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Sentinel 4: Dark Star developer Origin8 has rung in the new year by giving the tower defense title a big update, adding in new weapons, a new commander and a new campaign.

The new second campaign for the game features five new levels also playable in Endless Mode, while the new weapons are the 'Orion' tower, which slows and electrocutes enemies, 'Plasma Wisps', which are energetic sentinel missiles, and the 'Lava Pods', which can be deployed on paths to damage foes over time. The new 'Juggernaut' Commander meanwhile is focused around ranged damage and is a $0.99 in-app Purchase.

Sentinel 4: Dark Star is available to download now from the App Store for $2.99.

In 2009 Origin8 released Sentinel, a sci fi Tower Defense game. The app and its following two installments (Sentinel 2: Earth Defense & Sentinel 3: Homeworld) have been consistently highly rated and reviewed. Fans of the series can now rejoice as Sentinel 4: Dark Star has been submitted to Apple for approval.

Sentinel 4: Dark Star will offer players a new campaign with 26 unique maps, an endless mode, new enemies, a huge array of weapons including Uber towers, and the new improved Stronghold. You will also have access to Commander heroes that can earn experience and level-up. As you win you can upload your score to the Global Nexus, which rewards you for furthering the worldwide cooperative push. Origin8 has also retooled the game's tech to include real-time dynamic lighting and shader effects to give the game atmosphere.

While there is no set release date yet for Sentinel 4: Dark Star, fans take heart as it will not be long now.

Origin8 and 31X Ltd are bringing the classic PC empire builder, Transport Tycoon, to iOS in just a couple of weeks on October 3. This mobile port has been designed and directed by the game's original creator, Chris Sawyer.

The original was quite a big deal when it first came out in 1994, and fans will no doubt want to get their hands on this once it comes out so they can manage their transportation empire whenever they'd like. No word has been given on a price point yet, but we'll know first thing next month!

Fans of the tower defense genre will be happy to hear that Sentinel 3: Homeworld is near completion and will be released before the end of Autumn. For most fans of the genre, the Sentinel series (Sentinel: Mars Defense, Sentinel 2: Earth Defense) is near the pinnacle of genre excellence, and has been well reviewed by just about every publication in existence. As far as fixed path TD's go, the series has been hard to beat.

The new app will include:

• A completely new campaign featuring 20 levels


• A powerful new commander unit which can level up and gain new abilities as you play!


• Over 20 unlockable turrets, orbital weapons, automated drones and abilities at your disposal.


• Customize your weapon loadout in the Armory to match the demands of the mission.


• Full high-resolution Retina display support!


• Endless modes for all maps, with online highscores.


• Classic mode allows you to compete for scores in a pure skill-based game mode.


• Support for social gaming networks for achievements, global scores, friends and more using OpenFeint and GameCenter.


• New exclusive music by the creators of the Sentinel 2 music - Specimen A.


• Completely reworked and revamped game engine.

As of now there aren't any screenshots and not a ton of information to be found so be sure to follow @Origin8 or check back to their website for coming details.

Origin8 have today announced that a major update to their hit iPhone and iPod touch tower defense sequel "Sentinel 2: Earth Defense," Version 1.4 is now in submission. The new update will enable players to have access to a bunch of downloadable content, as well as providing free enhancements to the base game. Expansion Pack One, priced at $0.99 or regional equivalent, will be available as an in-app purchase upon approval.

Here's just some of what you can expect from this new update:

Free content features:
- One menacing new enemy unit, integrated into all existing campaign maps.
- A new Sentinel ship weapon, the ION bomb, providing a spectacular explosion and damage over time.
- Two new missions based on existing campaign maps.
- New OpenFeint achievements.
- Bug fixes and balance tweaks for existing missions.

Expansion Pack One features:
- Two new maps, Barracks and Overpass, with unique mechanics and challenging layouts.
- A tough new enemy present on DLC maps only.
- Three new missions based on DLC maps.
- OpenFeint leaderboards and achievements for the new maps and missions.

Look out for this update hitting very soon!

The App Store is known for its sales, and just like December and the holiday discount, February is no different, at least for London UK-based mobile development studio Origin8. Developer of "The Sentinel" series, Origin8 have announced "February Freebie Fever," a sale which will see the company drop the price to FREE on one of it's App Store hits. Every Friday in the month of February, Origin8 will make one of their App Store titles absolutely free for the busy weekend period.

The sale comes as Sentinel: Mars Defense is about to turn a year old on the 19th February. The sale has already started with Car Mania becoming free last Friday up until today. Details of future weekend deals will be announced via the company's various social networking accounts on the day of the sale.

"The Sentinel: Mars Defense anniversary provides us with a great excuse to spread some love to our players, and it's a logical point for us to take a look back over an exciting year. Our aim is to develop games that stand out for their high quality and we want to get them into as many hands as we can. The iPhone as a gaming platform has grown spectacularly over the past year - many current players won't have owned an iDevice at the time of the original Sentinel release, so we're giving them a chance to catch up with our back catalogue for nothing."

Continue reading Origin8 Launches App Store "February Freebie Fever" Sale »

Origin8, makers of the popular tower defense games Sentinel: Mars Defense and Sentinel 2: Earth Defense, are set to take the fight to space. Their third sci-fi strategy game takes place a century after the last title, and according to Origin8...

Space Station: Frontier sees the player in charge of a deep space mining operation in dangerous territory on the edge of Solar System. By constructing and powering networks of mining tools and weaponry – centred on the titular space station – players must juggle resource harvesting with the defence of their station against hordes of hostile alien ships.

As you can see from the trailer below, Space Station: Frontier adds some interesting wrinkles to the core defense gameplay, as there is an upgrade and management component to your expanding space station. Origin8 has stated that this is a persistent upgrade system, allowing you to level up your station with a variety of purchased tech, and then carry over your customisation across all game modes.

Space Station: Frontier was submitted for approval on December 14th, so we should be able to get our hands on it within the next couple weeks. The full list of features is as follows:

Construct weaponry and mining tools using an intuitive tower defense style interface.

Design and power vast networks of structures, then defend them against alien incursion!

Earn upgrades and unlocks for your space station to increase its power and abilities!

Enjoy the story-based campaign mode where you are humanity's last chance for survival.

Play one of the freeform, endless modes and compete with other players worldwide using the online leaderboards.

Mission mode provides quick tactical challenges. Beat a scenario to earn achievements!

Full OpenFeint integration provides multiple user profiles, complete offline support, online scores and lots achievements to earn.

Awesome music & sound effects by Earcom!

Also, as we reported last week, you can experience the original, critically-acclaimed Sentinel: Mars Defense for free until Christmas...

Camden, London based iPhone development studio Origin8 has announced that to celebrate this years Bomfire night here in the UK, they're launching a special offer in which the first edition to their tower defense series, Sentinel: Mars Defense, will be discounted. Starting today, November 5th at 6PM GMT and originally priced at $0.99, Sentinel: Mars Defense will be FREE for a whole week!

"It's Bonfire Night in the UK, and the thoughts of the nation turn toward really big explosions. Thanks to London-based development studio Origin8, iPhone/iPod Touch gamers worldwide can share in the joy of blowing things up today, as their breakout sci fi strategy game "Sentinel: Mars Defense" will be FREE for a week from 6PM GMT."

Originally released in February of this year, and in case you're not familiar with the game, Sentinel: Mars Defense is a 2D tower defense game which brings with it fully immersive 2D (but with sort of a 3D-effect) graphics. The game is centered around stopping 'waves' of creeps from reaching an end point. Along the way to aid you in this battle you'll have to use different powered space-like weapons, each with their own specialties and strong points. The aim is to destroy all alien lifeforms, before they have to reach a series of 'gates'. If your end defenses are destroyed, it's game over.

Sentinel: Mars Defense has been described as: Incredible, with stellar graphics, and a great amount of 'content' in-game. Having played the game myself, I can add to the fact that that it was definitely worth it at the low price of $0.99, but now you don't have any excuse. Sentinel: Mars Defense is now FREE, and I highly recommend you go and snap it up!

Update: While the offer doesn't seem to have started yet, it's well and truly past 6PM here in the UK, so I'm sure we can expect the change to propagate to the App Store soon!