tower-defense
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Fieldrunners HD storms Android June 30, $.99 for first 24 hours
Just in time for the Fourth of July fireworks, Subatomic Studios is bringing its hit iOS tower defense title Fieldrunners to Android -- and it'll be a buck on day one. The Cambridge, Mass. based developer has announced that the $2.99 price for its game will be cut to $.99 on Thursday, June 30, which is when it arrives on the Android Market. From July 1 on, it's full price. (Note: The press release, which says the game is free during the first 24 hours, is incorrect.) As its title suggests, Fieldrunners HD has undergone a visual upgrade for Android devices, with all its art assets getting a fresh coat of 950x540 resolution paint. Other than that, the game looks to be a facsimile of its previous iterations on iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad -- all of which were great. You don't need to be a West Point graduate to realize that grabbing this gem on day one is the winning strategy.
E3 2011: Clone Wars Adventures redefines tower defense
With a large Star Wars MMO on the horizon, it's easy to forget that there are two other Star Wars-related online games already on the market. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures is an online lobby-based game geared for the younger audience, but if you are a Star Wars fan, it's fun at any age. The game has lightsaber duels, starfighter simulations, blaster ranges, and much more. Massively visited the Sony Online Entertainment booth at E3 to get a glimpse of what is the latest and greatest to come out of this multiplayer online experience. The Senior Producer of Clone Wars Adventures, Todd Carson, was there to greet us and show us a few of the newest minigames that litter the gamescape. Jump past the break to see what he had to say and witness the latest trailer for the Clone Wars Adventures.%Gallery-125784%
Sentinel 3 on sale for $0.99, $1.99 DLC update adds large number of features
The popular sci-fi tower defense game Sentinel 3 is on sale for only US$0.99 for a limited time. Normally $2.99, the sale price is in celebration of the release of a massive new downloadable campaign that is available as an in-app purchase for $1.99. The new 15-map campaign features 15 endless maps and 6 new classic maps, as well as a new commander unit, new weapons, new turrets and new enemies. In addition to the new in-game features, Sentinel 3, which is a universal game for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has beefed up the iPad graphics with higher resolution background levels. The game's engine has also been completely revamped for much-improved gameplay. No word on how long Sentinel 3 will remain on sale, so if you're a fan of tower defense games, you might want to snap this one up quickly.
Dead Block pairs three unlikely survivors against the zombie masses this summer
Candygun Games and Digital Reality Publishing are teaming up to release a bizarre-looking ... um ... street defense game called Dead Block, coming this summer to XBLA, PSN and PC. Worried as you might be that the street itself is a zombie, you're thankfully mistaken -- turns out that the game is centered on the last remaining survivors of a 1950s zombie outbreak, holed up on one particular block of Americana. Players control one of three different characters (swappable on the fly) in a third-person view, and apply direct or tactical violence in the form of traps to stop the stream of zombies. What's bizarre is the mix of characters, which ranges from a beefy construction worker with questionable mustache to a Blaxsploitation-era, gun-toting foxy lady to a chubby boyscout thrown in for good measure. Despite the seeming anachronism of some of the game's characters, Dead Block's first trailer makes the game look rather promising. Head past the break and see for yourself.%Gallery-122917%
TUAW's Daily App: GemCraft
You may have played GemCraft before -- it's a pretty popular Flash game that's been available for a while now. It's a tower defense game, though the new layer here is that your towers are actually powered by gems, which allows you to do things like move them around for various monster waves and combine and upgrade gems as you go. You can also use those gems to cast spells and abilities, which will slow monsters, attack them directly, or power up your defenses in other ways. The iPhone version has 32 levels to play through, graphics updated for Retina Display, and full Game Center integration. GemCraft is well-balanced, colorful, and a lot of fun, even for the somewhat well-traveled Tower Defense genre. You can play it for free in Flash form at the link above, play a free iOS version, or download the full game for just US$1.99.
Trenched is a third-person tower-defense game
When Trenched was revealed by Tim Schafer at the end of this year's Game Developer's Choice Awards ceremony, we knew next to nothing about it. Though we can't tell you how we feel about it ourselves, previews are showing up all over the web that describe the game as a third-person tower-defense title set in an alternate history post-WWI world. G4 explains that the tower-defense-style battles of Trenched take place atop walking, upgradeable trenches. As it turns out, television monsters (referred to as "tubes") are attacking the world's mobile trenches and handicapped hero Frank Woodrof is bent on defending them. You'll employ Woodrof's ultra-manliness to defeat said "tubes" and restore alternate reality's normalcy. Or, ya know, Double Fine's bizarre version of normalcy in the world of Trenched. Schafer's team expects the game out on Xbox Live Arcade at some point in 2011.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth coming to Mac, iPhone and iPad
Anomaly: Warzone Earth is a tower defense game with a twist -- instead of placing towers to take down attackers, you actually control attackers, trying to navigate a convoy in between alien defenses. Through both a 14-mission story/campaign mode and a few endless options, you command your squad using deployables like Smoke and Decoy, various unit types that can be upgraded and tweaked, and whatever strategies you can dream up. The game is a nice mix of strategy and action, constantly driving your convoy through alien turrets while planning out the best and safest route to take. The game has already been announced for the iPhone, iPad and the PC, but this post serves as the official announcement that the game is coming to Mac as well. It is scheduled for an early 2011 release, and we're told that the Polish developer, 11 bit studios, is planning to bring the game to the Mac App Store, though a price hasn't been determined yet. We'll keep an eye out for the game when it releases -- in the meantime, feel free to browse through and check out these exclusive shots of the game's Tokyo level in the gallery below. %Gallery-114617%
TUAW's Daily App: Monster Feed
Monster Feed is a colorful little tower defense title for the iPad, and it's a little more action-based than most TD titles. A lot of your interaction with the oncoming hordes is actually interactive, as you have not only towers to build and grow but also spells and even summonable minions fighting with you and at your side. Monsters have a few new tricks, too -- rather than just blindly following the paths, some will require you to tap on them or otherwise keep them back as you play. There are a few good ideas in the mix, and especially if you're a fan of the growing tower defense genre, this one seems like a must-see. The iPad app is on sale right now for US $1.99, which is 50 percent off of the usual price. If you don't want to jump right in, you can try a lite version for free. And while the app isn't on the iPhone yet, we're told that it will be soon. If you want to try tower defense with a little bit more actual interaction, give Monster Feed a look.
Dungeon Defenders preview: Defense of the Diablo
Dungeon Defenders originally began as "Dungeon Defense," an indie game created with Epic's Unreal Dev Kit that mashed up the tower defense and action-RPG genres. Developers Trendy Entertainment then decided to revamp the game, which became Dungeon Defenders, and it's now being readied for release on XBLA, PC and PSN (with support for Move and stereoscopic 3D) later this year. After a recent preview session with the game, I'll say this: It's complicated. Dungeon Defenders doesn't just mix pieces of a few genres, it totally combines them. There is a full tower defense game here, and a full action-RPG game, and even a little bit of real-time strategy resource management. There's a lot going on, but just like recent genre-mixer Monday Night Combat, players who can juggle a few genres at a time will find a lot to like. %Gallery-103139%
Plants vs. Zombies taking root on DS January 2011
This January, you'll be able to play Plants vs. Zombies on two screens without running two simultaneous games on your iPhone and computer. PopCap Games revealed plans today to publish the tower yard defense game on DS in January of next year, at a suggested $19.95 price point. The DS version will have all the content of the original release, "as well as new and exclusive game content." The DS port of Peggle added entirely new, entirely weird levels under the existing levels, but there's no telling how extensive or insane the additions to Plants vs. Zombies will be.
TUAW's Daily App: Evolution Defense
Evolution Defense is a pretty good tower defense title. While it doesn't add a whole lot to the genre (there is some innovation in terms of how towers are upgraded, and support towers can be built and added in around damaged towers), it is a smooth and direct TD game that's made for the iPhone. Your job is to attack pathogens that are invading a bloodstream, and as with the usual tower defense spiel, you need to build up towers along the pathway (according to the currency that you have). It's pretty basic stuff, but a solid amount of tower choices and some excellent (if a little strange) graphical representations make for a quality game. Best of all, it's completely free. It seems like it's been a while since we featured a freebie, so head on over to the App Store, and pick it up right away. Facebook integration will add a little extra oomph to the gameplay, and there's supposed to be a pretty good multiplayer mode (that, unfortunately, didn't work on my 1G iPhone) where you put your own creations up against a friend's tower setup. All in all, it's an excellent bit of fun for the low, low price of free.
Mediatonic's new PSN Mini asks: Who's That Flying?!
Mediatonic, developer of Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess, has announced the second PSP game to use "WTF" as an abbreviation: Who's That Flying?! (The first was Work Time Fun, of course!) This upcoming Minis game (playable on PSP and PS3) is a horizontal shmup in which the "Guardian of Earth" uses its "HYPER-POWERED LASER ARM" to protect the world from "Doom Beasts." The game also includes a tower defense element: rather than simply avoiding enemies and shooting what you can, you must limit the number of flying enemies that get past your invulnerable character, in order to stop them from destroying cities. We'll be able to play this bizarre hybrid-genre game ("with courtroom drama and intrigue!") in early September.
Tweet Defense free on iPad and iPhone this Sunday
Promethium Marketing Group's Twitter-enabled tower defense title, Tweet Defense, will be very on sale tomorrow for just 24 hours. Like, as on sale as anything could possibly be. Both the iPhone version and recently launched iPad version of the game will be downloadable for free from FreeAppaDay.com on Sunday, July 11. The game usually retails for $2.99 on iPhone and $7.99 on iPad, so we'd suggest taking Promethium up on this temporary offer. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who thinks that every time you Tweet, part of your soul gets siphoned away. You guys should probably go play something else.
E3 2010: Hands-on with Clone Wars Adventures
Arriving at the SOE booth at E3, one is assaulted with the shininess of their latest upcoming titles, DC Universe Online and The Agency. But scattered about the booth were demo stations for many of their other upcoming games including the recently announced Clone Wars Adventures. We haven't heard much about this game since it was announced (and our subsequent interview with the lead designer), but we got to sit down at E3 and find out what's involved. As a quick refresher, CWA is less a traditional MMORPG and more a virtual lobby where players can access a number of minigames. There's no leveling or quests or equipment with stats. It's more Free Realms and less EverQuest. It will be free-to-play as a Flash-based browser title when it arrives this fall. But how does all this actually play? Click past the jump for more info.
New Star Wars online game revealed: Clone Wars Adventures [Update]
While we've heard the rumors of a third Star Wars online title coming our way, today it's confirmed: Clone Wars Adventures will launch this fall! Unlike Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars: The Old Republic, Clone Wars Adventures is aimed at a younger demographic (but may appeal to the older as well), in the vein of what SOE did with Free Realms. Sony is shying away from calling this an "MMO," preferring the term "virtual world" instead as there won't be leveling or quests. Capitalizing on the Clone Wars TV series' popularity, CWA offers a pick of three playable classes (Jedi, Padawan and Clone Trooper) and will be more minigame focused. Players will socialize in hubs, meet iconic Star Wars characters, and head off together or solo for a variety of activities, including spaceship battles, tower defense, card games, droid programming and speeder bike racing. Destructoid is reporting that about 20 minigames will be present at launch. Fun amenities, such as pets and player housing, will be offered as well. Clone Wars Adventures will be free to play with an optional membership, so everyone will be able to sample the goods without worry. The official website is chock-full of info and screenshots, although a lot of the smaller details are obviously forthcoming. We'll be able to get a closer look at this title when we travel to E3 later this month, so stay tuned! [Update: We've gotten our hands on a trailer for the game! Follow along after the break to check it out!]
Plants vs. Zombies started as Insaniquarium sequel, PopCap is human
If you, like us, were laboring under the impression that the entity known as "PopCap Games" was some sort of supernatural anti-free time daemon that simply willed release after release of perfectly polished and addictive gameplay into an increasingly submissive world, then you'll probably find this little writeup over at Ars Technica intriguing. Apparently PopCap is just a video game developer, made up of real people who draw ideas out on notepads and tweak them as they see fit. Who knew? For example, its latest runaway hit, Plants vs. Zombies, started out as a sequel to Insaniquarium, but as the gameplay was tuned more towards a tower defense-like setup and the idea arose of regenerating sunlight as a resource for the fight against the undead, the title morphed into the time-killer we know it as today. Of course, there's no doubt that a game that featured locust aliens and "jolly-moustache-potato-men" would have been just as fun, but it's good to know that the minds behind PopCap are, in fact, human. We'd like to use that knowledge to find a weakness and attempt to reclaim our long-missing boredom, but we're too busy playing its games.
Swag Saturday: Toy Soldiers! (XBLA)
Signal Studios' new game Toy Soldiers might sound like any other tower defense game at first glance, but it has art direction that will knock your socks off. It's one thing to pit the Kaiser's forces against the boys from England, but Toy Soliders turns them into little clockwork toys, full of cogs and springs. Combine that with addictively fun gameplay and Facebook integration and you have a winner. So worry not if you have moral objections to pumping howitzer shells into approaching baddies, they're just toys! We want to share this toybox full of fun with you, so we're giving away three codes for this game on Xbox Live Arcade. All you have to do is follow the rules below, and tell us what your favorite toy was. Or is. There's no shame in still playing with toys, is there? Leave a comment telling us what your favorite toy was (or is). You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, at least in part due to our vehement opposition of the Montreal Canadiens). Limit 1 entry per person per day. This entry period ends at 7:01PM PT on Sunday, March 7. At that time, we'll randomly select three winners to receive a code good for one copy of Toy Soliders on XBLA (ARV: $15). For a list of complete rules, click here. What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here. %Gallery-73953%
PopCap harvesting a money crop with Plants vs. Zombies on iPhone
We had assumed that putting PopCap's devilishly addictive Plants vs. Zombies on a handheld device was a recipe for commercial success. However, we didn't anticipate it setting a new sales record for the App Store, moving over 300,000 downloads in just nine days. At $2.99 a pop, the game has already netted the casual developer over $1 million on the iPhone platform alone. We're sincerely hoping this inspires PopCap to explore other match-ups between things in nature and humanoid aggressors. Trees vs. Ninjas? Migratory Geese vs. Robots? The Ocean vs. Witches? Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus vs. Everyone Else on Earth?
Plants vs. Zombies shambling to iPhones February 15
PopCap today announced that the iPhone port of Plants vs. Zombies is heading to Apple's handheld on February 15, seemingly aiming for the exact day that it had originally approximated for a delayed release. What's more, the publisher has also released the first trailer for the game (seen above), showing off the port's pared down touch-based controls and getting us even more (trepidatiously) pumped for the impending release. Sure, some other games are releasing this month or whatever, but do those games grab us by the dopamine receptor and refuse to let go? Yeah, didn't think so.
iPhone port of Plants vs. Zombies delayed, coming mid-February
If you prefer your zombie-slaying iPhone Apps to be a bit more botanical in nature, you're going to have to hold out for a little longer than you may have anticipated. A recent PopCap Tweet explained that the initial "late January" launch window of Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone is no longer accurate. "The game has been further delayed, but we are *confident* it will launch in mid Feb," PopCap explained. This isn't great news for fans of the pseudo-tower defense game -- however, the use of asterisks in the message above makes us certain that PopCap is telling the truth this time. See, asterisks are like little truth symbols. Check this out: "Man, Beaches is my *favorite* movie of all time." Totally, totally true. [Via ShackNews]
