Epic unsheaths Infinity Blade

By Fred Dutton Published 2 November, 2010

What the Shadow Complex team did next.

Epic has officially unveiled Infinity Blade, the first iPhone game to run on the Unreal Engine.

Developed by Chair Entertainment – the team behind the fabulous Xbox Live Arcade platformer Shadow Complex – it's a sword fighting adventure game that sees you progress through a castle slashing away at all manner of nasties using the iPhone's touch screen.

You might recognise it as Project Sword, recently shown off at an Apple event. A tech demo based on the game, entitled Epic Citadel, has been available for a few months now.

Creative director Donald Mustard described Infinity Blade to Eurogamer as, "a blend between Karateka – if you remember that – Dragon's Lair and Punch-Out!!"

The game has been in development for around four months but it's based on a much older idea.

"For a couple of years we've been kicking around this idea of how we could make a really cool sword fighting game," Donald explained, "really since we first saw the Wii.

"The real problem with console games is that you have buttons everywhere. When the touch devices started to come out, like the iPhone, we figured it would be the perfect game - where you're swiping across the screen to swing your sword."

"We'd known Epic in general were working on getting the Unreal Engine working on mobile devices," he adds, "and we finally had it to a point where we were like 'this is pretty cool, this is pretty viable'. So Epic came to us and said 'would you guys like the opportunity to make a launch title for this technology?'

"We thought this game would be a great way to show off not just cool gameplay but to really be a showcase for the kind of graphics that the Unreal Engine could push on these devices."

And what graphics – just take a look at the screenshot gallery below.

Chair is all too aware that many gamers struggle to take the iPhone seriously as a gaming machine. Donald sees Infinity Blade as the thin end of a wedge.

"If you look at the longer term, there will be games that pave the way. This will at least help people take notice.

"I love playing Angry Birds and Indie Dev Story but I also love playing something like Infinity Blade. I'm look for something like that as a gamer. I hope I'm not alone in that. It's such a different marketplace. It really is like the Wild West of gaming – I don't know that anybody has that figured out right now."

Chair is planning on supporting the title post-release with free downloadable content, including new weapons, armour and enemy types.

A release date hasn't been confirmed yet, but you'll need an iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 or iPad to enjoy it.

Donald and technical director Geremy Mustard also had some interesting things to say about the future of mobile gaming and the status of the studio's other franchises. Keep your eyes on Eurogamer for more soon...

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Gambit1977 #1 2 years ago

    Shadow Complex is one of my favourite games this generation. Im looking forward to this.

  • coda #2 2 years ago

    Donald Mustard would make a badass videogame character name, step aside Duke Nukem the new king has arrived!

  • ZuluHero #3 2 years ago

    Aww i was hoping this was another XBLA game :'(

    Impressive though.

  • Zaiz #4 2 years ago

    Looks shockingly pretty for an iPhone game. Must be way more power in that thing than I thought! Oooor these are a bunch of bullshots.

  • randompanda #5 2 years ago

    "The real problem with console games is that you have buttons everywhere."

    What the hell have games developers got against buttons this generation?!

  • MrLovePump #6 2 years ago

    No the images are pretty spot on from the tech demo put out a while back. It was pretty mind blowing what they were pulling off on the device. Was slightly framey in places though.

  • evild_edd #7 2 years ago

    Screens look awesome.

    I was hoping or another XBLA exclusive, but thankfully I recently got a 3GS so am ready to go on this, should it deliver.....

  • JayKwon #8 2 years ago

    This looks really beautiful. Maybe they can get this running on the 3DS as well, as it has a touchscreen and all.

  • Vyggo #9 2 years ago

    Bummer, they are awesome but I have no need for an iphone.

  • Lunatic4ever #10 2 years ago

    Pic reminds of that game back in the past. It was called SILVER.
    Anyone here who knows that one?

  • Frandroid #11 2 years ago

    "No the images are pretty spot on from the tech demo put out a while back. It was pretty mind blowing what they were pulling off on the device. Was slightly framey in places though"

    Won't disagree with you (mainly 'cos I haven't seen the tech demo) but those screenshots are taken at a much higher resolution than the iPhone is capable of.

  • neilka #12 2 years ago

    /opens envelope

    Donald Mustard, on the iPhone, with the Unreal Engine.

  • Zaiz #13 2 years ago

    Yeah, Frandroid's comment is the big thing. Plus, the actual tech demo lacked enemies and such. It was exploring a static scene, which albeit impressive is significantly less impressive than a dynamic scene. Chances are those shots are from the PC build.

    WHICH BRINGS UP A GOOD QUESTION - Hey Epic, you know what else has a touch pad? My laptop.

  • Lexx87 #14 2 years ago

    Awesome!

    Will be getting this I think :)

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #15 2 years ago

    I was hoping for more of a Fable type game than a graphics showcase reskin of Fruit Ninja, but heigh ho.

  • Alestes #16 2 years ago

    I wish Shadow Complex was released for PSN, it's one of the very few 360 exclusives I want to play (and I don't have a 360).

  • UncleLou #17 2 years ago

    Hey guys, lets release an amazing game and sell a boatload of copies, then alienate 95% of the audience by releasing our next game on a different platform.

    They're going where the money is.

    At least that's the explanation PC gamers always hear in similar situations.

  • dadrester #18 2 years ago

    Won't disagree with you (mainly 'cos I haven't seen the tech demo) but those screenshots are taken at a much higher resolution than the iPhone is capable of.

    ipad resolution innit. also the iphone 4 and the 3gs have different screen resolutions. they look real to me, when comparing them to Epic Citadel.

    [edit] my bad. i didn't bother looking at the image sizes. they are quite a bit higher resolution than the ipad/retina supports. Probably engine shots.
    Edited by dadrester at 03/11/10 @ 09:49

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #19 2 years ago

    No, it's higher resolution than both iPhone 4 and iPad, bit of a rookie error on their part, I fear.

    But it's not got any obvious antialiasing, expensive effects or high resolution textures there. The only thing that might realistically change for iOS builds would be the polygon detail.

  • darleysam #20 2 years ago

    This looks like it'd go great with Kinect..

  • StolenGlory #21 2 years ago

    I really wish that they would forsake this graphical dick swinging on the iPhone in favour of, y'know, ACTUAL games for ACTUAL platforms.

  • Sunworship #22 2 years ago

    The tech demo was graphically impressive, but the controls were in no way good enough to make for a pleasurable gaming experience.

    Plus they want to add sword slashing?

  • bodypopper #23 2 years ago

    Great graphics but as usual they'll be partially obscured by your thumbs as you actually try to play the game. One best suited to iPad users by the looks of it

  • BillPoon #24 2 years ago

    @Frandroid
    iPhone 4 display is 960 x 640.

  • jeanrothen #25 2 years ago

    Hopefully we will see another Chair game for XBOX Live. I'm on my third play on Shadow Complex and it's as much fun as the first time. Damn... where are platform games today?!?!?! We need more! Sorry, but I don't need another "God of War" clone (heard that, Castlevania?)

    3D Action slashing smashing crashing games, doesn't need to be like GoW... Still playing Symphony of the Night on my Xbox also. And Vanquish :p