Payback² HD to get its long-awaited revenge on iPhone and iPad tomorrow
Vengeance is mine
A little later than expected, Apex Designs's Payback² HD will go live on the UK and US App Stores at midnight tonight.
You might remember the first Payback from a few years ago. It was a Grand Theft Auto clone that proved very popular at the time - although we didn't rate it particularly highly.
Still, three-and-a-half years have passed since then, and an awful lot has happened in the mobile space to make us think that a sequel might be substantially better.
Once upon a time...The main thing that's changed in the ongoing 'Payback on iPhone' narrative is, of course, the iPhone itself.
The original Payback was designed with the first-gen iPhone and the iPhone 3G in mind, you see, so the Apex Designs team only had 412MHz processors and 480x320 displays to work with.
Payback² HD, meanwhile, has been optimised for the multi-core, Retina display-sporting iPhone 5. All of which should really pay off with an ambitious open-world game like Payback² HD.
So, what's new? It looks a lot prettier for one thing, for it's powered by a completely rewritten graphics engine that utilises HDR lighting and reflects shifts in daylight and weather.
There are nine game modes on offer, which include deathmatch-like brawls, helicopter races, and tank duels. There's also an online multiplayer mode for up to four players (plus a bunch of AI bots).
There appears to be an agreeably far-fetched element to the weapon design, with lasers that bounce around corners and automatic turrets included in the armoury.
Payback² HD is out now on the New Zealand App Store, which means it'll be available in the UK and US at around midnight tonight. It'll cost £3.99 / $5.99, and will be playable on both iPhone and iPad.