6 must-have premium iOS games that are currently discounted
Hello there, frenzied gamers! Fancy yourselves a few fresh additions to your mobile collection? Well, today, we've got a treat for you – as we noticed that a couple of the more premium titles from our bucket list have had their price-tags reduced, we decided to see what other treats the App Store may be hiding, and we ended up with 5 must-haves that have all been under the discount hammer.
We've got a couple of premium shooters, tactical games, and a very innovative puzzler, which should probably be present on every iPhone out there. Check them out, see if one tickles your fancy, let us know if you liked it! And, if you happen to know of an amazing game that is currently discounted and you think should be listed here – do speak your mind!
Based on a game world started by Abe's Oddysee, Stranger's Wrath is a third / first person adventure / shooter mix, which puts you in the boots of a mysterious bounty hunter who's on a mission to collect enough bounty to pay for some sort of life-saving operation. The game employs some unorthodox gadgetry, such as using live creatures as gun ammunition, and allows players to mix their tactics up by having a stealth mechanic built-in. The controls are, of course, done via virtual pad, but we'd recommend playing this one the way it's meant – with a controller!
If you are a tactical / strategy type of gamer, the XCOM name should ring more than just a bell. It is hands down one of the best reboots to come out of the "franchise restart" trend that has taken over these past few years, and is an excellent strategy game – a must-play if we dare say so. Aside from a challenging campaign, the game offers a pretty cool multiplayer mode, where you can build a squad of psychic aliens and crush your human foes – that hardly gets old.
The original BioShock was remastered and ported for iOS a few months back. If you haven't heard of the series – they are mainly shooter games that offer deep and twisting storylines, usually ending in a mind-bending plot explosion. It's safe to say that at least half of BioShock's fans are in it for the story and the unique universe it puts them in, as the actual FPS gaming side is rather bland. Still, if you just happened to enter the BioShock franchise with the newest "Infinite" release and you wish to go back and play the previous games – you might as well grab the first one for iOS right now, as $3 is well worth it.
Call of Duty is a pretty popular FPS franchise whose titles span more than a decade and pretty much every game on the planet has played at least one of them. Well, before you put Strike Team in the "another shooter" category, we'd like to point out that the developers played an oddball here and created a mix of FPS and squad-based tactical shooter. You pre-plan your team's actions from a bird's eye view, then choose which of the 4 soldiers you wish to "inhabit" and go down to first-person level to execute your plan. Unfortunately, this title doesn't have a multiplayer mode outside of challenging your friends on a top score race, but in the world of mobile – this is not yet a huge problem.
Alrigh, slowing the pace down a bit after all the classics-reimagined-for-mobile streak – Blek is a puzzler made specifically for touch screen. Its premise is extremely simple, yet works really well thanks to a well crafted soundtrack, visuals, and great level design. The levels consist of a few colored dots that you have to "pick up" and some black dots, which you should avoid. The way you play is you draw a figure with your finger – a black line will appear, following and repeating your motion in a pattern. It is this black line that needs to pass through all the colored dots without hitting the black ones. Needless to say, Blek gets challenging fast, but replaying a puzzle over and over hardly gets annoying, due to the game constantly nudging you to think outside the box.
1. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Download ($2.99, was $4.99)
Based on a game world started by Abe's Oddysee, Stranger's Wrath is a third / first person adventure / shooter mix, which puts you in the boots of a mysterious bounty hunter who's on a mission to collect enough bounty to pay for some sort of life-saving operation. The game employs some unorthodox gadgetry, such as using live creatures as gun ammunition, and allows players to mix their tactics up by having a stealth mechanic built-in. The controls are, of course, done via virtual pad, but we'd recommend playing this one the way it's meant – with a controller!
2. XCOM: Enemy Within
Download ($4.99, was $12.99)
If you are a tactical / strategy type of gamer, the XCOM name should ring more than just a bell. It is hands down one of the best reboots to come out of the "franchise restart" trend that has taken over these past few years, and is an excellent strategy game – a must-play if we dare say so. Aside from a challenging campaign, the game offers a pretty cool multiplayer mode, where you can build a squad of psychic aliens and crush your human foes – that hardly gets old.
3. BioShock
Download ($2.99, was $10.99)
The original BioShock was remastered and ported for iOS a few months back. If you haven't heard of the series – they are mainly shooter games that offer deep and twisting storylines, usually ending in a mind-bending plot explosion. It's safe to say that at least half of BioShock's fans are in it for the story and the unique universe it puts them in, as the actual FPS gaming side is rather bland. Still, if you just happened to enter the BioShock franchise with the newest "Infinite" release and you wish to go back and play the previous games – you might as well grab the first one for iOS right now, as $3 is well worth it.
4. Call of Duty: Strike Team
Download ($1.99, was $6.99)
Call of Duty is a pretty popular FPS franchise whose titles span more than a decade and pretty much every game on the planet has played at least one of them. Well, before you put Strike Team in the "another shooter" category, we'd like to point out that the developers played an oddball here and created a mix of FPS and squad-based tactical shooter. You pre-plan your team's actions from a bird's eye view, then choose which of the 4 soldiers you wish to "inhabit" and go down to first-person level to execute your plan. Unfortunately, this title doesn't have a multiplayer mode outside of challenging your friends on a top score race, but in the world of mobile – this is not yet a huge problem.
5. Civilization Revolution 2
Download ($4.99, was $14.99)
Civilization is a classic PC strategy franchise, which we can see here reimagined for mobile. The game starts you off in prehistoric times and you are tasked with creating your own country / empire. There's a lot of ground to cover in the process - you need to take care of your military prowess, but also spend resources on science and research, all the while minding your population's living conditions. Needless to say, the strategy in this one runs deep, which is why the franchise has had a devout fandom for years now. The game is also known for being sluggish and long, but its mobile counterpart has been sped up a bit to cater better to the platform and what is expected of it.
6. Blek
Download ($0.99, was $1.99)
Alrigh, slowing the pace down a bit after all the classics-reimagined-for-mobile streak – Blek is a puzzler made specifically for touch screen. Its premise is extremely simple, yet works really well thanks to a well crafted soundtrack, visuals, and great level design. The levels consist of a few colored dots that you have to "pick up" and some black dots, which you should avoid. The way you play is you draw a figure with your finger – a black line will appear, following and repeating your motion in a pattern. It is this black line that needs to pass through all the colored dots without hitting the black ones. Needless to say, Blek gets challenging fast, but replaying a puzzle over and over hardly gets annoying, due to the game constantly nudging you to think outside the box.
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