NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 SoC (System on Chip) has made a significant impact on the world of mobile devices, with the introduction of its quad-core architecture in the latter half of last year and its inclusion in the first smartphone (the HTC One X) at the start of 2012. Although rival manufacturer Qualcomm are hot on their heels, NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 is the company’s first quad-core chip and one of the most widely used of its kind amongst mobile devices today.
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime was the company’s first quad-core Android device and as it happens the first Tegra 3, Android device on the scene. The combination of the Transformer Prime’s form factor and quad core architecture have proved incredibly popular and not just for writing emails and watching YouTube videos. The graphical capabilities of the Tegra 3 render the Prime a serious mobile gaming machine and paired with the quality of the increasing number of titles available for Android, a gaming experience worth trying.
For those who’ve already spent time enjoying the impressive Transformer Prime experience, We’ve collated a list of some of the most entertaining games to play on the tablet, take a look.
Max Payne Mobile
Our initial taste of Max Payne on the Tegra 3-powered HTC One X earlier this week, certainly left us wanting more and based on the nostalgia factor alone, this title demands to be replayed. Bringing the Max Payne experience to a tablet is certainly beneficial. The additional screen real estate helps amplify the engrossing noire narrative and the larger on screen controls make it more manageable to handle in a particularly tricky gunfight.
As with many ported console titles, stability and consistency are aim of the game and close inspection doesn’t show many cracks beyond the dated graphical prowess of the title. For those looking to relive one of the most influential 3rd person shooters of the decade, a trip to New York city through the eyes of Payne is a dark story worth playing.
Shadow Gun THD
Fans of NVIDIAs Tegra products were asked to vote on the best titles available from the company’s Android Tegra Zone and although this title didn’t win overall its visuals certainly pushed the boundaries of mobile gaming. It’s worth noting that there is a noticeable difference when playing the Tegra 3 optimised iteration of Shadow Gun, which emphasis the power of the chipset within the Transformer Prime.
Additional visual effects, particle explosions, improved shaders, ragdoll physics and environmental visuals all work towards making Shadow Gun THD one of the prettiest 3rd person shooters available on Android.
GTA 3
Shadow Gun missed out on being voted the best Tegra title available right now, but it lost to a worthy competitor. Another entry from Rockstar, GTA 3 pioneered the 3D Grand Theft Auto experience, bringing fully animated character models, wholly realised cityscapes and deformable vehicle body work with a console quality physics engine to the gaming world.
Alongside being another solid port, users are granted with the full length GTA 3 campaign which should provide any mobile gamer with hours of playtime, whether it be as a new experience or in the essence of reliving an old one. An amazing title that really shows how capable the Prime is.
N.O.V.A 3
We’ve spent a significant amount of time studying the N.O.V.A. series. Originally berated for being a knock of AAA console titles in the same genre, the progression of N.O.V.A. 2 and now 3 have helped establish it as one of the best looking shooters, nay one of the best looking games on mobile devices.
The version running on the Prime is near enough identical to the iPad 3 variant, missing out on some of the visual pop supplied to the iPad 2 version, but at the same time, providing an intense first person shooter experience near enough on par with the equivalent console names. The larger screen and by association larger controls, help enrich the experience on that beautiful 10.1-inch IPS display which make it a title worth forking out the cash for.
Sonic 4 Episode II THD
The final title in our lineup is a blend old and new, with the classic Sonic side scrolling feel, realised in a modern environment complete with 3D character models and objects. What’s great about Sonic 4 is that it does just enough to feel like a new instalment but at the same time recreates the sensation of playing on the original Sega MegaDrive.
The Prime’s display helps push the visual feast of primary colours which make up Sonic to your eyes and the pace of gameplay rarely stutters. Sonic might be a rehashed franchise that in modern console releases has seen better days, but the mobile variation on offer here is nothing but the prime cuts of the game. Available as a demo or in full THD format for a price.
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