Epic Games have brought the Unreal Engine 3 to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, finally.

They announced its “Epic Citadel” App is now available from the App Store. The app showcases the technical capabilities of Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine 3 on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In “Epic Citadel,” players navigate a fictional castle realm using simple controls and the innovative Multi-Touch user interface. “Epic Citadel” also features stunning visuals and special effects, with an environment inspired by “Project Sword,” Epic’s newest game.

“Project Sword” is the codename of the all-new action role-playing adventure game exclusively for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch developed by Epic’s critically acclaimed studio, Chair Entertainment, creators of the Xbox LIVE Arcade games of the year “Undertow” and “Shadow Complex.” Scheduled for release later this year, “Project Sword” will bring unrivaled visual fidelity and a highly accessible gameplay experience to the iOS platform.

“This is a testament to the sheer power of iOS devices as up until now, Unreal Engine 3 has typically been used to create high-end gaming experiences on game consoles and computers,” said Epic Games President Dr. Michael Capps. “And we’re not just keeping it to ourselves. We’re putting Unreal Engine 3 technology into the hands of game developers all over the world, and we can’t wait to see the apps they make next.”

A small team of Epic’s programmers, artists and testers created “Epic Citadel” in just eight weeks of development time. Unreal Engine 3 is scalable yet packed with the same tools hundreds of thousands of users work with to create games, simulations and animated content. Features include:

∙ Amazing visuals. “Epic Citadel” pushes the envelope for stunning visuals on iOS devices. Through the latest advances in Unreal Engine 3 technology, the application delivers unrivaled graphics and special effects that immerse players in the kingdom’s grounds.

∙ Bump offset mapping. Also known as parallax mapping or relief mapping, bump offset mapping enhances the visual appearance of stone walls and rocks providing intricate textures.

∙ Normal mapped architecture. Brings stunning detail to bricks and ground surfaces within the environment.

∙ Texture blending with painted weight maps.Refines nuances on roads and terrain, making them rich and lifelike.

∙ Global illumination. Unreal Engine 3’s built-in global illumination system, Unreal Lightmass, provides realistic lighting and shadows with minimal development resources.

∙ Dynamic specular lighting with texture masks.Helps create authentic cobblestone roads and vivid reflective marble surfaces, while lens flares and light coronas add dramatic emphasis when panning across light sources.

∙ Real-time reflections and animation. Environment mapping enables real-time reflections on objects such as the statue inside the cathedral. Dynamic movements of trees and banners are made possible through the use of vertex deformation and skeletal animation.

∙ Free tools. Epic’s Unreal Development Kit (UDK), available for free download at www.udk.com/download, ships with the same tools and technologies used to create Epic Citadel.

“Epic Citadel” is available for free from the App Store on iPad, Phone and iPod Touch.

Unreal Engine 3 runs a lot of games that are out there so you can see what it’s like by staring at the likes of Black Light Tango Down, Alpha Protocol and a lot more.