NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV is a versatile and extremely powerful platform, engineered to deliver a diverse suite of next-gen entertainment. The Tegra X1 set top box is built not only for premium gaming experiences, but can also play 4K ultra high-definition video from Netflix, YouTube and other supported services.
As far as gaming is concerned, NVIDIA SHIELD has you covered. Featuring the ability to play graphics intensive PC games streamed via the cloud or by a nearby gaming rig via GameStream, SHIELD also has a rich library of great Android games that run directly on the device itself. Here are the latest games SHIELD owners should be playing on their device.
The Battle of Sol ($9.99)
In The Battle of Sol, we have approximately 35 years before planet earth is completely uninhabitable. Pretty grim, huh? But don’t worry, because by that time all the warring factions of Earth will have put their differences aside and formed the United Colonies of Sol. They will also have mastered space travel so they can find somewhere else to live. Happy days!
Or at least it would be if you ignore the fact that the sun is about to die and we’re under attack by an enemy faction called Children of the Dawn. This is the backdrop to The Battle of Sol, an epic space combat game in which you battle across our solar system and beyond.
Over the course of the game, you will get to take part in intense dogfights, battles between enormous Capital spaceships, raid missions and destroying oil refineries.
You’ll also get to see real regions of our solar system like the Kuiper belt, Saturn and Neptune. Not many games can offer that opportunity.
Chariot ($14.99)
Inventive is probably the best way to describe this cute and colorful platformer. It’s based on a fairly over-the-top premise. The king died and his daughter and her suitor have been tasked with loading his remains onto an ornate chariot and transporting it by hand over many miles to its final resting place. Odd, no? Awesome, yes! It’s also rather amusing with the king’s ghost turning up at regular intervals to poke fun at your performance.
The real joy, however, is in the game’s unique play mechanic. You can push the chariot around, over small obstacles, up inclines and even ride it down slopes. For bigger obstacles, though, you need to jump up to a platform, attach a rope and then drag the awkward vehicle up to your level without falling off in the process. It sounds a bit fiddly, but excellent level design makes it a delight to play.
It gets even better when you and a friend play cooperatively, allowing you to use the chariot’s realistic physics to push, drag, dangle and swing the chariot to whole new areas.
Pac-Man 256 (Free)
Did you enjoy Crossy Road? If so, you’re in a club with over 50 million members. On the back of that success, Crossy Road’s developers teamed up with Namco Bandai to reinvent classic coin-op Pac-Man.
The interesting thing about the original Pac-Man is that it featured a bug that, should you reach it, corrupted half the screen of level 256, rendering it impossible to complete. This has been turned into a neat gameplay feature in Pac-Man 256.
Instead of featuring single screen levels like the original, here we have an endless, randomly generated maze. The gameplay remains the same, requiring you to eat pellets, avoid/devour ghosts and collect fruit. There are two differences, though. First you can also collect bonus weapons, and second, if you hang around too long, a wave of corrupted graphics threaten to swarm you. It’s basically endless Pac-Man that’s a race against time. And it’s brilliant.
Whispering Willows ($4.99)
Whispering Willows has the feel of a point-and-click adventure but it’s actually a platform puzzler. You play the part of Elena, a young girl whose father went missing. He was the groundskeeper at an old derelict mansion, so this is where Elena heads to in order to find him.
Once there, she discovers the unique ability to make her spirit leave her body. The result is some pretty ingenious gameplay. Elena wanders around the mansion, its garden, catacombs and various outbuildings finding keys and unlocking doors. Sometimes, though, when her way is blocked or she’s unclear what to do next, she can leave her body. Spirit Elena can then waft through small gaps, explore secret areas and talk to the spirits of the mansion’s former inhabitants. In doing so, she helps to resolve the problems they faced during their lives and help them move on. She also learns, bit by bit what happened to her father.
The story is delightful, but turns dark and touching, and the graphics are enchanting. It’s like an animated fairytale you can play.
Hotline Miami 2 ($7.50)
Do you yearn for a retro top-down shooter that’s violent, gory and doesn’t take itself too seriously? Of course you do. May we introduce you to Hotline Miami 2?
The original game featured just two main characters, Jacket and Biker. This time, over the course of the game, you will get to control thirteen dubious folks.
Each of the game’s protagonists has a specialty, an ability in which they excel. One character, for example, has enhanced athleticism and can roll under gunfire. Another can wield dual weapons, spraying the environment with rounds from two machine guns at once. Yet another is particularly skilled with his fists and is a master at close combat.
Each level sees you taking on a different selection of characters, and in doing so you get to see the story from each person’s unique point of view. It’s completely over-the-top, of course, and you shouldn’t let your kids anywhere near it, but that’s part of its subversive charm.
Titan Souls ($7.50)
Titan Souls was originally created in a matter of hours as a little game jam project, but it received so much interest and great feedback that the developer expanded it into a full commercial release.
The aim of the game is simplicity itself. You are a warrior with just a single arrow at your disposal. After firing it, you can then retract and use it again. Your target (or targets) are a series of Boss characters, the Titans. Each Titan has a weak spot that you must discover. Once you’ve done so, you can hit it with a single arrow shot which is enough to take down the Titan. The problem is, you can also die from a single blow, and once you’ve awoken a Titan, it will rapidly and mercilessly set about trying to kill you.
It’s excruciatingly difficult and you will die many times in the attempt, but when you finally defeat one of the Titans the sense of satisfaction is immense.
Unkilled (Free)
There’s no shortage of zombie games, but few look quite as good or are quite as unashamedly chaotic as Unkilled.
Playing the part of a former US Special Forces operative, you now work for a private military outfit called the Wolfpack, and you’ve been tasked with cleaning up a rather nasty outbreak of zombies. You and your team are armed to the teeth with a vast array of weapons, ranging from a simple axe to a noisy and destructive Gatling gun.
This is just as well, because the enemies you’ll be fighting are no ordinary zombies. The Sheriff, for example, is a huge, heavily armored mutant cop with burning fists. Yes you heard that right… a mutant cop with burning fists. It gets weirder. Butcher is a behemoth of a man with a huge blade surgically grafted onto his arm. And the less said about Minesweeper and his explosive gut, the better.
If you prefer your shooters to be both tongue-in-cheek and all up in your grill, this fits the bill magnificently.
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