Gameloft bringing Dark Knight Rises and Shark Dash to Xbox Windows Phone 8 this week
Xbox games for Windows Phone 8 were slim pickings until Gameloft’s highly anticipated Asphalt 7 rolled out a few weeks ago. That rad racer became the first of the publisher’s 12 announced games to actually see release, followed shortly thereafter by The Amazing Spider-Man and Real Soccer 2013. That still leaves 9 more games to go, including the hotly anticipated FPS titles N.O.V.A. 3 and Modern Combat 4.
We won’t be shooting enemies this week, at least not with bullets. Batarangs, however are a different story. This Wednesday, Gameloft will release The Dark Knight Rises and Shark Dash for Windows Phone 8.
The Dark Knight Rises
Android screenshots
Gameloft is the only company to produce a videogame version of the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. The film centers on Batman’s return to crime fighting after an arbitrary 8-year retirement. Batman must stop a villain named Bane (who bears no resemblance to the actual comic character) from detonating a nuclear warhead in Gotham City and fulfilling a plan that makes no sense if you think about it for more than five seconds. Count me as a big Batman fan who didn’t enjoy Nolan’s final movie too much.
The Dark Knight Rises game follows the basic plot of the movie and features such characters as Catwoman, Bane, Lucius Fox, Commissioner Gordon, and Alfred. They are all voiced by so-so sound-alikes (this is a phone game, after all). But regardless of your feelings about the movie, an easy gauge for whether you’ll enjoy this title is how much you like Gameloft’s The Amazing Spider-Man.
See, both games share engines and play very closely to each other. Batman moves around a sparsely populated open-world, stopping random crimes, searching for collectibles, and leveling up to gain new abilities. He’ll actually do some sneaking around, gliding through the air, and drive a couple of vehicles too, so don’t think this won’t feel like a Batman game.
We haven’t played the Windows Phone 8 version of this one yet, but it’s likely to have a relatively low frame rate like Spider-Man, so keep your enthusiasm in check if you require only the smoothest graphics in your phone games for some reason. Also, Spider-Man has proven to be a very buggy title with at least one broken Achievement, so let’s all wish really hard that The Dark Knight will Rise above similar issues.
The Dark Knight Rises is also one of those games that people with 8 GB phones likely won’t be able to install, as the Android version clocks in at 1.8 Gigabytes. Expect the Windows Phone game to require a minimum of 4 GB of free space for installation, if not more. Remember, that’s a Windows Phone restriction and not the developer’s fault.
The Dark Knight Rises will cost $6.99. It’s coming to all regions except for Brazil an Korea.
Shark Dash
Here’s a game that will take up wayyy less storage space than Gameloft’s 3D titles and should run on phones with only 512 MB of RAM such as the Lumia 620. It also happens to be a physics puzzle game. But! But!! I’ve already put a decent amount of time in with the Xbox Windows 8 version, and even though this genre usually makes my eyes all a-glaze, I still like Shark Dash.
The story involves a bunch of toy ducks kidnapping the heroic toy shark’s girlfriend. It’s basically a setup for taking down ducks, much like the birds versus pigs conflict in Angry Birds. This game consists of 96 levels (with more promised in the future). The goal is always to eat all of the ducks in as few moves as possible.
To get those ducks, you’ll tap and pull the shark. Release him and he slingshots around the tub, bouncing off of walls, knocking things over, and eating any ducks he bumps into. There are several more sharks to unlock, all with unique abilities. Coins collected throughout the game (or purchased with real money) can be spent to unlock new skins and power-ups.
Shark Dash for Windows 8 costs $1.99, and you can get it here right now. The Windows Phone 8 version will be 99 cents, but you will of course have to wait for Wednesday. It will be available in Brazil and Korea, but not Russia and Taiwan, presumably because those two countries are extra scared of sharks.
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ttsoldier says:
Keep em coming!
m_umair_85 says:
Hope dark knight has an open world like spiderman... keep the man series comming...
Paul Acevedo says:
The article does state it's an open-world game.
Curtieson says:
Didn't you see that on your home page...where it says "1st Rule of Commenting: Don't Read the Article Before Posting".
Rishiraj Sisodi says:
Temple run,jetpeck joyride and Instagram are the key to success for windows phone. Gameloft is already performing well
adrian1338 says:
key success - get lost. it is a feature just like all the other things on the system that would be nice to have. a stupid picture app is no game changer - its the image.
Hammered Pizza says:
It's not a 'picture app', it's a social network. People like to be able to keep up with their friends and family on their smartphone these days.
snarkysnickerdoodle says:
Are you really that ignorant to the huge number of people who won't even consider WP without Instagram?
adrian1338 says:
yes. Huge number of people.tz. Not the typical behavior of a customer..or is it
JonnieLasVegas says:
I love jetpack joyride! Hope it comes soon, as an Xbox live title. Also love Shark Dash & Batman, glad to see them arriving. Having less & less reasons to bust out my Android tablet these days. Now let's hope Flipboard will be on its way too!
TonyDedrick says:
I'm with you on Flipboard. Even more so than the 'gram. Its really a neat and beautiful way to access fun news and info.
Shantek says:
Really? Does instagram really have to be brought up in EVERY article comments. We know its missing, move on
missionsparta says:
Gameloft....you keep putting games out of this quality on WIndows Phone, I'll buy it wether or not it isnt my cup of tea. Im so starved for quality games, that I'll reward anyone that puts a true effort into this. Right now GameLoft is up there with Nokia for my respect for their show of support for WP.
edhunter69 says:
Perfect, only games im missing than are pinball fx2 and he-man from iPhone
AriesDog says:
I really, really want Pinball FX2.
GuilhermeManso says:
Why no Batman for Brazil?? Gameloft has PEGI/ESRB for this game and it can be used to publish in here. :(
Montpbm says:
Keep it up!
ncxcstud says:
Hopefully this isn't the extent of what Joe Belfiore was talking about on his twitter this morning ;) Though, I'm glad more things are coming to WP8! Keep'em coming!
Zeeshan360 says:
He was talking about apps not games .. More to come then .. ;-)
pizzalovinhulk says:
I'm buying BATMAN
DreadVenom says:
I love Wednesday thanks to Gameloft.
abel920 says:
YES! XBox-ssiah!
I seriously love WP because we get all the XBox games! This is has been like Christmas all over again the past few days, Skype, XBox, now with the 620 being available in Sweden! Just soo much! I love WP!
EasilyTheBest says:
Hope these all don't need 1gb Ram otherwise my Lumia 620 is up for sale.
panosdim82 says:
I feel you... :/
Manojkumar_25 says:
MS please release games as free..dont tag a huge price atleast...
Paul Acevedo says:
These games come from Gameloft, not Microsoft. And they will cost the same as the iOS and Android versions.
Morq says:
I am not sure so I just have to ask. You are joking right? Or retarded?
tompski says:
You do realize that these games are developed by people, right? People need to get paid, agree?
Zeeshan360 says:
Shitty Indian mentality .. I know hundreds of Indian people buying Androids just coz it has free games
AriesDog says:
Glad all these games are coming out for Windows Phone 8 but those with WP7.x under contract are feeling left out in the cold.
bitemeblinky says:
They made it clear that this would happen like a year ago at this point if not more. If someone got a 7 phone right before the 8s came out they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Residing says:
^This. I purchased a Lumia 900 in November, knowing what the app availability was, and would probably be, and I am fine with the apps currently available. I will be getting another Lumia off contract towards the end of the 2013 and my Lumia 900 will more than suffice until then.
HNNNNNGHHH says:
I could day the same for those sporting WP8 devices wishing for a WP7 device due to the availability of custom ROM's, albeit on a smaller scale. (WP8 won't get it due to the secure bootloader.)
IMHO, both OS's have their niches.
WinFan1 says:
Okay then gameloft you bunch of gangsters!
K_lando says:
I like how you dedicated so much word-count to deriding the TDKR film and get practically zero responses in the comments (well, except for this one). What's that tell you?
Paul Acevedo says:
It tells me that either everyone is ambivalent to the movie or that not enough people read the article. :-\
JonnieLasVegas says:
The former for me. Good article.
Paul Acevedo says:
ladydias says:
I'm actually with you on your critique of the movie. The one saving grace was that the ending for the movie, post the bomb, was what I always wanted for batman and catwoman. Otherwise, yeah the movie was so-so and Anne Hathaway was a miserable choice for catwoman.
Murgatroyd7 says:
Everyone thinks I'm crazy for not liking the new Batman movies, but I find them to be kinda shitty. And I get that people are sad about Heath Ledger ruining his life and killing himself, so nobody's allowed to criticize him ever, but I thought he made a horrible Joker.
Paul Acevedo says:
I can't agree with your criticism of his performance, but I didn't dig the movie as a whole. I prefer a lighter tone and more heroism in my superhero movies.
TonyDedrick says:
Count me as shocked that Nolan fanboys didn't come out and wish death upon you Paul. Those guys and gals are a loyal bunch, lol
Mamacita42 says:
My words exactly!
Morq says:
Wish MS was more imaginative when designing the system, now we have bunch of good games that won't run on 90% of the devices :s
Vmac71 says:
No less imaginative than Android. All their games and apps don't run on every phone, either. What WP8 need is more variety in high-end phones. Too bad Samsung has no real desire to support WP8. The Ativ S should have been released months ago in the US!
It would have sold well. HTC need to stop playing around and put out Titan 3!
Morq says:
I'll clarify my point a bit :)
Those games work bad on flagship tier phones, like lumia920.
Those games are not possible to install on phones just one tier below flagships like lumia820, due to memory and storage issues.
Some of those games are not runnable on lower tier phones because of how ram is handled in wp phones.
Imo its 50/50 gameloft/microsoft fault.
Gameloft knew what hardware they are working with and could optimize code and/or reduce graphic quality of their games to make sure they work decent on at least highest tier, they did not do it tho.
Microsoft knew games require ram, yet the silly way of managing it made game un-installable on lower tier phones (think I read somewhere Asphalt requires about 300mb of RAM, but system does not let you take that much because it needs ram for the OS, thus game won't run on 512mb devices).
The "Other" issue and way how games are installed (download/copy from SD to other, unpack to other, install to other, copy to apps) make game require about four times more memory for installation than it requires to run, that's one of the most huge example of shortsigness MS did with WPs.
Tomasz S. says:
"download/copy from SD to other, unpack to other, install to other, copy to apps"
And don't forget about <Do not cleanup "other" afterwards>, which is the most aggravating.
It should also be emphasized, that Nokia really screwed the pooch by putting only 8GB of memory instead of 16 in the 810/820 series.
marciocattini says:
Jeez always keeping Brazil out of reach of the best games :'(
Thank goodness for easy region swaping
Montpbm says:
Hey you're in Brazil, be happy about that lol.. I've heard about the women there. Jk! But I understand your frustration.
I Spiritus I says:
Awesome! Just got my 920 at the weekend so looking forward to this!
Paul Acevedo says:
I'm just pointing out that he's not really Bane. ;) I did enjoy Tom Hardy's performance though.
pranav rai says:
Bane being human and not some overgrown mutant makes the movies so much more enjoyable IMO. :)
Paul Acevedo says:
Nothing wrong with liking how they portrayed him. But the changes are significant enough IMO that it makes him a different character.
Paul Acevedo says:
Oh, I do. I love Gotham by Gaslight, for instance. I'm just being a purist who is disappointed that this changed character who has next to nothing in common with the actual character is what many people will think of when they think of Bane. IMO if you changed a character to that great an extent, just call him something else. But it's a debate of opinion, so nobody's right or wrong, really.
Paul Acevedo says:
Joker was slightly different, but no more so than any other comic author's interpretation of the character. I'd say he was the most authentic villain of the trilogy. Rha's was indeed much changed (which also annoyed me), but Scarecrow was largely the same other than his suit being toned down. I don't think comparisons to the Schumacher films are needed, as obviously everything in the Nolan films is better. That doesn't make the Nolan films above reproach.
If we're writing about a game based on the movie, then some discussion of the movie is relevant to the article. One paragraph sounds about right, in fact. I did not say that the film sucks, because that would be disrespectful to people who like it. My verbiage makes it very clear that I just personally didn't like it (and there are many criticisms that don't just come down to taste like my Bane one does).
I won't keep my opinion out of my writing as I think that makes for boring reading. You don't always have to agree with me - I don't expect anyone to do so all the time. But if you just want a dry copy and paste of the game's store description, I'm sure there's another WP site out there that does just that.
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Very well said Paul how could you possibly review something without your personal opinions coming into play that would make no sense and require everyone to think the same, thats not a world i want to live in anytime soon.
Paul Acevedo says:
Indeed reviews and editorials are more opinion-based than news stories. But like most blogs, we include a bit of personality and opinion in news stories as well. That's what the majority of readers like, and it's not inherently unprofessional at all. We are not a newspaper. As I said before, if you're looking for a more neutral tone, just keep on looking.
QuadraFX says:
Well... I love my HTC 8S but ekhm...
... only until now.
What can I do with the dual-core CPU + good GPU + Beats Audio if I can't install any better, bigger game than f**** Sudoku ????
teufelbr says:
I know how you feel. I have a 8X, love it, but my "others" is using 5Gb... and I can't install a 800mb game with 900mb free! If I wanna that fixed, I have to "format" my phone and then... well... start all games again since MS didn't build a backup.
True man... I will dump WP8 until it is done... I'm feeling that I'm using something that it is always in beta! I will get an iPhone with 64Gb and be happy with all the games... and sad that it does not works fluid as WP.
=(
Invaderhim says:
I can't believe people are still going on about instagram lol
elvisff says:
Lots of complaints about Batman being laggy and buggy in google play, too. Must be an engine problem.. Glad to hear it isn't just related to WP
Bluetech1 says:
Holy crap!!! You mean that this game on Android runs like poop too?! Due to the fault of the developer and not the OS or storage issues or the Easter Bunny?!! Amazing!!
Not sure what all the defectors from WP will do when they switch over and realize this.
Paul Acevedo says:
It's tough to get an engine like this running at a smooth frame rate due to how much architecture it has to keep track of. See the GTA games on Playstation 2 - they're not exactly running at a constant 30 FPS.
cdb033 says:
Can't wait to play it!
ZombieBacchus says:
Shark Dash is pretty good on my Surface RT. At .99 i will certainly buy it on WP too.
Wish they could optimize games like Spiderman a bit more. it certainly isnt unplayable but it woud be nice to smooth things out a bit especially on the top of the line phones like the 920.
Zeeshan360 says:
Day one for me too .. I played it on Windows 8 laptop
DaSchnee says:
Not looking forward to this one... Like The Amazing Spiderman, it will look worse than on Android and iOS and the framerate will be much lower as well.
Nakazul says:
So it looks better on Android and iPhone, that blows. :-(
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Nope it does not that statement is false! its a direct port no graphical differences and sadly probably no optimisations either... unless they have realised these games are selling well on wp and will show us love and care eh gamesloft :-).
robooneus says:
Will be very excited about it if it manages to excape the lagginess that is Amazing Spiderman. I actually really enjoyed the trial of that game if I take out the frustration cause by the framerate. With the framerate issue, though, it was a no-way for me.
Dare2Blink says:
Hell yeah. Im so happy right now its not even funny, if one or two more of the major mobile games companies start releasing games for wp8 than I will be finally nothing holding wp8 back
Adrian Edwards1 says:
I would say ideally MS themselves should put some teams to work on first party exclusive titles like a halo wars game a mini fable rpg a forza game and maybe even something new and fresh. Exclusive high profile Xbox games will surely grab mobile gamers attention propelling the platform in the right direction.
Jonas Jonsson says:
As good as I think it is for the platform to receive these games, I still don't like the idea of action games with virtual controls, it either results in a dumbed down gameplay (button mashing) or poor controls overall. It's just bad.
DJCBS says:
6.99€? LOL no way I'm buying that. Pity but no cellphone game is worth that much money.
Gameloft would profit more with price policies like that of Asphalt 7.
Jey Si says:
Been playing Shark Dash on Windows 8 and I'm excited to play it on Windows Phone 8
harchestr says:
Are these games coming over to Windows 8
Zeeshan360 says:
Shark dash is already on Windows 8
ArtemDepeche says:
I'm wait for UNO & friends %)
tylerh1701 says:
Hope these games keep coming, hopefully MS has something in the pipeline after Gameloft gets their 12 games out. Batman looks like fun, I love Batman. I'm hoping the WP8 library continues to expand, will help me convince to a WP8 if Sprint ever decides to sell them...
tyrok says:
Um...if this game is 1.8gb and the OS requires four times the space for an app to download then almost no one will be able to download TDKR.
Paul Acevedo says:
That is a worrying thought.
Tomasz S. says:
I knew this game won't fit into my 820 as soon as I read the title.
I hope I'll be able to play Shark Dash at least
neversummer07 says:
This is so fustrating. I want to buy this game, Asphalts, and Spiderman but can't, due to storage bugs in "Other" space. I only have 200MB free space left on my Nokia 810. Other has taken 4.5GB out of my 8GB space. MS, fix this sooner than later.
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Nokia has realeased a storage management program update into info+extras app you should be able to sort your problem out with that, if not there are other third party apps that can help plus move you pics music and videos to skydrive and delete them from you handset.
Tomasz S. says:
Are you sure they released it for the 810 yet?
Adrian Edwards1 says:
I have a 920 so i cant be certain but i would expect nokia will get this on all there wp8 models soon, whats the 810 like? it looks like a neat litte handset.
Tomasz S. says:
Do you have the Nokia store management already on your 920? I thought it only comes preloaded on the new 620 so far.
Indeed the 810 looks like a slimmer and fitter version of the 820. Too bad it's US only, and I had to settle with my bulky 820. On the plus side I can dress her up in neat outfits: https://www.facebook.com/nokia/app_134483630049283
Adrian Edwards1 says:
No i havent got it yet but read others have 920 has 32gb so i am not short on space... yet haha.
Yeah the 810 on Nokia's us site looks far neater then the gimmicky cover swapping 820 over here not sure why its a us exclusive but i do get the appeal of swapping colours i have my red 920 and sometimes find myself looking at cyan and white versions with jealousy :-D.
neversummer07 says:
Nokia's storage management isn't available for my Nokia 810 yet. I tried Storage Shrink, delete browser cache, skydrive sync, every possible tricks recommended by MS and mention on the internet, and they still do not remedy this problem. My phone was down to ~20MB free space and couldn't really install apps anymore. I ran out of apps to uninstall and Store Shrink to free up space. I finally caved and reset my phone. Now I have ~4.5GB free space available. Hopefully MS/Nokia will release a fix before my phone run out of space again.
DavidinCT says:
Get the free Shrink Storage app. Mine was using almost 6gb, that app got it down to 2.57gb. A big difference.
YMMV
ngilbert89 says:
Seems like gameloft are the only big game developer that's dedicated to bringing games to windows phone excellent work.
Reginald Atkins says:
seriously looking forward to NOVA 3 but Batman looks pretty awesome...
GLOCKGLOCK says:
Well on one hand at least there are new games being released this week, unfortunately anyone still using WP7 gets nothing once again. I thought I had read in a previous article that the Deal of the Week would be back in 2013? Well we are almost done with Q1 and no deals to be found.
Has there been any talk of brining any of the Mobage games to WP platform? I figure a game like Marvel War of Heroes would be a nice get considering the popularity of the characters plus the fact that you the game is free for users but includes microtransactions. The game is already cross platform on iOs and Android too, and you really cannot screw up the controls in a card game.
Paul Acevedo says:
The DOTW is definitely coming back, but Microsoft hasn't given us a date yet.
A multiplayer card game for Xbox Live would be rad.
Tomasz S. says:
Any new $1 discount would be even radder. How long has it been since the last one? I can't event recall.
Paul Acevedo says:
The last price drop was Spider Jack on 11/27/2012. It's certainly been a while!
MillionMonks says:
this will be cool if i can even install it in my HTC 8X! Freaking "Others" left me with only 1.6GB storage!
Nakazul says:
Oh oh, i just have to write now! Spiderman is buggy? ....woopiee I finally have something that works great on my phone but not for others. (seems all bugs happen to me).
Loving Spiderman so may have to buy Batman. But with all these titles pouring out in having a hard time getting time to finish em all.
Something funni I noticed is that I have more non Xbox titles now with quality games.
Michal1 says:
For 7.8 ?
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Batman i would say i really doubt it could run on single core phones but shark dash... maybe.
FastTrack76 says:
Bloody love ya gameloft. Keep them coming
Jay_wpcentral says:
I did not like the final batman movie though being able to drive the batpod on my phone is cool. I will give it a shot when MS gives me,a way to install large apps on 820
Abdul Rahman Noor says:
Wait let me get this right:
You guys have never played this game, but know it won't feel like a batman game and assume it will have a low frame rate?
I fail to understand your reasoning...
Paul Acevedo says:
I didn't say it won't play like a Batman game; you misread that. It will play like Spider-Man and have similar graphical performance because the iOS and Android versions are the same way.
izzykahn says:
Since this Dark Knight game is coming to Windows Phone and the movie released last year, then hopefully Gameloft will make a Man Of Steel (Superman) game and release it on Windows Phone the same year.
missionsparta says:
Wish they started releasing the same Gameloft games for the Surface / Windows8 /WindowsRT at the same time. Beggers can't be choosers though....
ZombieBacchus says:
I was thinking the same thing. These games would be awesome on a tablet like the Surface.
raul_junior says:
gamelogt has released like 6 games already this year (spiderman,asphalt 7, real soccer, dark knight, shark dash and i forgot the other game) but they said they would release 12 games this year and we're only on the 3rd month of the year...maybe they will extend it to like 15 games this year :)
Paul Acevedo says:
FastTrack76 says:
Its Because of gameloft this os is still alive. God bless gameloft for making my lumia 920 worth having...
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Please take the i out of that coment sacrilege :-s.
FastTrack76 says:
Woops my bad,was half asleep writing that. :)
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Haha nice to see it fixed my anti apple tingle has subsided :)
Murgatroyd7 says:
It's good to see a completely original and unique game like Shark Dash make its way to WP8. Never before has there been a game like this!
missionsparta says:
Its angry birds....but instead of pulling a sling shot back, you pull back a sharks tail. This game has been done a bazillion times over with just new artwork.
Paul Acevedo says:
I disagree. There is some similarity of mechanics, but Shark Dash is way easier to play than Angry Birds IMO.
Murgatroyd7 says:
Hmm, I kinda thought my sarcasm was blatantly obvious.
DavidinCT says:
I really hope the Dark Knight Rises is not the same price as Spiderman is. I just have a big issue paying almost $7 for a game on a Moble device. $2.99-3.99 is right in the range of a step up quality game for WP8 in my eyes. These games are still not 3DS or PS Vita level that would cost more (I have both)
I will try the demo but, if it is $6.99, I wont buy it unless it goes on sale (and for under $4.99).... I really hope it's less because this one interests me more than Spiderman....
Paul Acevedo says:
As the article states, Dark Knight Rises is $7.
MastrMeatWad says:
I bought shark dash on windows 8 and love it. For .99 cents on the phone I am in! Batman, little pricey but titles like that are priced 7-8 dollars on ios too
Adrian Edwards1 says:
Hmm its 4.00 here in the uk and they are both still not up in the store :(
Tim Sell says:
Another game that i cant download because i ain't got enough space even though ive got 2.56gb pi$$ing me off
