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New releases round-up - Breach & Clear, Pac-Man Dash!, Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, and more

Hands-on video impressions of this week's noteworthy iOS games

New releases round-up - Breach & Clear, Pac-Man Dash!, Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, and more
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iOS
| New releases round-up

Every Thursday, we take time out to look at the week's new and noteworthy iOS games in both words and video.

This time, there are games on our list about breaking down doors, looking for love, murdering pigs, and gobbling down dots.

So, while owners of home consoles might be suffering through the summer doldrums, the App Store developers never stop churning out interesting new games.

Let's take a look at this week's new batch, then, shall we? Watch the video, then read on for prices, pretty pictures, and App Store links.

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Breach & Clear
By Mighty Rabbit - iPhone, iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)

Breach and Clear

First up, we've got a hot new turn-based tactics game. In this one, you bust down doors and gun down bad guys. It's all about carefully and systematically sweeping through buildings, and wiping out terrorists before they even have a chance to react.

There's quite a lot of micro-management here, as you meticulously tweak each soldier's path, speed, and even the direction in which he's facing. But it all pays off when you pull off a perfect breach and get out alive.

Back at base, you'll upgrade your soldiers, buy new gear, purchase new guns, buy gadgets, upgrade guns, and then hop off to the next mission.

All in all, this is a short and satisfying little dose of strategy, which feels perfectly suited to mobile.

Kamikaze Pigs
By MostroGames - iPhone, iPad (69p / 99c)

Kamikaze Pigs

In Kamikaze Pigs, chain reactions are the key. You start each level by looking at a big swirling mass of pigs - in helicopters and in planes and in tanks - and then decide which swine you want to off.

This, hopefully, sets up a domino effect. You shoot a tank, and it fires a shell into a helicopter, and it falls onto a soldier, who throws a grenade. Something like that.

At the start, it feels a bit obtuse and arbitrary. Sometimes, you'll kill enough pigs to end the level. Other times, you don't come close to the target. Eventually, you realise that it's more about buying upgrades (which crank up the destructive effect of each unit) than skill or strategy.

It's a bit of a slog, really. You're required to replay the same levels over and over if you want to get anywhere (and don't want to spend money on in-app purchases).

R-Type
By DotEmu - iPhone, iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)

R Type

Classic arcade shooter R-Type is back on the App Store, courtesy of port perfectionist DotEmu.

You know how this one goes. It's a side-scrolling space shmup with one-hit death and handy little sidecar ships that help out.

Maybe it just takes some time to get used to, but the controls are a real impediment. The digital pad is slow and stodgy, and the touch alternative resulted in my constantly repositioning my thumb lest it slipped off the bottom of the iPhone.

Plus, your big old thumb is covering the left side of the screen, and this annoying blind spot has already caused a few deaths for me. But maybe I just suck. Proceed with caution, shooter fans.

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes
By Incendium Records - iPhone, iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)

Heavy Metal Heroes

Eternal Descent: Heavy Metal Heroes is an endless-runner in which you beat up goblins by using your guitar as a sword (thus giving new meaning to the term 'axe'.

You can do a swing or an uppercut, or a charged version of either. And other than the ragdoll combo system from God of Blades, that's about it.

I guess the cast of characters, including Periphery metalhead Misha Mansoor, Jedward-haired rocker Wayne Static, and party-obsessed tweeter Andrew W.K., is exciting.

In reality, though, this is a rote and repetitive endless-runner, which gets really old really fast. Skip it if you know what's good for you.

Pac-Man Dash!
By Namco Bandai - iPhone, iPad (Free)

Pac Man

Here's another endless-runner. On this occasion, the starring role goes to arcade dot gobbler and terrifying walking stomach Pac-Man.

It's actually not that bad. Pac-Man Rush! moves at an incredibly fast clip, and the focus is solely on beating the clock. In that way, it actually feels like a better Sonic endless-runner than bona fide Sonic endless-runner Sonic Dash.

There are power-ups to buy and missions to clear and all that usual jazz, but the fast, fluid, and engaging play makes this free game worth a download.

Futuridium EP
By MixedBag - iPhone, iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)

Futuridium

Futuridium EP is a rock-hard little space shooter. The idea is that you're a spaceship that's constantly running out of energy, so you must gun down these glowing blue cubes to replenish your cells.

Once you've cleared the small stages of enough cubes, the core will be revealed. Shoot that to bits, and you've won the level.

The controls can be hard to get to grips with, and it's not a very forgiving game. But it's a thrill when you finally feel in control of your ship. Worth a look for its cool retro-3D graphics and hot electronic soundtrack.

Call of Mini Infinity
By Trinity Interactive - iPhone, iPad (Free)

Call of Mini

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Wait a minute, Mark. Wasn't there a new Call of Mini game just last week?"

And I'd say, "Please, you must call me 'sir'." Oh, and, yes, Call of Mini Zombies 2 came out last week.

But Infinity is different. For one, it's free-to-play. For two, it's a Halo-like multiplayer shooter. You can take part in 4-on-4 team deathmatches, 1-on-1 duels, King of the Hill, and more.

The few matches I played were a bit dull. There's no real depth here, so you're just laying into the enemy with your assault rifle until someone dies. And then there's the shop, where the filthy rich can buy powerful weapons, extra weapon slots, and new skills before everyone else.

Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded
By Replay Games - iPhone, iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

Leisure Suit Larry

This is the Kickstarter-funded remake of classic Sierra point-and-click comedy Leisure Suit Larry. It's been done up with fancy new graphics, voice acting, a narrator, and a fresh interface for touchscreens.

I never played the original Larry. I was more of a LucasArts guy. And I probably would have failed the crude age verification test, where you are asked questions that only an adult would know.

But, anyway, this 21st-century re-imagining seems rather well done, and was received quite well on PC.

If you never played the original, or loved it and would like to see it done up like a high-class hooker, then I guess this is the game for you.

Sky Gamblers: Cold War
By Atypical Games - iPhone, iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

Sky Gamblers

The Sky Gamblers games are always a blast. These are high-quality dogfight games with fantastic visuals and controls for both airborne greenhorns and flight sim aficionados.

This one's got something to do with the Cold War (according to my uncanny ability to read a game's title, anyway). It boasts a huge campaign and loads of online modes.

I've only scratched the surface (and skipped most of the lengthy tutorial), but it seems as fun and polished as all the others in the series.

Are you a Sky Gamblers fan? Then, fill your boots.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown spent several years slaving away at the Steel Media furnace, finally serving as editor at large of Pocket Gamer before moving on to doing some sort of youtube thing.