[1]Celsius Games [1] has released the next installment in the Red Nova [2] saga. In Episode 1: Red Nova, which was released earlier this year, players were introduced to the Earth Colonial Fleet, brave soldiers tasked with protecting the people of our home planet. While out on a test flight with the shiny new prototype fighter ESC Red Nova, the crew happens upon a previously unknown alien fleet preparing to stage a sneak attack on the human colonies.
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In order to give the Red Nova a chance to escape and warn the rest of the fleet you have volunteered to attack the aliens head-on. With a choice of any of the fighters on deck, you have to use your wits, guns, and ample supply of homing missiles to survive the alien onslaught for as long as possible.
In Episode Two: Mercy, the ESC has been receiving reports that a massive alien mothership has begun an assault on the shipyards at Gamma Crucis, a mere 88 light years from Earth. It has disabled the fleet there and without your help the crew of those ships will perish.
While the Red Nova occupies the mothership you must use your skill to pilot your heavy transport ship, the Raven, against the alien’s fighter onslaught launched from the mothership. Battle through the waves of enemy ships and rescue the stranded citizens at the shipyard before it’s too late.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Cc6paatto]
Episode Two is a free update for those who already own Episode One – if you haven’t yet purchased this challenging game for your iOS mobile device, you can get it in the iTunes App Store [4] for only 99 cents (USD) – a very good value for such a polished title.
New features added in Episode Two include an added “Gun Pod” power-up which, when activated, will orbit your ship, targeting the nearest enemy and firing at a rapid rate. Gun Pod is backwards compatible with Episode 1. Another new feature is the anti-capital-ship explosive enemy type, which is only featured in Episode 2. This feature offers lots of hit points and will only attack capital ships.
Fixes included with the Episode 2 Update:
- Optimized rendering engine, should improve performance
- Changed pause button to make it easier to see the radar
- Radar markers now change size based on distance to target
- Fixed a pause/resume bug that would occur when the game entered the background during “Game Over”
- Increased the range at which energy orbs will become attracted to the ship
- Improved loading time from optimized data files
- Improved menu navigation
Red Nova is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later and is Rated 9+ for Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence. For even more insight into the Red Nova story, check out the short story Test Pilot [5] by game creator Colin Walsh.