Are Metalstom games on the decline?

Below are current Metalstorm rankings on IOS as of 4/6/14. These can also be found here. 

• Metalstorm Online was once one of the top games in the App store.  
• MSO was once #18 for all IOS games for the iPAD and #36 for All Apps back in 2012
• MSA had a strong start at #10 in All Apps when it launched.

Things have changed quite a bit though in the past year.

Currently MSO is ranked #57 in the Action Game category and MSA is ranked #105 in the Action Game category.   This is a far cry from where it once stood and represents a slow fade in popularity.  Also, as most already know, not only has MSA not overtaken MSO in the rankings, but MSA is much lower in ranking with little hope of overtaking MSO.

So has Z2Lives strategy of putting all of their emphasis on MSA paid off???   I would say no.   Its too bad that MSO has been left to languish even as it remains much higher ranked than MSA.

See data below.  I've also thrown in Sky Gamblers stats at the bottom for reference.

Exploring the world of dogfighting on your PC

Another interesting looking dogfighting game in case your interested.  This is PC based.  Curious if anyone out there has given it a try.

Youtube trailer below:

Also here is a review of the game from Gamespot  Click Here

New Game from makers of Sky Gamblers to be released January 9th

Check out the trailer video for the new game, Battle Supremacy that is scheduled to be released 1/9/14.  This looks pretty spectacular and a great combination of air/ground/sea battle.


Battle Supremacy Trailer Video - Click Here

Great Training Videos from Brad Willis

I wanted to take a moment to reference some great training videos that are available for viewing on youtube from Brad Willis.  Brad has some fantastic insight on the nuances of playing MSO and I've personally found these videos very educational.  Hope that you do too:

Metalstorm Online Training Video #1:  Introduction

Metalstorm Online Training Video #2:  Weapons Class using Coin Weapons

Metalstorm Online Training Video #3:  Evading Your Opponent

Metalstorm Online Training Video #4:  Missile Evasion

Many other great MSO videos posted by Brad - mostly plane reviews and recorded battles

Thanks

This blog had its one millionth page view last night - thanks for reading!   If you have topics that you would like to see covered or if you would like to provide a guest posting, let me know.

Rumor of the week

Well it has been a week or so now since this posting - source of the rumor was comments and posts from readers of this blog. I was hoping to flush out if it was valid or not (hoping it was not). As of this time, it sounds like just heresay, so lets hope that there is nothing to it and that MSO will be around for a long time. 

Starting to hear some chatter that Metalstorm Online is going to be phased out and REPLACED by Metalstorm Aces.   Rumor is that there is a letter out there from Z2 stating this position.  Has anyone seen this letter?  

It might make sense - Aces is SOOOO friggin similar to MSO that I've often wondered why would Z2 make 2 games that are almost identical (although Aces is not as good in my opinion).  I am guessing that Aces requires less server costs and is easier to maintain & update than MSO.   

Anyway - I am hoping that this is a false rumor as I really do not like Aces enough to play it regularly and I definitely do not like it enough to invest the time to create a blog for it.

Sky Gamblers: Cold War - 4th installment of the Sky Gamblers series

About a month or so ago, Sky Gamblers released its 4th dogfighting game:  Sky Gamblers: Cold War.  See review links below.  From what I can see, this is pretty similar to the other Sky Gambler games but lets here from you - anyone tried this?  How do you like it?

MacLife review

Touch Arcade review

Gamezebo review

How do you like Metalstorm Aces vs Metalstorm Online?

First of all - apologies for the lack of blog entries - its been a busy summer.  I've been intending to do a review of the updated Metalstorm Aces but have not had a chance.  Thought that I would at least open up a post on the topic. 

From what I can see - Metalstorm Aces has been significantly improved from its initial international release back in December 2012.  So do you like it better than Metalstorm Online?   Lets hear your thoughts on the topic. 

Not to taint the discussions, but I still prefer Metalstorm Online and think it is still hands-down the better game.

MV-23 Warlord

Energy:  Upper end of the agility class
Damage:  Tied as best in class for damage
Agility:  2nd in fleet for agility
Lock Speed:  Best in class by far for missile lock speed

This is a very intriguing new agility plane - good boosts - should be a strong contender in the class.

To get this plane you need to complete campaign 4 of Metalstorm Aces.  From what I have seen, this will be a fair investment of time playing Aces to earn this.

Overall I don't really see the strategy from Z2 - pull players away from one of their games to play the other.  Both MSO & Aces are so similar, they may be cannibalizing users from MSO to populate Aces.

This plane has been added to the Comparison Guide  and also to the Fleet at a Glance - check it out!

MO-10 Condor

Missile Reload:  Best in class - but still quite a bit below weapons class
Damage:  Best in class - but again still quite a bit below weapons class damage
Missile Tracking:  Best in class
Armor Regeneration:  Whoa - at a total of 6+4=10% this is now 2nd in class - 2nd only to the green turtle.  Also looks like it will be a good missile shooter with good tracking/damage & reload speed.  This will probably be a new favorite for you defense class aficionados!

This plane has been added to the Comparison Guide  and also to the Fleet at a Glance - check it out!