![]() ![]() One of my few issues with Anomaly loosely ties into the activation of power-ups. The touch in general is precise, fluid, and native-feeling, which is awesome, but also doubly-awesome considering that this is a port of a mouse and keyboard game. You direct all the movement, the moment-to-moment action, and drop power-ups onto the field with direct touches into the game world. The decision to render the game in a top-down perspective was an apt one, considering this is almost a god game of sorts. The implications of how you deploy power-ups in a given situation has a huge impact on how you play, build, and move, too. ![]() Eventually, you’ll get access to a bomb that’ll eliminate foes en masse according to your drop location. As you kill turrets, you’ll be able to retrieve powers that can mask your troops, heal them, or re-direct enemy fire. There’s even one that can churn out one of Anomaly’s other remarkable - and ultimately satisfying - mechanics: power-ups. Later, you’ll receive the ability to buy other vehicles that flesh out a range of attack options. Early on, you’ll get the ability to trade in-game cash for armor and weapon improvements on a per level basis. There’s a lot that goes into creep formations. My lizard brain is still a little unnerved by how deep such a tremendously simple-looking game like this can be. All these obstructions ensures that your creep build is fluid, which makes for a very satisfying strategic experience. In other situations, it’s the environment you’ll need to plot around. Some, for example, only spit high-damage ‘bullets’ in one direction, while others blast electricity or throw out pulses that disrupt your approach. You alter your direction, for the most part, because of the way the turrets are designed. If there was ever a game primed for replays, this is it. Outside of this next-level take on tower defense, what’s really magical about this game is that the mixture of troops you deploy in the field - whether it be a combination of tank, APAC, missile launcher-thing, shield generator, or whatever else - changes the way you’ll approach each given mission, altering the paths you take in subtle, but important ways. Anomaly takes this idea a step further by giving you control over what kind of creeps you can build, the order in which you place your creeps, and by also allowing you to plot out the course you’ll take dynamically during the mission. Basically, you control the creeps in an environment laced with enemy turrets. The easiest way to express what Anomaly does is with the phrase “tower defense in reverse,” which sorta sounds cheesy, but it’s pretty good approximation. It nails its strategy component by providing unique constructs, it nails its controls, and it nails its look, which is really is a treat on touch devices. Despite its over-saturated genre and its dull name, Anomaly: Warzone Earth has something new to share and its fresh conceits are executed in some of the most graceful, simple, and visually striking ways I’ve seen in a long time. 11 Bit Studios decision to make a tower defense game set in a bombed-out, alien-infested world otherwise full of sand, bullets, and bombs doesn’t seem like an inspired design direction for a downloadable game from a new studio, but it totally is.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |