14 DAY TRIAL // Tower defense games are a dime a dozen these days, as practically every independent developer is trying its hand on creating experiences set in this genre.
We already established that with Anomaly Warzone Earth, the team at 11 Bit Studios managed to really change up the genre and breathe fresh life into it by putting players in the shoes of the actual invading forces, and not in the ones of the defending ones.
But with this major change, the gameplay becomes a bit more tricky, especially for those who aren't really used to the tower defense genre.
Usually, in regular games, the biggest challenge was at the beginning, when you didn't know how the enemies will behave but, with the right course of action and a bit of trial and error, you could easily defeat your opponents by figuring out the optimal strategy.
With Anomaly, things are bit more difficult, as you not only need to use your strategy skills in order to plot the right course through a level, but you also need to carefully negotiate the encounters between your own forces, usually comprised out of mechanical walkers, APCs or other such vehicles, and the enemy towers.
Thanks to your special combat suit, you can deploy various powers that can repair units, create a distraction or confuse enemy towers.
This usually happens in just a few seconds, as a brief pause for thought can spell the difference between making it out of an encounter alive or having to restart your checkpoint.
Regular tower defense games also teach you to think on your feet, but Anomaly takes it one step further by really stressing how important both strategy kills and quick reaction times are with its addictive reverse tower defense gameplay.
Factor in the upgrades you can apply to your troops and the fact that you can select their formation in order to take advantage of their best attributes, and Anomaly becomes a very complicated game that seems easy to get into but is extremely difficult to master.