Pixel Gun 3D a terrific first person shooter in Minecraft retro style

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Pixel Gun 3D, now a freemium title (it started out as 'paid plus IAPs') in its latest update today, is well worth a mention. The graphics are unashamedly retro/Minecraft, so we're talking deliberate blockiness rather than photo-realism. Think LEGO-Doom and you'll be most of the way there. Actual gameplay is challenging and state of the art, though as usual I question some of the more outrageous in-app-purchases.

From the Store description:

Choose your skin, nickname and play extreme multiplayer modes with chat!

***DEATHMATCH*** 
Choose your gun and enter the battle! 
Main features: 
- up to 10 players online; 
- a lot of cool maps ; 
- awesome guns, from Laser Rifles to Heavy Axes! 

***TEAM BATTLES*** 
RED or BLUE? Which team will won the match? 
This cool mode allows you to fight team on team! 
Modes: 
- 4x4; 
- 3x3; 
- Duel; 
- You can set a password for a private game! 

***TIME SURVIVAL*** 
Try to survive with players online from all parts of the world! 
- Many types of deadly enemies; 
- Custom matches with awards; 
- Easy and fast connection.

*** SINGLEPLAYER CAMPAIGN *** 
In this mode your character is “face to face” with hordes of zombies attacking you from all sides. You have to wipe them out otherwise you are doomed! 
Your only task is not an easy one - to whack all the monsters. If you survive all the attacks of the dead, you'll face an EVIL ZOMBIE BOSS. Having made mincemeat of him, you open the portal to the next battlefields! 

And moreover you can play CRAZY ARENA MODE! How many waves can you stand!

How far you progress in Pixel Gun 3D will depend very much on how coordinated you are. With left thumb for movement and right thumb for rotation, reloading, firing and jumping, there's... a lot going on. Add in the usual FPS (First Person Shooter) elements of remembering where you are, where you've come from, where the zombies are around you, and so on, and I pronounce Pixel Gun 3D tricky to say the least. If you're up for a FPS that has legs, with tens of hours of gameplay then this is for you on Windows Phone.

Here's Pixel Gun 3D in action:

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

It's the Minecraft/1980's blocky/pixellated look - and it's both primitive and somehow beautiful at the same time....

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

There's an excellent training mode, in which you collect stuff, kill (pixellated) zombies and generally try the interface out...

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

Doom-style, there are multiple worlds to work your way through....

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

...each of which has multiple locations to fight in. Given how hard Pixel Gun 3D can be, there's certainly plenty of gameplay here...

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

It's a dark evening and you hear zombies outside - time to investigate... and start blasting!

Screenshot, Pixel Gun 3D

Stocking up on the in-game coins using a familiar freemium system. Coins get you extra weapons, extra shields and access to new worlds, with one such teased as 'coming soon', so this is a game title very much in active development....

The $100 freemium purchase is, as usual, taking liberties and hoping for the slip of someone's finger - why can't we have a cap on IAPs? Something sensible, such as $10 for games? But I've ranted on all this before in the past...

You can download the game for yourself here in the Store.

Source / Credit: Windows Phone Store