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Upcoming iPhone games: N.O.V.A. 3, Jake Escapes, and more

The most exciting iPhone and iPad games on the horizon

Upcoming iPhone games: N.O.V.A. 3, Jake Escapes, and more
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iOS

Every Friday, we like to finish off the week by looking ahead and talking about the iPhone and iPad games that are just over the horizon.

Some games have fixed release dates. Some games, like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, have their launch day planned down to the nanosecond six months in advance. And some games just come out whenever they like, however they please.

To make sure we don't miss anything, we've subtly changed this feature's premise from "Next week's" top games to top games that are "over the horizon". So, don't moan at us if N.O.V.A. 3 isn't out on Thursday.

Note: Dates, prices, and features are subject to change at the whim of the developer and Apple's approval team. Dates were correct at time of publication.

N.O.V.A. 3
By Gameloft - out on iPhone and iPad in May (source)

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If you thought Gameloft's sci-fi shooter series N.O.V.A. would nick ideas from Halo three times in a row, you'd be dead wrong.

It's not that the French firm has come up with an original idea, mind. It's just that N.O.V.A. 3's redesigned spacesuit and bombed-out city brings to mind Crysis 2 rather than Bungie's opus.

The five-hour campaign will kick off with series protagonist Kal Wardin crash-landing in the ruins of San Francisco. There, he'll wipe out alien nasties by the Bay, using a fresh arsenal of toys (including a flamethrower and freeze ray), and a few hulking mech walkers.

Soon enough, however, he'll tire of cable cars and liberal activism, and jet off into the cosmos. Here, the game will go interplanetary, so get ready for a dusty orbiting jailhouse, complete with roaming inmates.

Once the story mode is done and dusted, you can go online for 12-player deathmatches. It will have all the toys from the single-player campaign - including mechs, buggies, and mines - and an involved upgrade system, like Modern Combat 3.

As of right that second, Gameloft has issued a rather vague "May" release date for N.O.V.A. 3. Keep your internets tuned to Pocket Gamer for further details.

Jake Escapes
By Just Funny Games - out on iPhone and iPad on May 10th (source)

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Jake Escapes takes a large dollop of inspiration from Taito arcader Crazy Climber. You see, superstar thief Jake manages to bypass security checkpoints just by doing his best Spider-Man impression and scuttling up the side of a building.

So, in each level, you need to leap from window ledge to window ledge, while watching out for obstacles and avoiding a ruthless US government agent on your tail.

That's because you're hell-bent on breaking into Area 51, see. The Feds have hidden some treasure called "G.R.A.I.L." in the Roswell vault, and Jake (with help from his eccentric scientist buddy Doc) wants to get his hands on it.

The Universal app (though developer Just Funny Games says it's optimised for iPad) is due to go live on the App Store on May 10th.

Head over Heels
By Elite Systems - out on iPhone and iPad on May 11th (source)

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Finally, one for the retro fans in the audience. Speccy favourite Head over Heels is making its way to iPhone and iPad next week, both as an in-app purchase inside the ZX Spectrum: Elite Collection app and as a standalone game.

The developer says this port is "near-100 percent" true to the original 1987 game, which was about two dogs - Head and Heels - who bounded about isometric environments and scoffed down doughnuts.

The game was notoriously surreal. Heck, it featured robots that looked like Prince Charles with the body of a Doctor Who Dalek (which was, of course, call a "Charlek"), and it contained staircases made out of dogs. Weird stuff.

If you have fond memories of the game, the upcoming iOS port will have customisable controls; portrait and landscape modes; and iCade support. It's out next week.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer