Ejen Ali: MATA Training Academy is a real-life mobile game created by Team M8 from the Student Category and co-owned by Media Prima and WAU Animation. Team M8 is one of the teams that won the Ejen Ali Game Jam Hackathon Mission which happened from Halloween 2015.
Details about the game[]
The game is about defeating drone robots during the MATA Simulation Exercise. Players have to tap each and every enemy to defeat them. Players are also given health replenishment just like other games.
There are three game modes to choose from: Arcade, Survival and Time Attack. In Arcade Mode, players have to aim for the highest score possible. In Survival Mode, players are tasked to survive for 180 seconds (3 minutes) or longer. In Time Attack Mode, players are tasked to defeat 300 drone robots in under 2 minutes (120 seconds).
As per update number 2.4, the game now brings levels to the game, similarly arranged like chapters in other games, e.g. Gravity Guy. This brings a whole new take to the MATA Training Academy experience.
Graphics[]
The game does not heavily rely on 3D acceleration so it will work on most mobile platform hardware. This is due to the fact that the game was made with the Unity 3D Game Engine (Personal Edition). The game is mostly 2D with a little skeuomorphic elements.
Supported platforms[]
The game is available for Android and iOS, but is region locked to Android devices from a Malaysian network. For the iOS platform, the game is not region-locked, however.
For Android, the game requires at least version 4.1 Jelly Bean. The game will support versions higher than 4.1, including 4.4 Kitkat, 5.0 and 5.1 Lollipop, 6.0 and 6.0.1 Marshmallow as well as whatever the latest version of Android turns to be. The game would run well on other Android OS's like Remix OS but due to the demanding specs for Remix OS, computers running Remix OS with less than 4 GB of RAM might suffer some slowdowns with the game.
For Android, there is no word whether the game will be supported by a new feature baked into Samsung's TouchWiz UX called Game Launcher that was launched on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, as well as a feature by ASUS of Taiwan called Game Genie that was launched on the ZenFone 3 Family of smartphones (non-Taiwan variations do not come with that feature, as it is made for Taiwanese users). As of right now, Google Play Games framework integration have not yet been embedded, along with cloud storage for game backups.
For iOS, the game requires at least version 7.0. iOS 8 and iOS 9 are also supported. Support for iOS 10 will come once iOS 10 is launched, starting with the release of the next iPhone (iPhone 7).
Timeline[]
- The game was released for Android on the 5th of March 2016.
- From the 12th to 20th March 2016, there was a Code Hunt event where players had to type in a code to unlock a mission based on the current Survival Mode. The code was spelled as K-o-m-b-a-t. (K with a capital) Players who successfully completed it received a ProtoSuit which does not give the player more powers (after all, it is mostly a cosmetic modification).
- Version 1.6 of Ejen Ali MATA Training Academy featured a new soundtrack boasting a tune that resembles that of the theme song of Ejen Ali. Prior versions 1.5 and below used Teaser #1's soundtrack instead. The voiceovers of the characters had been changed from the monotone synthesizer sound to that of voice actors of Ali and Alicia.
- Version 1.0 for iOS was released on the 6th of April 2016. It boasted a look and feel of Version 1.6 for Android.
- Version 1.8 for Android was released on the 28th of May 2016. The game received a design overhaul featuring new backgrounds for Survival and Time Attack modes, a new logo and a missions journal.
- Version 1.1 for iOS was released on the 2nd of June 2016. It boasted a look and feel of version 1.8 for Android, incorporating all of version 1.8's improvements.
- Version 2.3 for Android was released on the 1st of July 2016 which brought a feature some thought to be a bit controversial: advertising. However, to minimize the controversy to a low level, the advertising was not embedded throughout the game as annoying popups, they were smartly classified as optional "rewarded" ads. This feature was only available if an Android device was connected to the Internet, provided the player's chosen character nears the extent of running out of in-game hearts. The in-game heart mechanism is very different compared to other games such as the Candy Crush Saga trilogy, in that lives are not purchased, and they are given for free (always full, 5/5) in every mission session.
- Version 1.3 for iOS was released on the 8th of July 2016. It boasted a look and feel of version 2.3 for Android, bringing the rewarded ads feature to the game.
- Version 2.4 for Android was released in conjunction to Malaysia's National Day, 2016. This update brought a new slew of changes to the game's core mechanism, such as level progression of up to 15 levels, a new scoring mechanism based on level played, a new UI, and new costumes such as Alicia's Stealth Mode borrowed from the same costume in MISSION: EVEN of the series. Missions were temporarily disabled until further notice, and the ProtoSuit (Agent Ali version) checkbox and outfit is gone, again, until further notice.
- This update also brought support to Google's NEXUS devices running the Android 7.0 "Nougat" mobile operating system from the Android Beta Program, which brought Android Core-embedded side-by-side app running capabilities. This update brought back support for legacy Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 and 4.0.4, after numerous big fixes and version increments skipped this version of the Android OS entirely.. This update also brought a new logo to the game, see the above picture for the new logo. This update brought support to Lenovo's Moto Z smartphone family. This update brought support to Honor-branded Huawei-made devices such as the Honor 8 and 5X. This update brought support to all variations of the ASUS ZenFone 3, including those from Hong Kong. This brings support to all devices from various United States wireless carriers.
- Version 2.4 also brings addition of a new character: Jenny. She is there in mission success/failure results screens.
- Version 1.4 for iOS was released on the 2nd of September, 2016, just a fortnight before Malaysian Day. This update also carried over the same features from the Android version update. This update brought support to the forthcoming iOS 10, soon to be launched with the iPhone 7 in September 7th 2016.
- Version 2.5 for Android was released a week before 31st October 2016. Thanks to a partnership with MAMEE Food Holdings Sdn Bhd, a joint venture was made, and both WAU and MAMEE advertised the MAMEE Monster BisKidz snacks with additions related to the venture, such as MAMEE World, a MAMEE Monster Costume, and so on.
- Version 1.5 for iOS was released on the same week. This brought some hold-over features from the Android port.
Trivia[]
- The game had received coverage for reaching a total of 100,000 downloads days after the game was launched.
- There is no Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Desktop equivalents, and the game has not reached the stage where it gets introduced to the Windows 10 app ecosystem, but people have found workarounds for it by playing it in an Android app emulator such as BlueStacks.
- The results of the game can be shared through some social network apps like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some apps like ASUS' ZenCircle App are supported too. Some OTT (over-the-top) apps like Vietnamese's Zalo is available as an option to share the results too.
Gallery[]
