Home Gaming Gameloft clones StarCraft and Uncharted to iPhone and iPad

Gameloft clones StarCraft and Uncharted to iPhone and iPad

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Alright, screw this; I’m now officially beyond pissed that I don’t own an iPad or an iPhone. Those who do will know Gameloft already, but for those that don’t, they’re a company that makes games for iOS devices (iPads, iPod Touch and iPhone) that shamelessly clone other games from other platforms.

You could argue that they lack originality and make a living riding on coattails, but you could also argue that the games they clone are games that would probably never come to the iOS devices anyway. So then, are they cashing in on a lack of competition, or are they filling a gap in the market and satiating gamers’ desires for familiar and much-loved titles on a mobile platform? Personally, I don’t care because they’re bringing two “new” games to the iPad and iPhone which will probably be the closest things you’ll ever get to mobile Uncharted and StarCraft. And I want that.

Shadow Guardian features adventurer Nathan Drake Jason Cole on a quest across various locations to track down artefacts that give their possessor powerful abilities. It’s typical Indiana Jones/Lara Croft/Uncharted fare, but Gameloft is insisting that Jason Cole is a character who can stand on his own. He has the ability to traverse obstacles, scramble along walls, fire a ton of different guns while hiding behind cover, and take down enemies with close-ranged melee attacks. The melee attacks look as if the motion capture has been lifted straight out of Naughty Dog’s series; just take a look at the trailer for proof.

StarFront: Collision (notice the two-word splice with capital letter in the middle; absolutely nothing like “StarCraft” at all) is Gameloft’s science fiction RTS game coming for the iPad and iPhone. It features a human faction wearing hulking armour trying desperately to fight off an evil race of bug-like aliens. While doing so, a third race of super-advanced aliens attacks both of them. Oh yes, they’re all fighting over a highly valuable crystal resource called Zenodium, but it’s yellow so nothing like those blue minerals from StarCraft. Oh wait.

It’s entirely original and absolutely nothing like Blizzard’s RTS masterpiece at all. But, I’m entirely okay with this because it means that when I eventually get a bloody iPad, I can pretend I’m playing StarCraft; and I’ll get to do it whenever and wherever I want.

[Youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxNUzRrjDs[/youtube]

As some people have already pointed out: anybody who gets up in arms about Gameloft ripping off StarCraft need only be reminded where StarCraft found its inspiration. Warhammer 40K anyone?

Source: Kotaku article 1 and article 2

Last Updated: December 3, 2010

4 Comments

  1. Geoffrey Tim

    December 3, 2010 at 15:40

    Your descriptions of each game were awesome. 😀

    Reply

  2. C Le Grange

    December 3, 2010 at 15:58

    yeah, i think its awesome, and if developers of the ‘original’ games dont do the effort to make it for the ipad, iphone, then all the power to Gameloft…wrt the originality of the content, who cares? like you mentioned, Starcraft IS a rip-off or AT LEAST inspired from Warhammer 40k…

    Reply

  3. Miklós Szecsei

    December 3, 2010 at 16:15

    Thanks! I like to think it was the overwhelming originality of the games that inspired me.

    Reply

  4. ...squirrel

    January 13, 2011 at 18:05

    who cares, big developers just make flashy games with weak gameplay, they deserve to be ripped and pirated, people should buy the games because they want to support the company, because they made such a great game. i play for Valve games entirely because i believe they are making an experiance for the player, not just money for themselves

    Reply

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