Thursday 17 January 2013

'Temple Run 2' Swings Onto App Store.


The sequel to the explosively popular Temple Run is out Thursday morning for iPhone and iPad.

Temple Run took players on a jungle adventure as they attempted to escape from a horde of demonic monkeys with a stolen idol from a ancient temple. Players had to jump, dodge and duck under obstacles with swipes on the touch screen as they ran for their lives. The endless runner was downloaded more than 170 million times from Apple's App Store and Google Play since its 2011 release; 2.5 million of those downloads were on Christmas Day of 2012 as people unwrapped new mobile devices to game on.

Imangi Studios sprung Temple Run 2 on fans with little announcement or fanfare prior to its launch. Studio cofounder Keith Shepherd says the game is more of what fans loved, but with a depth his team wasn't able to add to the first game.

"We wanted to set out and do all the things we wanted to do with Temple Run but we couldn't fit in," Shepherd says. "It feels like a bigger, better, more awesome version of the first game."

Temple Run was developed in five months by Shepherd, his wife and Imangi cofounder Natalia Luckyanova, and graphic designer Kiril Tchangov. Shepherd says he was inspired by games like Sonic the Hedgehog and the platforming of Mirror's Edge. But mostly, he wanted to see an endless runner in 3D; earlier games released in the genre, like Canabalt, were only two-dimensional games.

Temple Run 2 greatly expands on the first game's concepts, according to Shepherd. The game now takes place in a floating temple in the clouds. Players are confronted with new obstacles, like swinging from zip lines and riding in a rickety mine cart.

"The world you're running in is much more rich and vibrant," Shepherd says. "There are curves and hills and valleys and stairs."

The new game also adds more things for players to do and collect, including characters that have their own specialized powers. The power meter is a new element to the series.

"Our fans have been fantastic and have given us great ideas and feedback," Shepherd says. "People always wanted more out of the game. It was so easy to unlock everything, so we're glad we can offer a lot more for this one."

Temple Run 2 is available now for iPhone and iPad for free. The team says Android versions will be coming out soon....

Image courtesy of Imangi.

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