The concept of tower defense games is an easy one to grasp. There’s a set path that enemies march down with available areas to build your towers. The problem is that the genre has come to a point where many of them feel like carbon copies of one another. This is where “Anomaly Warzone Earth†by 11 bit studios, breaks the mold in an otherwise stale market.
You play as the Commander, a no name leader in charge of the 14th Platoon. As the Commander, you have abilities that allow you to play a defensive role that help protect your convoy of vehicles. You cannot shoot or engage in combat and only later are you allowed to call in limited tactical air strikes. In addition to that ability you’re also able to set a repair field, smoke screens and set decoys.
The Commander is visible on the battlefield at all times unlike your traditional top-down strategy games. Moving the Commander is the only way to collect dropped powers found throughout the field. Towers will target the Commander if he becomes within range but he is given lowest priority when next to any vehicles. The camera is fixed onto wherever the Commander is on the field which sometimes becomes an inconvenience when multiple tasks call for your attention.
The real stars of the show are the vehicles in your convoy. There are a total of six vehicles that range from the standard tank with offensive capabilities to the shield generator with defensive capabilities. You’re able to rearrange them in the order you want which will pause the game. This is a strategy that is commonly used when your lead vehicle is close to death. All the vehicles are upgradeable but there is no cosmetic change.
The towers you’re up against all vary in what they can do. There are basic towers that do damage- there’s special towers that make you change your strategies. Towers that mind control your convoy and towers that absorb your special abilities change the game dramatically after introduced.
At anytime in the game you’re able to go to the strategic map to set the course for your vehicles. That is as much control as you have. But fear not- most of the time, you’re able to set your vehicles in a circular path to plan your next move.
From escort missions to missions where you have to change your course constantly, the game keeps you interested from the first to the last. There is a checkpoint system, but it can sometimes be faulty which makes you replay a bit of game.
The story is generic with anomalies in two locations, Baghdad and Tokyo. It’s your job to find out what’s wrong which leads to the the eventual task to save the world. There’s voice acting throughout the missions, but the accents tended to feel over the top.
It’s quite the feat to have to juggle your vehicles paths, your special abilities such as smoke screens along with planning your next move, but it all makes “Anomaly Warzone Earth†a fresh take on the tower defense genre. With over ten hours of game-play for the campaign plus an additional survival based mayhem mode this title is worthy of its price tag of $9.99
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