At Apple’s Special Event today, Epic Games president Mike Capps and Chair Entertainment creative director Donald Mustard revealed the next game from the developers’ respective studios, ‘Project Sword,’ for iOS devices such as iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Project Sword is the codename for this title co-developed by Epic (Gears of War, Unreal) and Chair (Shadow Complex, Undertow), and is scheduled for release later this year.

In addition, and to show off the amazing technology powering Project Sword, Epic has released a free interactive demo called ‘Epic Citadel’ on the Apple App Store, to give iOS device owners a chance to play through a world inspired by Project Sword.

Epic Citadel was created by a small team of Epic developers in only eight weeks and the taster showcases Unreal Engine 3 on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch so potential game developers can experience the technology’s extensive list of features, which 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.

Have a look at the set of released screenshots for Epic Citadel to peek the awesome visuals:

You can get the free Epic Citadel application on the App Store, over here.