A few days ago, we highlighted three children’s games for Windows Phone that two-man indie developer TegTap brought along to Apps World. All great games for kids, but older gamers in our audience will naturally crave a more substantial gameplay experience. Luckily TegTap is poised to bring just such a game to Windows Phone 8 in the next few weeks…
We’re pleased to bring you this exclusive first look at the Windows Phone version of Solar Warfare (not to be confused with Star Warfare!) from TegTap. A 3D sci-fi shooter with expansive levels, gigantic bosses, and lots of ship upgrades to unlock, Solar Warfare is poised to take shoot-em-up fans by storm. It will even feature MOGA controller support shortly after launch. Head past the break for our hands-on video and preview!
Solar avenger
In Solar Warfare, players must pilot a lone ship against the alien armada that destroyed their homeworld. Like most shoot-em-ups, the focus is more on action than story – but it’s always good to know why you’re blowing everybody up.
The controls for your ship are fluid and easy to grasp. Tilt the device in any direction to aim, and then hold anywhere on the right side of the screen to fire rapid shots. A button at the bottom-right corner fires powerful homing missiles that must be purchased from the shop.
The ship automatically flies forward by default. You can also speed it up by holding the thruster button at the bottom-left corner of the screen, hopefully zooming past incoming fire, and even stop the ship’s forward momentum by pressing and holding anywhere else on the left side of the screen. The ability to stop in place provides a greater degree of control than you’d usually get in games like this, and makes aiming easier too.
After scouring a planet’s surface of enemies, players will complete a level and receive ratings for their performance. You can also visit the shop then and spend the currency collected during the level. The shop sells weapon and shield upgrades, plus missiles and extra lives that will make it easier to complete future missions.
Sights set on Windows Phone
We saw Solar Warfare running on a Nokia Lumia 810, where it generally maintained 60 frames per second during gameplay. TegTap has also tested the game on the entry-level Lumia 520 handset, on which it performed very well. Devices with 512 MB of RAM don’t usually get a lot of 3D games, so it’s cool that Solar Warfare will run on them at launch.
The Android version of Solar Warfare is MOGA controller compatible, so naturally we wondered if that would apply to the Windows phone game as well. Troy Tegeder, studio president does plan to add MOGA support to our game, though not until the first title update. Still, it’s always great to see more games supporting physical controllers!
Solar Warfare should arrive on Windows Phone in late February or early March. The Windows Phone version will not be free to play, which should be good news to gamers who dislike In-App Purchases. We’ll let you know as soon as it’s available. As for the Windows 8 version promised a while back, that should still arrive later in the year.