Oct 30, 2009 Posted by kinnikun in Games, Strategy | View Comments

Tower Defense 1.1 – an intense game of strategic war in the palm of your hand

Tower Defense is a new action-strategy war game that puts you in command of an army while trying to defend a military base. Real time strategy games can often be time consuming. If the developers don’t execute the delivery properly, it just turns into a waste of time. On the other hand, if the delivery appeals to gamers correctly, it can be fun, addictive, and time will fly by. This type of game is usually played on a computer or on a home console, so we decided to take a look at Tower Defense to see how it compares to its big brothers. See if it’s a worthy portable game of one of the most popular genres of gaming in our full review.

It’s important to note that I am in no way an experienced strategy gamer. I typically stay away from this type of gaming, so this review will be from the point of view of someone who usually doesn’t enjoy said games. With that in mind, you will want to continue reading this review because you may be somewhat surprised with my experience.

Tower Defense puts you in the middle of a defensive battle. The whole idea of the game is to setup defensive towers around your base to prevent the enemy from breaching. You start with a set amount of hit points and every time an enemy reaches your base, you lose a point. When the HP total is brought to zero, the game is over. So this is where the strategy comes in. You want to post towers in a way to slow down the enemy enough to kill them. The concept is simple, but I think that’s what makes it work.

The enemies come in from one entrance, so if you obstruct their path, they will have to go around you. It’s kind of fun creating a maze for the enemies to navigate. Watching them get shot up is even more fulfilling. It’s a test of wits to see if you can implement the right strategy to prevent an attack. Enemies range from Hummers to B2 bombers to spy drones. There are 17 in total and each enemy has a different level of armor strength. On-ground enemies have to go around your towers, but in-air opponents can fly straight towards your base. Some are easy to take out while others can penetrate deeply into your defenses.

On the friendly front, you get to select form 6 different towers with 3 upgrade levels. These towers are basically weapons that shoot heavy machine gun fire, freezing projectiles, missiles, flames, electric pulses and radar. As you kill enemies you gain money, which gives you the capability to buy differently priced towers. Clicking on already placed towers will give you two options: remove for cash reimbursement or upgrade. Upgrading a tower will basically add another layer of weaponry to it. So instead of a tower that shoots one missile, it will have two missile launchers. A great defensive strategy includes tower placement and also knowing when to save and buy different towers. Do it correctly and you will prolong the battle. Do it incorrectly and it will seem like the enemies are more like a celebratory parade gunning for your base. The last thing you want is to watch drone after drone marching into your base, as if you’re welcoming them.

There aren’t many options to choose from, but the in game interface works well. You have a bottom row which houses all the towers that you can purchase. Everything is made for touch in mind. Just drag the one you want, as long as you have the money for it, onto anywhere on the field grid. There’s a zoom bar on the side for easy in-and-out zooming, which gives you the ability to get close to the action or see an overview of the entire battle. Action can be paused or fast forwarded, which bodes well for novice or advanced gamers.

One of the disappointments of the game is that there are only 2 battlefields. I would’ve liked to see at least another. Granted, I spent hours and hours on one of the battlegrounds on easy mode. It was highly entertaining and I didn’t even feel the need to jump to hard mode yet because it was an engaging experience. This could be a great sign for reusability, but the lack of different map models is still disappointing and definitely hurts that category. Trying different defensive stances is one way the gamer can alter the playing field though. You get to choose from easy, hard and unlimited modes by the way.

Tower Defense gameplay was a surprisingly good experience. Because I tend to avoid these titles for the PC and home consoles, I was expecting a bad experience. It turns out that I was wrong, In fact, I found myself spending hours on the game and I just couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t until I drained my battery that I stopped playing. There’s something extremely satisfying about all the hectic explosions and active weaponry. The simplicity and easily maneuverable interface makes the game work on Windows Mobile. Don’t mistake simplicity with boring though. I found that it was a great challenge even on easier difficulty levels. When you’re playing a game on a phone, it usually means you have some extra time. This game will eat up that time and you won’t even notice. I can’t say that I’ve had too many experiences like that in the Windows Mobile gaming world. Honestly, this game makes me want to check out similar titles too, but that will come after I’m done with this one. If you have some spare change to spend on software, this could be a good investment for anyone that likes strategy games.

Minimum Requirements: Windows Mobile 6.x With VGA or WVGA screens and OpenGL ES (most devices released after 2007)

Display Dimensions: 480×640, 480×800

Operating System: WM6, WM6.1, WM6.5

Tested Using: HTC Touch Pro

Pros:

• Engaging gameplay that’s hard to put down
• Good graphics
• Different levels of play that can be quite challenging
• Nice selection of weapons to choose from and enemies to fight against
• Great portable experience of the action-strategy genre
• All touch, so D-pad isn’t needed
• Works on most newer devices and VGA/WVGA resolutions

Cons:

• Price
• No DEMO version !! for a $25 game is unacceptable
• Doesn’t seem to create a shortcut, so you have to open using file explorer or create own shortcut
• Only two maps could make the game feel repetitive after a while
• QVGA devices aren’t supported

Possible Improvements:

• More maps with larger battlefields and multiple enemy entrances
• More weapons are always appreciated
• Shortcut in games or programs folder is a must
• Soundtrack could use more music variation
• Would be nice to save multiple games, so we can return to different battles.

Get it from OurStore :

Check 1800PocketPC.com for the chance to Win a Free copy of this app, closes 7th Nov

Screenshots :

Tags: Color Stone Ltd, Tower Defense

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