Ngmoco shoots up iPhone 4 with 99c Eliminate: Gun Range

With the iPhone 4 already in the hands of select users, it's time to prepare from the first wave of games designed specifically for its new features, notably the 3-axis gyroscope.

One of the first games to hit the App Store comes from ngmoco, which has tweaked a forthcoming game - previously codenamed Weapons Free, but currently labouring under the catchy title of 'the next version of Eliminate' to create Eliminate: Gun Range.

Having actually played 'the next version of Eliminate', this makes some sense as it's more of Counter-Strike experience, which uses real world guns and more realistic settings, compare to Eliminate's sci-fi.

Gun Range is a cutdown version of the next version, featuring some of the guns but limiting their use to static target shooting - "144 target-shooting challenges set in three different HD firing ranges" - while showing off iPhone 4's gyroscope for control and the retina screen 326 dpi in terms of crisp texture resolution.

Indeed, with its 12 "high fidelity weapons from the arsenals of today's elite militaries," it will play well with the sort of US audience that has made gun-based soundboard, animation and information apps popular.

Still, even with a 3GS version and more content in development, it's the case that Eliminate: Gun Range doesn't seem to fit within ngmoco's longterm aim of being the best mobile free-to-play game publisher, especially as it's priced at 99c, €0.79 or 59p.

We'll consider it an opportunistic potshot then.