The very first time most people play a freemium sim, they reach a point where they think "that's it?" After all, you've put time and possibly money into growing your crops, building your tower or expanding your kingdom, and then you want to, you know, do something with them. It's a feeling that passes, but it's always a bit of a letdown...

“No one has taken a freemium approach to air combat,” explains Z2Live’s Chief Operating Officer, Lou Fasulo. On Thursday, MetalStorm: Online changes all that. With a dearth of good air combat games available on iOS, MetalStorm: Online is a breath of jet-fueled air. The action title promises to be full of dog fights, customizable fighters, and intense multiplayer. Developed by Z2Live, the brains behind strategy MMO Trade Nations, MetalStorm: Online is available on the iTunes App store.

I've almost got target lock when the enemy banks sharply to the left. "Sonofabitch!" I shout, pouring on the speed and rolling my plane, leaning hard to the side, as if my body movements will make the craft more responsive. The toilet seat creaks in protest. Its protests go unheard. There's 30 seconds left on the clock, and the four flashing red indicators converge on my target. Missiles fire in a graceful arc toward my respected foe. I suddenly realize I'm humming Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone. That's right, baby. My bathroom is now officially the Danger Zone.

In the past year, Z2Live president and CEO David Bluhm has seen the Seattle startup triple in size, launch a hit social game, reach profitability and raise $2.5 million in a new funding round. Through it all, Bluhm has remained committed to a team-oriented mentality and the desire to create multiplayer, social games for mobile devices. The company launched its hit iPhone/iPad game Trade Nations in November of last year and is finalizing a second, more competitive, jet fighting game called Dogfight, slated for a May 12th worldwide release.

Z2Live, creating the next generation of mobile games, announced that it has closed a Series B investment from venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson joining Z2Live’s original investor, Madrona Venture Group. This investment recognizes the runaway success of Z2Live’s launch title, Trade Nations, and the overall market opportunity to bring social gaming to mobile. The company also announced that Ed Fries, a longtime video games pioneer and industry veteran joined the company’s board as its first outside director. Mr. Fries is well known to the industry as a co-founder of the Xbox Project and the original builder of Microsoft’s Game Studios.