Good news for budding Hero Academy players – the brand new team to join in the fray are the Dwarves and will be hitting the academy on February 22nd! We’ll be seeing this new and exciting team in just one week!This news comes hot on the heels of the new board which is also being released on the 22nd and is available free for all players. Whatsmore, the the update is also bringing Gamecenter and leaderboards support – boom, just like that! Not to mention some balance changes are also on the cards.

Robot Entertainment has detailed some statistics about the Dwarves and describes them as “extremely crafty” and that they gain improved bonuses when placed on bonus squares. The Dwarves also feature and expertise in wide area attacks. Details about the new hero faces are as follows:

PALADIN

(Class: Fighter) – Holy warrior who can heal and revive allies, healing herself in the process.

GUNNER

(Class: Shooter) – Shooter who deals high damage to a nearby enemy. AOE damage at range.

GRENADIER

(Class: Caster) – Lobs molotovs over enemies for AOE damage. Weak melee attack.

ENGINEER

(Class: Support) – Shields a single ally/crystal. Higher bonus from premium squares.

ANNIHILATOR

(Class: Super Unit) – Deals heavy damage with AOE knockback. Direct hits weaken physical defenses.

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All this coming next week - February 22nd!

I’m sure all Hero Academy fans will be looking forward to this exciting new update!

Expect this new board to land on your iPhones and iPods very soon!

Dusty has been hard at work over at Windstorm Studios where he has launched a brand new website design for the futuristic video game studio. The new website highlights and provides alot more detail about Atomic City Adventures including background information and character bios. If you have played the game and are interested in reading a bit more about the world of Atomic City then checking out this new website should be your first port of call.

Dusty is looking for feedback about the new site design so feel free to head over to the Atomic City Adventures facebook page and be sure to let him know your thoughts. I think its quite a snazzy design!

Check back to the site every now and then for more character and district information!

Our ambition is to position this website as a resource of fan generated content along with providing exciting competitions and interviews along with original thought and speculation about the studios endeavours. Fans can join in the Orcs Must Die! Combo leaderboard and try and gain on-site achievements for activity on the website. Anyone who wishes to help with the website is most welcome and the sign up form can be found readily under the “contribute” section.

Robot Fans launches with two episodes of Robot Radio and a brand new exclusive art piece from Chris Moffitt, one of the artists at Robot Entertainment. There is also a chance to win a prize by registering in the first 30 days. So what are you waiting for – head over to Robot Fans and register today! We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Visit Robot Fans

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As we move forward Remember ES will continue to deliver studio news from Robot and all the Ex Ensemble Studios. So don’t worry you’ll still get your fix of news right here as before. If you’re looking for even more news, articles and speculation about Robot Entertainment you’ll find that over at Robot Fans.

Popular mint maker, Mentos has recently procured the services of Graeme Devine to help them launch a new iOS game to go along with a new marketing campaign for the Mentos brand. The company certainly know how pick their game designers enlisting the help of Ex-Ensembler and now founder of GRL Games, Graeme Devine to design the game “Spider Swiper” for iOS.

The game itself is pretty simple, players just need to swipe the spiders in order to defeat them. The best swipes lead into spider swiping combos. Beware though, these spiders look incredibly realistic, so if you are scared of spiders you may like to give this one a pass! Alternatively, if you want to give those pesky spiders a piece of your mind then this app is just perfect to release your dislike! Check out the game on iTunes using the link below and enjoy swiping!

Did I mention if you beat the first spider you can get a code for a free pack of Mentos? Hello free mints!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spider-swiper-by-mentos/id494017300?ls=1&mt=8

Today marks the global release of Robot’s Game 3.0 – “Hero Academy” the light-hearted tactical strategy game for iPhone and iPods. Players choose their teams and then go head to head with their friends in “friendly” battle. The goal of the game is simple, try to destroy the opponents crystals before they destroy yours. Players make use of a number of different characters and items to achieve this goal, and the best will results will be the players who choose the right combination at the right time. Check out the latest launch trailer:

Having played a couple of games this evening I have been very impressed with the game. Starting with the basics the user interface is clean and intuitive. The art style encourages the games sense of light-hearted battle and approachability along side an equally encouraging music track. The first impressions are certainly excellent. Players can log in to the game via their existing RobotEntertainment.com accounts. No account? No problem! The sign up process for new users is incredibly easy and fast, just enter in your email address and choose a password and that’s it, you’re good to go! No pesky forms or long registrations to trawl through.

Once signed up and logged in, hitting “Play” it is then time to choose your opponent. Players can either choose a friend whos Robot ID they know, or can search randomly for an opponent. Once the opponent is decided a brief introduction screen is displayed which describes how to play the game. The instructions can seem slightly daunting at first, but not to worry. As soon as the game starts players can get help on every single item in the game by pressing the help button in the corner. The help system is very comprehensive and it is clear a lot of attention to detail has gone into providing players with all the information they need to get right into the game. During my first play through I found it took me a few goes to work out precisely what was going on, a few turns later though and I was in the know. Overall I felt it was a very good experience playing the game for a first time and learning the ropes. The game feels very refined in this regard and it is clear that Robot tried hard to make the game as approachable as possible.

As for the gameplay experience itself, its addictive, really addictive. So much so you may want to make sure your iOS device is fully charged before playing as this game is hard to put down! There is certainly a lot of thrill and excitement when you make a cunning move to out with your opponent. The asynchronous game-play particularly fuels the addictive feel to the game as you can sit down and have a number of games buzzing away with a few players all going at fast pace. If you’re ever bored and need to fill 10 minutes a game of Hero Academy is all you need. Of course if speedy games are not your preference you can always play the game at a more leisurely pace.

In terms of pricing the core game is priced at a very accessible price of FREE. This is a great price for the game as it will result in a much larger population of players and increased exposure. Payment for the game comes in the form of extra content packs such as additional teams, colours and taunts. I much prefer this payment model for mobile games. Those players who enjoy Hero Academy will no doubt look to stand out from the crowd and can purchase extra content for as little as £0.69.

Overall Hero Academy looks to be a very exciting and addictive game that you should definitely check out on the iTunes store right away. After all with the price being free what have you got to lose? Nothing!  What have you got to gain? Well.. a whole lot of fun! Check it out now using the iTunes link below! See you in-game!

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/hero-academy/id488156323?mt=8 (UK)

www.heroacademyapp.com (All other regions)

Orcs Must Die! features on this weeks Xbox Live sale. Now is a great time to tell all your friends about the need to go Orc slashin’, from just 600 MS Points! Be sure to check it out and spread the word! http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Orcs-Must-Die/ 

In other news Hero Academy is due to launch globally in the next few days. Your nickname for Hero Academy will be the same as that on your RobotEntertainment.com profile. Why not encourage your friends to sign up online so that they are ready to go into battle when the game launches for iOS devices in the next few days?

Age of Empires Online gets an update this week too. The Skirmish Hall booster developed by Gas Powered Games has gone live and allows players to create their own custom skirmish games. In a similar fashion to skirmish games on older Age titles players can control various settings like resources, difficulty and victory conditions. The Skirmash Hall is certainly been one of the most requested features the community has been looking for from Age Online and it is good to see Microsoft is listening to the community feedback and doing the Age series justice! The Skirmish hall is available for FREE for a limited time only. So I suggest opening up AOE-Online and downloading it straight away!

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/Product/Age-of-Empires-Online/

Great news for Age of Empires 3 fans! Today Microsoft Studios have announced the release of the compete Age of Empires 3 collection on Steam. The full collection includes Age of Empires 3 and both expansions, The Warchiefs and The Asian Dynasties and is available on Steam today with a 50% discount on the price. The standard price is £29.99 but the game is £14.99 with this time limited launch offer. Currently the complete collection is available in stores for around the £22 price range so there is good value in picking up the Steam edition with the discounted price.

Many readers will already have a copy of Age 3 and the expansions, but if you are perhaps missing an expansion or are just looking for another CD Key to play online, this Steam bundle may be perfect for you. Unfortunately the package doesn’t include any extra Steam bonuses like achievements.

Its great to see Microsoft is still making investment in this great game though. The Age Community will no doubt be pleased to see additional people join the ranks on ESO which at the time of writing has 2000+ people online. With this announcement of a Steam release, now would be a perfect time to go back and check out some classic Age 3 multiplayer. See you on the battle field again folks!

Visit the Steam Store

Welcome to the Hero Academy! A few days ago Robot Entertainment took the wraps off more details about the upcoming mobile tactics game. First and foremost we have an exciting gameplay trailer and we can finally see more about how the game works. Players pick a friend to versus against and then pick their teams before heading out into a game of turn by turn tactical combat. Players start on either end of the board and the objective is to destroy the other enemies team. Special bonus items are placed on the map to shake things up as well. Magic crystals for both teams must also be rigorously defended. As we read before the gameplay is very light-hearted and seems to take a pick up and play approach. Lets take a look at the video trailer to get a better idea of the gameplay:

Its good to see what appears to be a very clean user interface and polished graphics. From the video the game looks very intuitive and easy to play, the asynchronous multi player should be great for those players wanting fast paced matches. Also announced today are the two teams which will be launching with the game sometime this Winter. First we have the “Council” who appear to be the good guys and then we have the “Dark Elves” who seem to take the guise of being the bad guys.

The Council are the heart and soul of the Hero Academy – the oldest team and one of the most well-respected. Drawing their members from multiple human kingdoms, they fight with honor and bravery. The Council’s teams are always extremely well-balanced, with powerful area of effect attacks, good staying power, and the ability to keep control of key positions on the field.

The Orcs Must Die! “Lost Adventures” DLC pack is now live on the Xbox Live Marketplace right now! So if your after your fix of more Orc bustin’ action then you best head over to your console or online to the Xbox Live Marketplace to download the DLC for just 400 Microsoft Points. Just in-case you need a reminder of the DLC packs awesome features for just 400 MS Points here is the low down:

New Fortresses and Enemies

• Five New Fortresses – Repel the orc onslaught in four completely new fortresses plus a reverse version of The Tower where your enemies have the high ground! Each fortress can be played on Apprentice, War Mage, or Nightmare difficulty.
• Two New Enemies – Fear the icy breath of the Frost Bat, and beware the draining magical attack of the Cyclops Mage!
• New Leaderboards – Challenge your friends for the highest score on leaderboards for each of the five new levels.
• New skull rewards – Earn up to fifty additional skulls to further upgrade your arsenal of traps, including the new traps in the Lost Adventures pack.

New Additions to the War Mage’s Toolbox

• Mana Well – Place the Mana Well in strategic locations around a fortress for a burst of magical energy at just the right moment.
• Vampiric Gauntlets – Armed with these grim gauntlets, you can drain the enemy’s health while restoring yours at the same time. If you have a desperate need to use spells, you can also use the gauntlets to drain your health in exchange for mana.
• Alchemist’s Satchel – Toss a series of deadly acid bombs that explode on your command to melt flesh from the bones of multiple groups of orcs at once.
• Shock Zapper – Mount the Shock Zapper on the ceiling and zap fliers and ground units equally dead with this oversized pest remover.
• Floor Scorcher – By the time they see the fire, it will be too late. Burn entire groups of complacent enemies with this pop-up flaming surprise.