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PG Applympics 2012: The shooting event

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PG Applympics 2012: The shooting event
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Welcome to the Pocket Gamer Applympics - our (hopefully legal) spin on that big sports thingy that's happening in the UK this summer.

Put simply, we're going to go focus on a number of sporting events and try and find eight mobile games that have some vague, tenuous link to the sport in question.

Then, we'll ask you - our fine readers - to vote on which games deserve medals made of precious metals.

This time, it's the turn of the shooters. Yes, the logo says FPS, but we're opening it up to all games that involve shooting targets, living or dead (and even some undead).

We've picked out eight great games that get our trigger fingers twitchy - but, which do YOU think is best?

To vote for your favourite shooter of the PG Applympics, visit our Facebook page and select the relevant game you want to win. Easy, right?

Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies
By Activision - buy for iPhone and iPad or buy for Android

Black Ops: Zombies takes the popular spin-off component from the Treyarch Call of Duty games, recalibrates the levels for mobile play, and then tasks you (and up to three pals) with battling it out against increasingly irate hordes of the living dead.

One thing that separates this from other wave-based games is the complexity of the levels themselves: survival isn't just about managing your bullets and cash to purchase new weapons, it's also about searching for random boxes that contain some of the most destructive weaponry.

If you're really good, you'll also be hunting down powerful power-up machines to spend your spare cash on, as well as the fabled Pack-a-Punch device.

N.O.V.A. 3
By Gameloft - buy for iPhone and iPad or buy for Android

You'll sit in one of two camps when it comes to Gameloft's titles. Either you find it a company of clones, rolling out games which are very similar to existing console titles but which are both more limited and less able than the originals.

Or you say 'whatever' and enjoy playing these types of games, the ones that most other companies don't have the production muscle to create on mobiles.

Regardless of your viewpoint, N.O.V.A. 3 is one of the French publisher's most accomplished FPS titles to date, with gorgeous visuals, a strong multiplayer element, and expertly refined touchscreen controls.

Shogun: Rise of the Renegade
By int13 - buy for iPhone and iPad or buy for Android

Shogun may look like a classic Japanese blaster, but don't let appearances deceive you. For one, this is an original game made for mobiles. For two, it's actually made by French outfit int13.

It's also decidedly modern in its bullet-hell execution, with very clever controls that take full advantage of the touchscreen - from navigating the waves of bullets right through to how weapons are selected.

Shogun's clever, fast-paced gameplay and intriguing scoring tricks, coupled with its slavish attention to detail, make it one of the best 2D shooters out there.

Epoch
By Uppercut Games - buy for iPhone and iPad

Epoch neatly sidesteps any complaints about fiddly on-screen controls in the third-person shooter genre by completely ripping up the rulebook and relying on an entirely gesture-based method for blasting foes.

It helps that it's also one of the most attractive games on the mobile market. It's got some stunning war-ravaged environments for you to get your robotic teeth stuck into, as well as satisfying explosions when you smite your foes.

With the emphasis more on your movement and weapon selection than aiming at the enemy, Epoch is a unique title among the shooters on the platform.

Dead Trigger
By Madfinger Games - download for iPhone and iPad or download for Android

Our second wave-based zombie offering, Dead Trigger may now be more well known for its F2P switcheroo than its gameplay, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to line up on the track for the final of the best shooters.

Madfinger's notorious attention-to-visual detail is very much on show with this one, with graphics that pop out of the screen, plus a steady, fast framerate.

Yes, it's a fairly simple game at heart, and, yes, the story is woeful, but in terms of satisfying blasting there aren't many better.

DoDonPachi Resurrection
By Cave - buy for iPhone or buy for iPad

Cave's bullet-hell shooters used to be considered quite a niche collection of gaming goodness, but they have really found a new lease of life on the App Store.

DoDonPachi Resurrection is arguably the best of the Cave bunch. Yes, it looks like a crazy, uncoordinated mess of bullets and sprites in static screenshots, but it's smooth, fast, and very satisfying to play.

A complex and rewarding scoring system allied to tightly designed levels should prove irresistible for fans of the genre, while newcomers should enjoy the OTT action and unique feel of this bullet-hell classic.

Deadlock: Online
By Crescent Moon Games - buy for iPhone and iPad

Ah, the humble twin-stick shooter. Loved in arcades back in the golden days of gaming, this category of shoot-'em-up fell out of favour for a few decades, but has heroically come back to life during the age of touchscreens and dual joysticks.

Deadlock: Online, as its name suggests, is a multiplayer twin-stick shooter in which you square off against other players in an attractive 3D landscape.

Every battle is tense and chaotic, while the wealth of game modes and unlockable equipment means it'll likely be on your phone for quite some time to come.

Shoot the Zombirds
By Infinite Dream - buy for iPhone and iPad or buy for Android

Sometimes, you want a complicated game with a moving plot, characters that stay with you the rest of your life, and a life lesson that changes how you view the world.

Thankfully, there's no such namby-pamby mawkish rubbish in Shoot the Zombirds, an unashamedly simple one-screen shooter with a clever arrow-based shooting mechanic.

Unlike other games on this list, the priority in this score-attack game is to be as efficient with your limited ammo as possible. Needless to say, this requires you to have both a sharp aim and even sharper instincts in order to maximise your score.

Remember: To vote for your favourite shooting game of the PG Applympics, visit our Facebook page and select the relevant game you want to vote for. The winners of each event will be revealed at the end of the week.

To see each of the eight shooters in action, check out the video below.

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Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).