A few years ago there was a surge in popularity for the now-ailing tower defense genre. These days we don’t really see many decent ones on consoles, handhelds, or PC, but instead we have to dig out our smartphone for a tactical fix of tower defending.
It’s refreshing, then, that Alien Robot Monsters has released on Steam for PC. It’s your typical tower defense game in which you build, er, towers so that you can, erm, defend your base. It’s a concept that really doesn’t need explaining.
Alien Robot Monsters gets the core gameplay values more or less spot on. You’ll build your variety of towers in pre-determined parts of a game’s level, then you simply sit back and wait for the titular enemies to trot along and do their thing. Simples.
Not so, actually. There’s a variety of enemies and you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the right towers in just the right places if you want to achieve a maximum score. Thankfully towers can be upgraded and there’s an extensive skill-tree system in place – but you’ll need to manage your resources carefully in order to succeed.
The different alien/monster things drop scrap metal which is what’s used as in-game currency for building towers and upgrading their abilities. You’ll beef up the power of a given tower, or perhaps extend its effective range. It’s all so familiar, really. Nothing is being done to break away from the mould set by past games in the genre, but it’s a nice twist all the same. Plus, with very few alternatives, Alien Robot Monsters is a life-saver if you’re looking for a quick ten-minute fix.
Graphically it’s nothing to shout from the rooftops about, but its 16-bit inspired graphics do the job perfectly well. It also means that your buzzing old toaster of a computer won’t have any problems running it… The sound effects are nice enough, but again, it’s all very by-the-book.
It’s a fun enough game if you invest the time into it. There’s a ton of levels that’ll keep you occupied for many an hour, plus the option to go back and try levels again to attain a full ranking is a welcomed feature. However, boss waves are a little tiresome and require you to place your towers perfectly and have them upgraded to just the right power level to be able to beat them. It’s a pain in the arse, if I’m honest, but it’s not impossible and through trial and error you’ll find your way to victory.
Summary
It’s a cheap and cheerful tower-defense game that doesn’t spam your Facebook with messages from people you don’t even consider to be friends. A solid game in short one-to-two level bursts, but even better if you can sit in for the long-run and really get stuck into it. The soundtrack is also pretty sweet, too.
[wp-review]Disclaimer: This review was conducted using a code provided by Kraftix Games, the developer and publisher of Alien Robot Monsters.