'Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD' and Other Anticipated iOS Releases Arrive

Last night, a number of highly anticipated games made its way out into the App Store ahead of the holiday rush. Among them was Crescent Moon Games's role-playing game Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD. Aralon is an epic open world western RPG that is more comparable to the PC/console game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind than anything else available on the App Store. In fact, the game's art was even done in part by Mark Jones, a contributing artist to Morrowind and other Elder Scrolls RPG's. Aralon features over 30 hours of gameplay, a character creation and customization that is unrivaled by anything else on the platform, mounts to ride, crafting systems, and much more. Our sister site TouchArcade calls it a "masterpiece of an iOS game" in its review:

[Some things] can only be experienced firsthand, like the first time the sun sets and gives way to a breathtaking night sky overlooking the vast land before you. I used to look at my iOS device as a small window into new worlds and fun experiences, and with Aralon I feel like I actually have a fully realized living and breathing universe sitting snugly in my pocket. ... I don't only suggest Aralon for fans of Western RPGs or expansive open-world action games, but I think every iOS gamer needs to pick up this title just to experience what is possible on this constantly expanding mobile platform.

Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD, priced at $6.99, is a universal app optimized for the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, and iPad. Other notable releases include:

World of Goo for iPad. A highly rated PC/Mac game that has been ported to the iPad.

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave - The second game on the App Store based on Epic's Unreal Engine.

Real Racing 2 - A sequel to the highly rated Real Racing for iPhone. This time the game comes with 16 licensed cars and online multi-player.