Top 5 most anticipated Android games for 2011

Compiling a list of anticipated Android games for 2011 has been tougher than you might imagine. Despite the platform’s successful 2010 in terms of sales, and its gradual awakening as a gaming platform, it’s still very much in flux.

Thanks to a hardware spread that’s “all over the map” (according to Epic’s Mark Rein) and an Android Market that’s only just beginning to get its act together, we have major developers holding back on leading with Android. Or even (in most cases) aiming for a simultaneous iPhone-Android release.

It’s why many are refusing to commit to bringing ambitious 3D projects to the platform (see Infinity Blade and Real Racing 2) at present.

Others have decided to find their own publishing solution, which at least gets the best games into our hands, but doesn’t help the general sense of instability.

The fact is, no one quite knows what a typical Android game looks like (at the moment, the answer would be “just like a year-old iPhone game”), which means that the top developers and publishers continue to be cautious.

All of which sounds a bit negative, but it’s really an explanation as to why our Top 5 most anticipated Android games for 2011 list consists primarily of promised and potential iPhone conversions.

I’m sure that 2011 will see some brilliant games leading on Android (don’t let me down, Hexage), as well as a healthy smattering of leftfield indie gems, but their identity remains hidden at present.

Gamevil’s RPG sequel only just squeezed in at the end of 2010, but we can be confident that Zenonia 3 will hit Android devices in 2011. How so?

The first game appeared on Android around the time the second game appeared on iPhone, and a good year after the original hit the iPhone, back in March of this year. The second game cut three months off that lead time by coming out in December 2010, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the Android version hit even earlier – say the third quarter of 2011.

Especially as an Android version is already available in its native South Korea.

It’s unclear what the third game in the series is about, but we do have a title: Zenonia 3: The Midgard Story. Judging by Gamevil’s softly-softly iterative approach to its licences, though, you can expect more of the same action-RPG gameplay mixed with a healthy dose of melodrama.

While Gameloft’s first batch of iPhone to Android conversions wasn’t particularly exemplary, it did serve to show up the gaming deficiencies of the Nexus One class of Android device.

Despite this, the first N.O.V.A. proved to be one of the better attempts from the publisher, with a potent mix of sci-fi shooting and impressive 3D graphics.

N.O.V.A. 2 was only recently released on iPhone, bringing improved graphics and a sparkly new multiplayer mode to the party. Still, we’d be surprised if the turnaround time on an Android conversion wasn’t much quicker and more successful this time around.

With Google’s new flagship device a far more capable device than its predecessor, and the imminent introduction of dual-core handsets, N.O.V.A. 2 should run like the beautiful Halo clone it is on decent Android hardware.

We know that PopCap’s take on tower defence will be with Android owners early next year. For that we can be truly thankful, because it continues to be the best game produced by the world’s leading casual game developer.

The idea – in case you’ve been holed up in a dilapidated shack surrounded by the undead for the past couple of years – is to fend off waves of zombies through the strategic placement of assorted plants. A charming art style and some genuinely funny moments carry this well beyond the average strategy fare.

What’s more, as the excellent iPhone and iPad versions have shown, Plants vs Zombies is at home on touchscreen devices. With the default size for Android screens now a good half-an-inch bigger than its Apple rival, the Android version could even turn out to be preferable to the iPhone version.

Wait a minute, hasn’t Epic already ruled out an Android version of ChAIR’s graphically lush, Unreal Engine-powered iPhone smash hit? The headlines would have you think so, but those are a little misleading.

True, we’re placing Infinity Blade’s sublime gesture-based action-RPG on our 2011 list out of hope more than expectation, but there’s a reasonable chance we could see something towards the end of the year. The reason for our faith stems from a closer analysis of those Mark Rein quotes.

“So we have the engine up and running on Android, and we’re supplying it to licensees,” he said in a recent interview. While Rein says that Epic doesn’t have “any immediate plans in terms of our own games for it yet,” he assures us that “It will get there, I’m sure.”

With Samsung selling 10 million Galaxy S handsets, the recent release of the Nexus S and the forthcoming Tegra 2 dual-core invasion, we’re pretty sure it will too.

If there’s been one beacon for Android-focused gaming this year, it’s been Hexage. The company’s delightfully boutique range of slightly left-of-field games has been a joy to play.

From the top trumps strategising of Everlands to the retro-tinged maze running of EVAC, the company’s Android focus has been most refreshing among all these iPhone conversions.

Which is why the company’s as-yet untitled next project is our most keenly anticipated Android title of 2011.

According to David Peroutka, it’ll be an experimental “free ad-supported game” designed for two player head-to-head play. The game will be set in a distant future dominated by “evolved supercomputers and their robot armies,” and it’ll be “heavy on lasers, blasting, hacking and spawning of your own robots.”

Peroutka says that, “it will look mindless, but there will be an underlying layer of strategy to it.”

Sounds absolutely splendid to me.