2:10 AM
Anonymous
So I’ve got this thing for the strange Indie games that I sometimes find on Steam. I’ve got dreams to become a game designer someday and I feel it’s my duty to support the independent industry. Not to mention I love the price points of these types of games. These games also sometimes have some of the most creative elements I’ve ever experienced.
So here I am, playing a new game on Steam, Anomaly: Warzone Earth. It’s available on PC and Mac, a plus for me and my Macbook. This game doesn’t really seem to offer any really new elements, but it takes a few great ones, and combines them in a smooth interface and using great graphics.
Gameplay
So this game uses a gameplay style that the developers lovingly refer to as Tower Offense. You play as the Field Commander of vehicle squad that is investigating a power field that appeared after two pieces of alien debris fell from the sky. You can be in charge of up to six vehicles, your “towers”. These include tanks, shield generators, and machine gun and rocket equipped units. They travel in a convoy along their set course.
At the beginning of each level, you plot the course of your units through the level to get to the final target. This course can be changed easily at any time. The simple overhead interface works by changing the direction that the convoy travels when it reaches an intersection in the city. You sometimes have to quickly change this course depending on the type of alien turret you are fighting. They all have weaknesses, such as the inability to turn, that makes coming at them from a particular side give a very great advantage to the player. This direction system automates the convoy so that you can focus on moving the Field Commander and deploying his special abilities to help the convoy reach its target.
When you right click, the Commander’s options appear on screen. These include healing your convoy, placing a smokescreen, deploying a decoy, or calling in an air strike. These constitute most of your job once the convoy has been ordered to move out. Since the convoy will not stop at any point, you must be constantly on your toes to keep the fixed alien emplacements from destroying your units.
With all of these elements coming at you quickly, this games becomes very engaging as you collect money from minerals to buy and upgrade units, as well as collect additional resources like smokescreens. However, what makes this so great is how smooth all of this chaos management can be with the very intuitive control scheme.
Video / Audio
So, this isn’t an altogether unique game. This Tower Offense concept has been done before I’m sure, but what makes this game different from the slew of flash games offering similar gameplay is the sheer graphical strength of the system they’ve created. From the top down view, all of the buildings have they’re own individual depth, changing perspective constantly as the camera moves. The 3D graphics also make this a simply amazing presentation on top of the engaging gameplay.
Story
Alright, so this game is mostly dependent on its looks and brains (The most important parts in my opinion). The story telling elements aren’t that great. We’ve heard it before, alien stuff comes from the sky, planet wide panic, etc. At least the main guys are British. The whole scenario kinda reminds me of Black Hawk Down, with you as the guys in the sky directing the troops driving through on the ground. In the end, the game is all about a big “go in ‘n’ kill ‘em” job. Not too interesting. Luckily, story is not really the point of this game.
Content
So this is a ten dollar game. It only sports about a 3-5 story mode, but allows for replay of any of the levels on varying difficulties and several different modes. It also provides Gold, Silver, and Bronze rankings to be gotten on each level for things like ruthlessness and efficiency. While this isn’t really spectacular amount of gameplay, I think it’s perfectly respectable for a cheaper game.
Huevos Factor
I’m really enjoying this game. The levels are the perfect length for when you just have a bit of time on your hands and feel like playing a game with some interesting gameplay that doesn’t require you to stress about perfection, just relax and enjoy. I really love how slick all of the graphics and interfaces are. It’s all pretty intuitive and it’s really easy to pick up and figure out. I’d suggest this to anyone who’s looking for something to hold their attention for a bit without them feeling like they’ve wasted time, or to simply hold them over to a bigger release (such as Portal 2).
Breakdown:
So here I am, playing a new game on Steam, Anomaly: Warzone Earth. It’s available on PC and Mac, a plus for me and my Macbook. This game doesn’t really seem to offer any really new elements, but it takes a few great ones, and combines them in a smooth interface and using great graphics.
Gameplay
9.5 |
So this game uses a gameplay style that the developers lovingly refer to as Tower Offense. You play as the Field Commander of vehicle squad that is investigating a power field that appeared after two pieces of alien debris fell from the sky. You can be in charge of up to six vehicles, your “towers”. These include tanks, shield generators, and machine gun and rocket equipped units. They travel in a convoy along their set course.
At the beginning of each level, you plot the course of your units through the level to get to the final target. This course can be changed easily at any time. The simple overhead interface works by changing the direction that the convoy travels when it reaches an intersection in the city. You sometimes have to quickly change this course depending on the type of alien turret you are fighting. They all have weaknesses, such as the inability to turn, that makes coming at them from a particular side give a very great advantage to the player. This direction system automates the convoy so that you can focus on moving the Field Commander and deploying his special abilities to help the convoy reach its target.When you right click, the Commander’s options appear on screen. These include healing your convoy, placing a smokescreen, deploying a decoy, or calling in an air strike. These constitute most of your job once the convoy has been ordered to move out. Since the convoy will not stop at any point, you must be constantly on your toes to keep the fixed alien emplacements from destroying your units.
With all of these elements coming at you quickly, this games becomes very engaging as you collect money from minerals to buy and upgrade units, as well as collect additional resources like smokescreens. However, what makes this so great is how smooth all of this chaos management can be with the very intuitive control scheme.
Video / Audio
9.0 |
So, this isn’t an altogether unique game. This Tower Offense concept has been done before I’m sure, but what makes this game different from the slew of flash games offering similar gameplay is the sheer graphical strength of the system they’ve created. From the top down view, all of the buildings have they’re own individual depth, changing perspective constantly as the camera moves. The 3D graphics also make this a simply amazing presentation on top of the engaging gameplay.Story
6.0 |
Alright, so this game is mostly dependent on its looks and brains (The most important parts in my opinion). The story telling elements aren’t that great. We’ve heard it before, alien stuff comes from the sky, planet wide panic, etc. At least the main guys are British. The whole scenario kinda reminds me of Black Hawk Down, with you as the guys in the sky directing the troops driving through on the ground. In the end, the game is all about a big “go in ‘n’ kill ‘em” job. Not too interesting. Luckily, story is not really the point of this game.
Content
7.5 |
So this is a ten dollar game. It only sports about a 3-5 story mode, but allows for replay of any of the levels on varying difficulties and several different modes. It also provides Gold, Silver, and Bronze rankings to be gotten on each level for things like ruthlessness and efficiency. While this isn’t really spectacular amount of gameplay, I think it’s perfectly respectable for a cheaper game.
Huevos Factor
9.0 |
I’m really enjoying this game. The levels are the perfect length for when you just have a bit of time on your hands and feel like playing a game with some interesting gameplay that doesn’t require you to stress about perfection, just relax and enjoy. I really love how slick all of the graphics and interfaces are. It’s all pretty intuitive and it’s really easy to pick up and figure out. I’d suggest this to anyone who’s looking for something to hold their attention for a bit without them feeling like they’ve wasted time, or to simply hold them over to a bigger release (such as Portal 2).
Breakdown:
| Gameplay | 9.5 |
| Video / Audio | 9.0 |
| Story | 6.0 |
| Content | 7.5 |
| Huevos Factor | 9.0 |
Total | 8.6 |
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