So, Mass Effect is returning to the iPhone. At a recent EA event, the publisher passed around a pamphlet announcing Mass Effect Infiltrator for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad. In a nutshell, it's a third-person shooter featuring universe's trimmings, and it will apparently tie into Mass Effect 3's Galaxy At War component.

Specifically in the game, you'll "help free prisoners from a hostile Cerberus base" and receive rewards as you also collect evidence of Cerberus' crimes. All your rescues and your discoveries will feed into Galaxy At War's "Galactic Readiness rating," which informs events in the game's single-player.

As if the latter wasn't enough to get you to check it out, the app will also offer users exclusive weapons to use in ME3.

This announcement is hot off the presses, so the details are pretty vague. On the other hand, it seems like Infiltrator is passing through certification as we write this -- if EA is using the term "soon" in regards to its release traditionally -- so, the wait to see what's actually going on in this app should actually end very shortly.

UPDATE: Fun fact: this is being developed by Dead Space iOS devs Iron Monkey Studios. This can only be a good thing, we think.

[Via Shacknews]

Of course, Paper Monsters won't be the only title receiving an update like this: in the past, most "big" games, like Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, have received a little nod to the holiday. Also, publishers are undoubtedly going to go on price cutting sprees since Valentine's Day is so popular and all.

So, yeah, you don't need a real partner. Your iPad will have plenty for you, and hey, it won't even ask you for chocolate or a rose or expect to get something nice.

From a presentation standpoint, Reckless Racing 2 makes some significant changes in comparison to its predecessor. Gone are the country themes present in the music and characters (although the latter still remains somewhat in the avatars and names of your AI opponents). In its place is a stylized, clean motif complete with fast-paced music reminiscent of 80s action movies (think Top Gun). Some folks may argue Reckless Racing 2 loses some of the ‘charm’ found in the original, but I think this is a great move that moves towards a more universal appeal.

Another area that receives an overhaul in Reckless Racing 2 is its core gameplay formula. A comprehensive career mode takes center stage in this sequel, complete with 18 different cars to purchase and a plethora of upgrades available for each individual vehicle. The career mode is actually pretty standard - players race through a variety of cups containing several courses. Money is awarded after each race, with a larger monetary bonus depending on your final position at the end of the cup.

Rather than forcing players to complete cups in a sequential fashion, Reckless Racing 2 employs a Performance Index (P.I.) restriction. The higher a P.I. rating is on a car, the ‘better’ it is stats-wise. Modify your car with new parts and its P.I. rating increases. Cups have a P.I. range that your car must fit into in order to play. While it is possible to upgrade your car so it can participate in progressively harder cups, eventually its P.I. max will be reached and you’ll have to buy a new car with a higher range in order to advance to more difficulty cups. It’s a disappointing restriction for folks that become attached to cars, but I thought it was an excellent way to balance upgrades and difficulty while nudging players towards trying new vehicles.

In addition to career mode, Reckless Racing 2 features an excellent challenge mode that supplies the player with a pre-determined car and track. Race against the A.I., place third or higher, and you advance to the next challenge. I found it a great distraction from career, as it allows you to quickly race while still having goals to work towards. Rounding out the modes are single race and wifi-enabled multiplayer. While online multiplayer was pretty fun, the lobby system was a bit rough around the edges (lots of players holding up games from actually starting). An auto-join with P.I. balancing would have been nice, as well as some improvement to the ‘ready’ system.

Racing mechanics also receive substantial changes in Reckless Racing 2, exchanging the ‘floaty’ and hectic feel of the original for a driving system that imbues much more control to the player. This is also reflective in the physics system which feels more suited towards a system requiring actual driving technique. The controls work well enough within this system, but not all control schemes are equal in this sequel. The new dynamic difficulty system, which raises and lowers the overall difficulty based on performance, is another addition that moves the game towards a semblance of realism (you can turn this off if it doesn’t work for you). In some ways, you can argue that these changes make Reckless Racing 2 a bit less, well, reckless. Despite this step away from its predecessor, I think the changes have created a game with more depth and challenge than the original. The upgrade system, for instance, allows you to customize your car to suit your driving style, somewhat preserving the original Reckless Racing style of play.

One of the areas Reckless Racing excelled in was its incredibly detailed visuals. Reckless Racing 2 ups the ante with an improved graphics system that just looks pretty damn amazing. Tracks are meticulously detailed and even effects like the dirt kicking up from your wheels on the off-road portions of the track are well done. Maneuvering my car around a curve with a giant gorge at the bottom or driving along an oceanfront watching the beautiful water effects are some of the nicest graphics I’ve seen on my iPhone 4S. Add in the fact that the game runs fast and smooth (at least on the latest hardware generation), and Reckless Racing 2 would give any game a run for its money in the visual department.

I've got to give kudos to Pixelbite – it’s pretty rare for a developer to take a chance and mix up the elements of a successful game in its sequel. However, in the case of Reckless Racing 2, that risk has paid off tremendously. The comprehensive career mode, wealth of maps, and tweaks to the arcade racing formula has made this game more enjoyable in the long term. Add in the amazing visuals and music, and there’s not much to dislike here. Folks have sounded off in our forums in regards to the significant changes to the core gameplay. Personally, if these changes result in an incredibly fun to play game, then what more can you ask for?

The Salt Lake City Tribune is reporting that after the studio finishes Twisted Metal, it'll move on to iPad and iPhone development. Eight employees were handed pink slips last week in order to presumably shrink the studio size for the transition, and co-founder David Jaffe is expected to leave as well to pursue a new thing before the studio makes hop.

In a statement, the studio's other co-founder Scott Campbell said all the right stuff about iPad and iPhone and iPad development, and noted that Eat Sleep Play's "brand of mechanics-driven gaming" will be a big part of its future offerings.

Jaffe is reportedly set to move into the "casual" market as well, but that's a point of contention. On Twitter, the God of War creator stated, "The rumors of me making casual games post-Twisted Metal -- as many of you define them -- are highly exaggerated." Later this morning he clarified, "... never say never, but I have zero plans to make games like Farmville and Angry Birds."

"I never said what I was doing post-Twisted Metal, and I'm still on Twisted Metal along with Eat Sleep Play for the next months as we launch it and balance it in real time and make sure it's a perfect game and continue to support it."

Pictured: Twisted Metal

"At the same, I will be opening a game studio here in San Diego because I really miss internal game development. Happy to share more details later."

With that said, we're not so sure if Jaffe is moving on to iOS, too, but we're trying to make contact and see exactly what's up. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Jaffe is continuing to clarify. In a series of tweets, he revealed that he's talking to people "about some big, huge next-gen game ideas" he'd love for his new studio to make, as well as some stuff in the browser space.

"I have no idea what game we'll make yet. Could be iPhone, could be next-gen console," Jaffe said. "Have barely done anything with the new company yet."

[via The Salt Lake City Tribune]

So, it was really kind of a given that I was going to be thrilled to see The Lost City [99¢], which at a glance seemed to be aimed like a notched arrow at the heart of the Myst-era adventure game lover. Of course, anyone who was with me on the long ride through the adventure clones that Myst spawned knows that there were a handful of decent ones, but mostly many, many bad ones.

I'm quite pleased to report that this is not the case with The Lost City. Far from it, in fact. While the storyline behind the game is not quite as fleshed out as that of Atrus and his wayward sons, Fire Maple Games really nailed it in terms of atmosphere. But even more importantly, they got it right with the puzzles – and added a few extra things that Myst itself could have really benefitted from back in the day.

Navigating your way through The Lost City is as simple and pleasant as can be: the touch of a fingertip navigates you through the hidden city your grandmother promised you really did exist (apparently, she wasn't kidding). Your inventory is neatly tucked into a small briefcase in the bottom left corner of the screen, and touching it pops up a small row of all the items you've collected. Items for what? For solving puzzles, of course!

But The Lost City doesn't do that inane thing where you have to figure out the item that makes the least sense to use, cram it into another item and then use it to magically unlock some door that had no keyhole in the first place. No, these puzzles actually make sense, which as anyone who ever played a Kemco adventure game back in the NES days can tell you, was rarely the case.

Speaking of things that adventure games should have thought of a long time ago, another welcome one here is the map. Each scene of the game you encounter is represented by a numbered panel if you hit up the map screen, which you can move around with your fingertip so you can get an overview of the entire area.

You also have a journal which logs important notes you'll need for future puzzles, and it just so happens to contain (gasp!) a hint guide, so if you get stuck you can consult it. I know, it's not proper hardcore. And I don't care, because the days I spent crying and pulling at my hair in front of my computer because I couldn't solve that one puzzle were so bad that I don't mind one bit that this game doesn't want me to go mad with frustration.

One little touch about The Lost City I really adored was the addition of puzzles affected by seasons. You will encounter stone angel statues which you can place a heart item into to change the seasons, which affects which puzzles you have access to solve. This fit in beautifully with the overall coziness of the game, and it simply brought a smile to my face.

In the end, I found myself trying to slow down and simply enjoy being in the game's atmosphere. I really didn't want the game to end, and I suppose that's the best compliment I can give anything I play. If you've ever loved an adventure game of the Myst persuasion, then you're going to love The Lost City. But not because it's a clone, or even a really good clone. This one's got a magic that's all its own.

Zombie Gunship is a little old by App Store standards, so here's a little refresher for your mushy stuff. From our review:

If you've played Call of Duty, you may remember the levels where you fly in an AC-130 and target the enemies below in a fantastic display of aerial firepower. Well, Zombie Gunship is based on that idea.

In the game, you look down over an apocalyptic landscape and wait for enemies to appear on your radar. Suddenly, a solitary human figure rushes from the shadows, trying to escape from hoards of brain-loving zombies. This is where you step in to save the day. You must shoot the zombies below, before they eat the few remaining humans or reach the bunker. If one lifeless zombie reaches the bunker, it seals itself to avoid being breached and your mission is over.

We're still loving this game, and judging from the response on the game's Facebook page, it looks like its followers aren't anywhere close to being done with it, either. That's good. If the title continues to thrive, we'll probably keep getting new content, too. Screens of the latest just below, by the way:

More interestingly, this update rolls in a couple of new weapons -- the Ray Gun and "the zombie-attracting" Monkey Bomb. Both hit at no-cost after updating, which happens to be the same offering price for all the update's nebulous bug fixes and optimizations. Content is something we've noted that Black Ops Zombies needs, so these weapons are certainly a welcome sight. Hopefully new, wholly original and game-specific maps are hitting soon, too.

At $.99, we think you should give it a try. Our users raved about the game after its initial debut, and still seemed high on it even after finishing. Check out what they had to say before making a purchase, or hey, watch this teaser trailer:

[Via @SteveStreza]

Tweet Land was intriguing due to its unique real-time usage of tweets drawn from Twitter that would trigger elements into the game. It reaches out into the vast ocean of Twitter and utilizes special keywords from real tweets to create things in the game. It's a fantastic idea in theory, and Why Ideas did pull it off on a functional level just as they had promised. However, despite being really innovative, Tweet Land doesn't hold up as well in the gameplay department, and there were a couple of unintended side effects of using live tweets that left a sour taste in my mouth.

First, let's talk about the kind of gameplay that's in Tweet Land. You control a car heading down the highway (Route 140 no less) and you must make it to the finish line while dodging tweet-driven hazards and other traffic on the road. You can veer into the other cars from the side to knock them off the road and score some points, and ramming multiple cars off the road at once will multiply the points you earn. If you hit cars from behind or run into road hazards, you lose a bit of life, which is represented by the visual damage on your car.

I really like Tweet Land's retro style, and there is a lot of humor and personality in its pixel art visuals (though it's kind of blurry on my iPhone 4S). But things start to fall apart when you actually start playing. The controls are very slippery, and it's hard to be precise when trying to properly ram other cars or avoid hitting hazards. With practice you can get used to it, but it's still really annoying when you're trying to quickly react to something and the controls don't afford you the kind of finesse that you need to get it done.

I think when you have games that are built on top of a very simple core gameplay concept, you have to get all the little details right. That's why games like Jetpack Joyride or Angry Birds are often imitated but rarely duplicated. as they get the feel of the controls and the movement in the game so right. If you're going to be doing the same action over and over again, you want that action to be fun. While Tweet Land has its share of fun moments, something about it just feels off, like it's missing something but I can't pinpoint what.

The game is broken into two environments with 12 levels each, with a spot for a third environment that's said to be coming soon. With each new level, new tweet-driven elements are introduced and added to the current ones, so as you keep going the variety of things that can happen increases quite a bit. An example of a hazard would be if someone tweets the word "meteor" then a meteor will fly in from off screen and you'll have to use the position of its shadow in order to avoid being crushed. There are helpful things that can be triggered in the game too, like health packs or a temporary spread shot for your vehicle.

One problem with the progression in Tweet Land is that it gets rather hard rather quickly, and if you get stuck on a level there's no moving forward until you beat it. This got pretty frustrating since many of the times that I died it felt like it wasn't actually my fault. When elements are brought in from Twitter, they are accompanied by a label with the Twitter handle of whoever tweeted that keyword. This is neat, but leads to an incredibly cluttered and distracting screen, especially when there are multiple things happening at once. Coupled with the floaty controls and the speed at which things are zooming by, and the odds are stacked against you.

Arrows indicate where things will be coming in from off screen, but they're hard to notice amongst the busyness on the screen and often aren't very helpful. Add in the fact that there's usually a ton of traffic on the road with you, and making it to the finish line intact can require a healthy dose of luck just as much as skill. The levels tend to be a bit longish, and nothing is worse than seeing your cheap demise when you're within a stone's throw of the finish. The more I failed a level over and over, the less I felt compelled to go back and conquer it.

However, my biggest issue with Tweet Land is something that I didn't really expect: the tweets that the game draws from can be much too somber for what is supposed to be a fun and lighthearted game. For example, if someone tweets about a "car crash" then cars will zoom in from offscreen and wreck into some of the other traffic on the road. When your run ends, you have the option of looking at a list of all the tweets that were used to bring things into the game.

To my horror, I found that in this particular instance "car crash" was pulled from a huge retweet campaign trying to raise money for a girl who had lost her parents in a car crash in Florida. I know Tweet Land has no way of telling the difference, but I couldn't help but feel crass for playing a game that was fueled by somebody else's tragedy. With some of the other keywords used in the game – like tsunami, terrorist, and death – I have no doubt that encountering a downer situation like that will occur often.

While I do still think the idea behind Tweet Land is incredibly clever, I just find the game too fundamentally flawed to be enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, I want to like it and I did find myself having fun with the game at times, but those fun times are quickly diminished when you realize your game is possibly being powered by the tragic tweets of strangers. Beyond that, the gameplay is too average to warrant dealing with cheap deaths and an unpredictable difficulty.

With some tweaks to the controls and interface, and perhaps some sort of filter for what kind of keywords are utilized, then Tweet Land could end up being something pretty special. It feels like it's just a couple notches off of being something great, and I hope it gets there someday. As it is now, though, it's hard to recommend the game except to those who might be curious to check out its novel use of Twitter or are prepared to deal with its shortcomings.

Ticket to Ride Pocket

The patch notes also mention a lot of bug fixes, including memory leaks. Hit those up if you are really, really into the nitty-gritty of a splendidly comprehensive patch that adds functionality that we've all been waiting for. Here's to hoping Pocket gets all of the maps in the iPad version down the line, too.