This week in iOS games it was a big week for big shooters coming to your iPhone and iPad, with Call of Duty Warzone, The Division Resurgence and Rainbow Six Mobile all breaking cover.
Plus! There’s an oddball Witcher spin-off starring trusty steed Roach, a Far Cry game that isn’t a Far Cry game and what else to play this week.
Let’s get into it shall we?
A big week for big-name shooters
Ready for an announcement of an announcement? Good. Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will be revealed on Sept. 15, Activision said this week during GameSpot’s Swipe Mobile showcase.
Warzone was actually announced by Activision back in March, in order to lure people over to work at one of the many different development studios making the game, which are dotted across Canada, the U.S., Spain and China. And hopes for this one must be high, given Call of Duty Mobile’s wild success.
As part of the same stream, we got a first good look at the mobile editions of The Division and Rainbow Six, too. And both looked very much like their console and PC counterparts.
The Division Resurgence is being pitched as a separate story to the one from the other Division games, but will retain the open world, team-based mission structure of its predecessors and is set in a near-future New York, like the original game.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Six Mobile has a huge amount of support from Ubisoft, which has 11 studios plus Call of Duty: Mobile co-developer Tencent working on the game. This is one for hardcore shooter fans, with teams of attackers and defenders going head-to-head. There’s more detail coming on this one in Ubisoft’s Forward showcase on Saturday.
Race as Roach from The Witcher
The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red had a bit of crossover fun this week with Roach Race, a retro infinite runner where you play as Geralt’s trusty steed from The Witcher 3.
As well as iOS and Android, the game will also be appearing inside Cyberpunk 2077’s arcades, hence the ‘Cyberpunk Arcade’ splash screen when you boot up the game.
It’s pretty simple stuff: tap to jump over hazards and flapping Griffins as you collect apples and carrots, and double-tap to make Roach front flip as he double-jumps. We don’t remember doing that in Wild Hunt.
There are little in-jokes about Cyberpunk and The Witcher dotted throughout, so it's a nice bit of CD Projekt Red fan service, and it’s completely free of ads and in-app purchases too.
When is a Far Cry game not a Far Cry game?
With Rainbow Six and The Division on their way to mobile, another blockbuster Ubisoft shooter is already on the App Store. Sort of.
Wild Arena Survivors is a battle royale game that was once known as Far Cry: Wild Call, we reported elsewhere this week. And you can see the common ground between this and Far Cry 6, from the Cuban-inspired setting to the way wild animals get involved in the combat.
Unfortunately during testing in its former life as Far Cry: Wild Call, Ubisoft didn’t feel like it was going to be successful enough to carry the big-name shooter brand, so it got turned into Wild Arena Survivors instead. Weird.
What to play this week
Following closely after certified bangers Poinpy and Into the Breach, Netflix continues to roll out some excellent new games, and Lucky Luna is the latest. It’s a retro platform adventure with a stiff challenge and slightly unusual controls - you can’t jump, but you can swipe to move our hero Luna through each perilous, spike-strewn stage.
Then there’s charming Railbound, a winning combo of delightful cartoon visuals and beautifully-designed puzzles. Or indeed Pako Highway, a spectacular racer/runner hybrid where you weave through traffic gaining boosts for every near-miss. It’s got a great Hotline Miami-like soundtrack, too.
Until next week!
-Neil Long
