Mobile Gaming on the Rise
With the huge E3 gaming event about to be underway, all of our favourite game publishers are announcing — and teasing — some very exciting new titles. Never before has there been this much buzz for mobile platform games. Game developers have certainly upped the ante with the announcement of The Elder Scrolls: Blades, Command and Conquer: Rivals and Gears POP!
TES: Blades comes as a sort of counterpart to Fallout Shelter, the build-your-own-Vault mobile game spawned from the Fallout franchise, which has also just been announced as now available for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Not the first game developed for mobile by Bethesda, The Elder Scrolls: Legends predates Blades but occupies a totally different mobile game genre — that of the digital collectable card game.
Blades promises console level graphics on a mobile interface, so saving up for that new iPhone might be a good idea after all. The game features three modes to play in — Abyss, Arena and Town.
Town mode allows you to interact with NPCs and access quests, as well as upgrading and stylising the town as you like. You are also able to visit other players towns.
Arena mode features player-vs-player combat, allowing you to take on friends and challenge them with your characters.
Abyss mode lets you journey deeper and deeper into a continuously generated dungeon, gathering loot and vanquishing creatures as you go. The aim of Abyss mode is to progress and survive as far as possible through this dungeon.
TES: Blades will be available for free on Android and iOS and is scheduled for release in late 2018, with an anticipated release for consoles and PCs at some point in the future. Developers intend for Blades to have virtual reality support as well, making this a truly immersive mobile game. Whether you play it based on its gameplay alone or because you are an existing fan of the franchise, Blades promises to deliver what gamers are looking for: an interactive mobile gaming experience, with multiple combat styles and superb graphics.
Gears POP! was announced in unison with Gears 5 and serves as an adorable accompaniment to Microsoft’s main announcement. With a mashup of the Funko’s POP! vinyl figure designs and original characters from the Gears of War franchise, it looks like it will be a charming and fun gaming experience, although not much is yet known about its gameplay. It is scheduled for release in 2019 and will be available on Android and iOS.
Also announced alongside these two new releases was Gears Tactics. A new take on the Gears of War world, Gears Tactics introduces a turn-based strategy element to the existing franchise.
Command and Conquer: Rivals has met mixed responses from fans. Most of their dissatisfaction stems from the changes to the gameplay that are necessary for the game to be functionally playable on mobile, and the fact that Rivals is the first C&C game released by EA since Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was released in 2010. Despite some long-time fans feeling neglected by EA, Rivals will likely still appeal to a newer audience and the gameplay will be well received by existing fans of the real-time strategy and mobile strategy genre.
Slowly but surely, mobile gaming is beginning to be seen as a more legitimate platform for gamers, and with big names like Bethesda releasing such promising offerings as TES: Blades, this trend is likely to increase.
