geoDefense: A Retro Spin on Tower Defense
posted February 21st, 2009 9:28 PM EST by arn in $0.99, Retro, Reviews, Tower Defense, iPhone games, iPod touch games
Just when you thought you were done with Tower Defense games comes an exciting new one from Critical Thought Games. geoDefense [App Store, $0.99] is a retro-inspired version of the game that offers some wonderful touches to the genre.
Like The Creeps, geoDefense offers set paths on which the enemies ("creeps") traverse to get to your base. Your job is to set up tower defenses to destroy the oncoming waves of enemies. There are 5 tower types with 7 upgrade levels each.
The graphics and animation included in the title offer a wonderful arcade-y feel and are a surprising touch. We recommend checking out the video embedded below.
The developer's goal in designing the game was to make it more of an arcade action game than other traditional tower defense games. He describes his thoughts behind the design:
Once you get past the introductory stuff, and into the meat of the game, it can be very fast and require you to think a lot about what you are doing. Every level is beatable… but sometimes a very distinct strategy is required.I was going for a very kinetic… high-energy experience. With some not-so-obvious game play elements. For example, the vortex towers have several different ways they can be used… and using them right is often key. Plus… the bonus system is key to highscores once you get past the "how do you even beat this thing" stage. But how you get better multipliers is something you have to figure out… I'm not telling you.
….
Tower Defense games are all about the "tipping point" where get to the point that your income is going up faster than the creep power and you've essentially won. But I worked really hard to eliminate that from the way geoDefense plays. It is possible to cross the tipping point in some cases, but because of the controls I have over each waves progression I made it so that seldom happens. This is why you often have to fight to the bitter end… and winning without losing any lives is pretty rare…. nothing is more exciting than fighting down to that one last guy and pulling off a victory!
Indeed, one thing this game has not been accused of is being too easy. Early reports from our forums have high praise about the game, though many have been unable to get past many of the "easy" levels — we suspect that this may come from applying more traditional Tower Defense strategies into this new game. If you're looking for a new tower defense challenge, this is an easy recommendation at only $0.99.
The main negative with the current version appears to be the use of touch controls to place towers. This can be a bit awkward as your finger obscures your view. This and a few other interface issues are said to be addressed in a future update.
This video of Easy Level 3 was provided by Habakuk:
App Store Link: geoDefense, $0.99
this is definitely my favorite td on my ipod, it along with fastlane are so great because i can't sail through them in an hour, both are really freakin' hard and require much practice/adjusting of strategies
which is great
so far i've beaten all the easy levels and am stuck on medium1
I hate it when developers put out these .99 cent games! too addicting!
graphics are top-notch, maybe way too much of a geometry wars rip-off, but still a great eye-candy.
great puzzling TD game by the way
Too hard. But in a good way.
that's what she said
geoDefense is a great retro TD app that delivers. Challenging is an understatement when describing the game which is good. The Easy setting will take you quite a while to get through, but you'll enjoy every minute of it. The touch controls used for placing weapons can take a little getting used to, but you do. For me, it's one of the top TD apps in the iTunes store. 7 Cities and Besiegement are the others I have in mind.
At the moment, my favourite TD game.
CHALLENGING and beautiful.
Yep – a worthy TD game. And the play style / tactics are very different from other TD games – a nice change. But as the article says, applying traditional TD tactics may not always work.
Some levels seem so far beyond possible that you wonder if it's a bug. And then you figure it out and win with hundreds of dollars left over! I finally beat all 10 "easy" levels. Only one of which (maybe #7?) seemed easy–probably because I lucked into the winning approach early on.
Tower costs and other stats actually vary from level to level, so what you learn in one level may not help you in another. In that sense, each level is like a game of its own.
@Adams Immersive: that's funny you found #7 easy. #4 was the only level I made it through on the first try. On level #8 now, and you're right, each level is a different game of its own.
This game kicks ass!
I love how this game has easy, medium and hard maps. Best part is that "easy" is pretty damn hard at first. Keeps you playing the game longer! (This dev is smart, if that was intentional.)
Just wish the volume was louder. Placing towers could use some work, too.
I love this game so much. One of the best tower defense games. I played it for 2 HOURS today! 2 HOURS! Yay!
@Blaqkie: how'd your battery hold up? Sounds like a TD kind of day.
the dev should be sued. this game is too addicting.
this game is amazing… and probably the first cheap app that's actually worth playing. way too hard for me though, i'm still on easy level 4 and haven't been able to beat it with about 4 tries.
I love this game.
Blighme, this game has me drilled down – great gameplay, cool graphics, almost-but-not-quiet-yet-unbeatable AI. More addictive than Fieldrunners, but with a very different atmosphere. Now if I could only discover the right tactic….
Great graphics, but possibly the dumbest tower AI ever. No, don't worry about those hordes of creeps about to reach the goal. Just fire on that random creep walking by. Too aggravating. I don't want a tower defense game to be a puzzle, with only one correct solution. I'm definitely more a fan of the sandbox style games, where you can try different things. Even other path runner TD games let you play around with strategies. This one seems to have one way to win each level.
Beautiful and addictive.
It's like watching constant fireworks.
a nice mix of retro "Tron-like" graphics with more advanced 3D and particle effects.
The game in HARD mode is extremely hard indeed!
like the previous post said, it often feels like there is only 1 built order than will get you through the levels, but other than that it's definitely worth the low price tag.
Yeahguys ! I finish all the levels at last !!
I love this game !!
tips: yellow tower maximum level is a great help !
((Steo))
Defender Chronicles is heaps better than this unimaginative clone.