4th & Battery, an experimental label from PopCap Games, has announced the release of Allied Star Police for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. 4th & Battery worked with Owain, a Make-A-Wish recipient, to make his dream  reality. Owain came up with the idea of the game and his dream was to have the game become a game everyone could play.

Allied Star Police is a side scrolling game that is a combination of a real-time strategy game and a tower defense game. The goal is to reach and destroy the Flamion Base. Players have vehicles, such as Hovercraft SuperVehicle and the mysterious G.S.L.C. to try and take out the base.

“Owain was literally like every other designer and developer I’ve worked with,” said Matthew Lee Johnston, Senior Producer at 4th & Battery. “The minute he walked in the door he handed us a fully realized game design, figured out to the last detail. He stuck with that vision, and directed the team through the development process like a pro. When he first sat down to play it, he naturally knew what to do and won his first round easily, which felt to us like we did a good job executing on his plan.”

If you like real-time strategy games, head over to the Apple App Store and check out Allied Star Police. The game is free to download and play.

Read the rest of this entry »

Creat Studios has announced the release of Mushroom Wars on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation network. Mushroom Wars is a real time strategy game where players have to defend their mushroom area against other mushroom attackers. The maps are not huge and the control mechanisms are suppose to be straight forward and easy to use.

There are different play modes available for play. Players can choose to play short campaigns with Domination objectives. Players have to take control of key objects on the map to win in Domination mode. The other mode available is Conquest battles where players have to wipe their opponents off the map to win. All enemy forces must be destroyed. These are longer games.

“Creat Studios is excited to introduce Mushroom Wars as our seventh title on PlayStation® Network in 2009,” said Anton Petrov, President of Creat Studios. “Gamers of all ages will quickly become addicted to Mushroom Wars, with its strategic and engaging gameplay.”

If you are into real time strategy games, check out Mushroom Wars on the PlayStation Network.

Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine being in control of a space base and having to defend against an enemy, as well as traders in your rankings. Everything was going well, asteroids were yours other planets were potentially yours and then you discovered someone in your own ranks had hit the self destruct button in your space base. Why your space base has a self destruct button is a different story, but someone has engaged the self destruct button and now your base is going to explode if you don’t get to the enemies base and destroy it first in Space War Commander.

Space War Commander is a real time strategy game, but it is different than other real time strategy games it is more casual in nature, since the time to beat most levels is short. The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent space base as fast as possible. Normally, a real time strategy game is about building up your troops and fortifying your base, which normally takes some time. Space War Commander is about money. The more money you can obtain the better. Money allows you to build ships to capture resources and defeat your opponent. The faster you can obtain money the faster you can send your ships in and defeat your enemy.

Players use the money obtained to build ships. There are a few different types of ships and of course each ship has a trade off. The bigger, more expensive ships can take more damage and deal more damage, but they are slow. Remember you are in space and your opponents space base is not always close to your space base. The cheaper ships are great because they are cheap, but they also take less damage and deal less damage. On the other hand the cheaper ships are fast and can intercept enemies quicker. Intercepting enemies is important.

It is essential to intercept the enemy ships before they get to your space base that way you can stop them before they get to your base and earn $5 in the process. Killing an enemy ship has the benefit of stopping it before it reaches your base, which saves your base from the damage, and has the benefit of earning you money.

Space War Commander takes a good amount of strategy to beat the opponent. Even the introductory levels are challenging to beat. The game is challenging, but definitely in a fun way. The challenge is such that it gets addicting. The computer can be beat, but players have to figure out how to beat it. If you are overwhelmed by the game, there is a great forum and the members can help you out, as well.

Space War Commander is a great twist on real time strategy games. The game becomes very addicting and minutes turn into hours played. The game requires small increments of time to play and fits in with with casual styles. If you are a real time strategy fan, you can’t go wrong with Space War Commander.

Feral Interactive has announced a release date for the Mac version of Black and White 2. It has been a long time in the making, but Black and White 2 finally has a release date for the Mac and it is January 6th. Black and White 2 is a real time strategy game and, obviously, the sequel to Black and White.

Players take on the role of a young God in search of followers. Since time has passed, the humans have been able to make more sophisticated weapons and use mother nature to their advantage. The young God has been called back to save his people from the turmoil.

If you are a real time strategy fan and have waited for Black and White 2 to come to the Mac your wait is almost over. Players will be able to download the game from Feral Interactives web site as well as in retail stores.

Read the rest of this entry »

The following games are available from Game Du Jour this week. The games are all offered a significant price cut, which is represented by the percentage after the game name.

Monday November 24 Bipo: Mystery of the Red Panda 60%

What starts out as a routine trip to the cupcakery turns into a full on investigation for a ghost in a deserted manor! Discover the secret behind a mysterious object, and unmask a cloaked bandit that’s on the loose. Can you help Bipo discover the secret behind the ghost in the dark manor? Lead him from one adventure to the next in Bipo: The Mystery of the Red Panda. Check out my review here.

Tuesday November 25 3D Xango Tango 50%

Help amazing toy robot Xango find his upgrade parts in this brain-stretching, 3D animated action puzzler adventure. Exotic landscapes, lively tango music and wacky dances make Xango Tango fun for the whole family. Help Xango find all of his parts to see the surprise ending!

Wednesday November 26 Project Aftermath 60%

An Arcade RTS game where you command up to four squads of soldiers in exciting battles in a retro-futuristic world. Equip your squads to suit your playing style, researching new items using the spoils of war; choosing from over 100 different weapons, armor, power-up augmentations and spell-like special attacks.

Thursday November 27 Mulver 60%

Uncle Miggles is in trouble! Sneaky king Porco has captured him and to let him go he wants you to first get the three Yre crystals that are hidden throughout the kingdom. You must help uncle Miggles. Guide Mulver through different parts of the kingdom in search for gold and the Yre crystals. Avoid enemies, uncover secret areas, time your jumps and use all your skill to navigate through the challenging levels in this 3D platform game.

Friday November 28 Martians vs. Robots 50%

Who could have believed it? The Earthlings invented a race of robots and wiped themselves out! Now the Martians are the only ones left in our solar system that can clean up the mess. They better hurry though, because the Robots are growing fast and consuming all the crystal ore to be found! It’s a race for resources. And no matter how well the Martians were able to hide from the humans, a confrontation with the Robots is inevitable. Play Martians vs. Robots today and save the world!

Saturday November 29 Astro Miner 50%

Astro Miner takes place far above the earth’s atmosphere, where a group of scientist uncovered the means of extracting precious metal resources from the surface of an asteroid. Numerous mining teams were sent to the asteroid to collect these resources but they did not count on one thing, hostiles. Ralph will learn how to work the equipment left behind by the mining workers. Platforms, ladders, lifts, springs, and thrust pads just to name a few. Mastering power up usage will be vital to Ralphs progress through out the 30+ levels of Astro Miner which cover 3 huge regions.

Sunday November 30 Somersault 50%

Welcome to Somersault! Somersault is an exciting new game, combining aspects of classic platform games with fresh gameplay elements and innovative new controls. Draw paddles with the mouse, to guide our hero – little Bally – through 21 action-packed levels in five different, beautifully designed worlds.

If you see a game you like, head over to Game du Jour on the right day and pick up the game dirt cheap.