This Week’s Must-Have iOS Games: GTA: Vice City, Modern Combat 4, Minigore 2 & More [Roundup]

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This week’s must-have games roundup is by far one of our best yet; it’s filled with five awesome titles that you won’t want to miss. Three of those titles are classic games reborn on iOS, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — my personal favorite, Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, and Mutant Mudds.

We also have Gameloft’s incredible new first-person shooter, Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, and Minigore 2: Zombies, another terrific dual-stick shooter from Mountain Sheep.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — Universal ($4.99)

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is finally available to download on iOS. Rockstar Games has brought the hugely popular title to mobile to celebrate its 10th anniversary — as it did with Grand Theft Auto 3 last year — and it has made a number of improvements that will ensure you enjoy the game even more this time around.

Vice City on iOS is almost exactly the same game you enjoyed on PlayStation 2 all those years ago; the storyline and missions haven’t changed. However, Rockstar has updated it a little for modern devices. Earlier this week, the company revealed it has “updated the character models and lighting effects as well as new and more precise firing and targeting options.”

So it’s the Vice City you love, only better. If you only buy one game this week, it’ll have to be this one… or the one below.

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour — Universal ($6.99)

https://youtu.be/qCulvhFX-MM

Yeah, if you can only buy one, I’m not sure which you should go for — both Vice City and Modern Combat 4 are incredible on iOS. I suppose it all depends what kind of game you enjoy more.

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour is the latest addition to Gameloft’s awesome first-person shooter series, and it promises to push the boundaries of mobile gaming even further. It’s “the most memorable action thriller ever,” Gameloft says, boasting an intense solo campaign and a completely redesigned multiplayer mode. What’s more, its console-quality graphics look incredible on Retina display devices.

Zero Hour’s campaign takes place in the wake of a nuclear disaster, and you play one of a few elite soldiers who have been tasked with saving the world from complete devastation. You must track down and rescue the world’s leaders from a terrorist group in missions that will take you from Antarctica to Barcelona.

Once you’ve finished with that, you can dive into Zero Hour’s new online multiplayer, which will throw you into 6v6 battles with all kinds of game modes. There’s an improved loadout system with over 20,000 weapon arrangements, and a new specialization system with redesigned skills.

Zero Hour is the first title powered by Gameloft’s new Havok Engine, which claims to offer “amazing ragdoll effects and the most realistic-feeling vehicles ever.” Couple that with the incredible sound and cutting-edge graphics and you have the best first-person shooter to hit the App Store to date.

Minigore 2: Zombies — Universal ($1.99)

I was addicted to the original Minigore when it first came to iOS devices, and I’m having trouble putting this one down, too. The dual-stick shooter’s sequel sees the return of John Gore, you must fight his way through “sunny lakes, graveyards and freezing planes into a stormy forest where the legendary METUSALEM has brought to life murderous chefs, giant lumberjacks, killer penguins, a single mouse, three hundred rabbits, and the entire undead army of the COSSACK GENERAL.”

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

There are more than 300 challenges you must try to complete using 20 playable characters, featuring guest stars from other iOS games including Bike Baron, Zombieville USA, and Hook Champ. There are 60 different enemies to fight with more than 10 weapons, and 7 unique bosses. And thanks to the game’s new engine, it’s capable of showing more than 150 enemies on screen at once. Think you can handle that?

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition — iPad ($9.99)

The award-winning Baldur’s Gate is finally playable on your iPad. This title set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons computer games, and it’s almost identical to the original — aside from some upgrades and enhancements. It offers an 80-hour role-playing campaign, with more than 40 classes and kits, more than 100 spells, and more than 150 magical items.

It also boasts a new adventure called The Black Pits, and a number of new characters, including Rasaad yn Bashir, a Calishite Monk; Dorn Il-Khan, a half-orc blackguard; and Neera the Wild Mage, and half-elf on a quest to control her power.

Mutant Mudds — Universal ($0.99)

Mutant Mudds is an awesome 12-bit platform game with an awesome twist. You play Max, the game’s hero, who is a 2D sprite that has the ability to leap into the third dimension by “jetting between the background and the foreground playfields with his trust jetpack in this unique dimensionally-woven experience.”

Armed with a heavy-duty water cannon, Max has what he needs to vanquish his long-time nemesis: the Mutant Mudds. Play through 60 “hard-as-steel” levels that span across five pixelated worlds, with 20 “lip-smacking delicious ‘Grannie’ levels, specifically designed for veteran players.”

Like a lot of the titles in this week’s roundup, Mutant Mudds was ported to iOS from another platform — the Nintendo DS — so some of you may already be familiar with it.

What’s Your Favorite?

So that concludes our list of this week’s must-have iOS games. If you’ve picked up something that you think we should have included, be sure to let us know about it in the comments.

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