![]() My fingers are on the stubby side, so that could have had something to do with it. This was particularly difficult when attempting to select Frontiers’ tiny hero figures. Far too often, I found myself finger-mashing my table as I tried to get some small spot on the screen to register. The problem is that the tap-to-target functionality isn’t as responsive and accurate as it should be. You can also direct your firestorm and reinforcement abilities to specific areas of the screen by tapping on those desired spots on the map. From there, you tap the towers again to upgrade them or sell them. You select the tower type and then confirm it. The general scheme is to tap empty zones to build towers. Some of Frontiers’ more cumbersome aspects fall under the “tap controls” category. But somehow, I was still able to get lost in the visuals-no easy feat for a simple android tower defense design. I played the game primarily on a mid-level tablet that doesn’t have the best graphics processor. The graphics themselves are a little cartoonish, but they’re well done and ultimately convey a warm, nostalgic vibe. While it lives somewhere between aerial 2D and hawk’s-eye 3D, the color scheme is vibrant and crisp. So, while the storyline itself (told through text-based asides between form-fit levels) seems a little “tacked on,” the upgradeable RPG-isms of the game provide players with a satisfying sense of long-term accomplishment. ![]() You feel a little like a proud parent when you upgrade an archery tower to its biggest range, strongest damage and fastest rate of fire. You can wrap your head around the level-to-level mechanics really easily, so upgrading towers, earning new hero characters and completing seemingly endless levels has a strange degree of satisfaction to it. These games with simple concepts tend to do that. Simple, right? Well, there’s a bit more to it.Īs I alluded earlier with my 12-step-program-esque first sentence, this genre lends itself pretty handily to hours and hours of addictive gameplay. Early levels feel really easy (almost to the point of boredom), while later levels up the ante, throwing more enemies, stronger soldier types and endlessly frustrating boss figures. So, at it’s most simplistic, the only real task you have in the game is setting up strategic defensive points to maximize damage radii and block enemies from reaching the end of the path. increasing your archers’ range or your mages’ attack power) while coins are used to construct physical structures and upgrade them in-level. Stars are used to improve your tower capabilities (i.e. As you clear stages, you earn money and stars. While those are the particular nuts and bolts, what make the game interesting are its upgrades and powers. Finally, during each stage, you have a “hero” at your control that is, essentially, a super strong, super resilient on-field soldier for added support. To spice this up, the game also gives players the option of calling in additional soldier reinforcements as well as literally raining fire on your enemies-a particularly guilty pleasure of mine. In Frontiers, these towers are broken out into four categories: barracks (spawning physical troops to defend the paths), archery posts (shooting small-damage arrows at enemies), mage towers (blasting slow, high-damage spell bursts) and siege outposts (launching massive, explosive attacks at ground surface area). You’re tasked with setting up structures, towers and outposts around the area, each of which have different strengths and powers to defend what is essentially your castle. You play an omniscient overseer much like in RTS games and control a “kingdom.” You generally have a central point to defend from droves of slowly oncoming enemies inching their way toward that point. If you’ve never played a tower defense game, then climb out from under your rock and give it a try. ![]() So, while the games’ premises are pretty much the same, my description deals with the sequel. This particular review is for the second iteration, Kingdom Rush: Frontiers. Since then, I’ve played a few mobile installments of the genre, but none have really caught my attention. It wasn’t super flashy, but it involved tossing stick figures off the screen and setting up defensive structures before they could attack your castle. Back in my teenage, play-flash-games-in-my-spare-time years, I had a bit of an addiction to a really basic game called Defend Your Castle. I’m Jay, and I am a tower defense addict. ![]()
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