. This update increases the amount of stages on hand, giving players even more zombie-fighting goodness.

As some added incentive, Zombie Invasion HD will be free for the next few days. Why not take a look? Try out some of those new levels perhaps?

FREE!

Zombie Invasion HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-12-01 :: Category: Games

It appears as though a new tower defense game has been thrown into the mix, and it offers up something that most others in the genre don’t: two more sides. That is to say, it takes the concept of grid-based tower construction and bumps things up from 4 sided boxes to 6 sided cells. It’s name is HexDefense and it’s the new, Open-GL using kid on the block.

HexDefense adheres to the more “open” style of defense gameplay in which the towers themselves are used to block enemy movement. At least, some of the levels do. Others appear to be of the more traditional set-path variety. Regardless of the layout, players will have to protect their base from enemy waves for 35 levels. Earning funds to place and upgrade more towers, naturally.

Seeing as it’s already in the App Store and is totally free, it’s something for strategy aficionados to consider.

$0.99

HexDefense

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-08 :: Category: Games

Paradox Interactive is a name that’s well known to many PC gamers. A developer best known for their fiercely challenging but always interesting strategy games, they’re a true success story for the Swedish game industry. Why am I explaining all this? Because Paradox Interactive is bringing this level of class and expertise to the iPad with Defenders of Ardania coming this December 6.

Previously assumed to be a PC exclusive, Defenders of Ardania will bring an exciting mix of the tower defense and light RTS genres. Players will be challenged to not only defend their own territory but to also deploy waves of enemies against their opponents. Fortunately numerous deadly spells help along the way.

It’ll be possible to choose from three different races across three different worlds, each unique in their own different ways. The campaign mode looks set to be pretty extensive plus there will be online multiplayer functionality, too.

All those features will be bundled together with a pretty attractive appearance that looks fairly PC like.

Check out the gameplay trailer below. We’ll be sure to keep up to date with all the latest developments over the next few weeks.

Gameloft has finally released a gameplay trailer for their highly anticipated real time strategy title, Starfront: Collision. They also announced that the title will be available for purchase via the App Store on February 10th. This is great news because Gameloft has been pretty hush-hush with the title since its initial announcement. I was beginning to worry that we might not see the title for months. Thankfully that isn’t the case, and all of the die hard strategy fans can now sleep better at night knowing this title will soon be theirs to command.

Welcome to planet Sinistral, where rare Xenodium crystals are coveted by a human mining conglomerate called the Consortium. However, they are not the only ones after the rare mineral. The Myriad, an indigenous race of aliens, is addicted to Xenodium and will do everything they can to prevent the Consortium from plundering their resources. To add to the chaos, a sentient robot race called the Wardens is trying to turn the war in their favor. Whose side will you choose?

This Starcraft “inspired” app features three factions struggling to obtain a rare resource on the planet Sinistral. The Consortium (aka humans) are mining Sinistral for precious Xenodium crystals, but the native Myriads (aka aliens) aren’t keen on giving them up. To add to the chaos there is another race known as the Wardens (aka psychotic robots) who are bent on destroying everyone. The game will have multiplayer in the form of “massive” 4-player local and online battles. The trailer shows off some very nice graphics, and the framerate seems smooth even during intense action scenes. The trailer also showcases a short segment of actual hands-on gameplay, and from what I can tell, the interface looks fairly intuitive. Hopefully, Gameloft has nailed the interface because a lot of fans have been waiting for a definitive iOS real time strategy game.

It is sad that the game only supports 3rd and 4th generation devices, but I’m sure it was hard enough for the development team to squeeze out an acceptable level of performance during heavy combat on current devices. With only three more days until the official release, we won’t have to wait long to find out if Starfront: Collision lives up to all the hype.