Iron Grip: Warlord Demo

First-person shooters can definitely be more fun in multiplayer, but they need to have enough elements to sustain themselves over long periods, otherwise players quickly get bored and they move on to the next big thing. Originality is rewarded with enthusiasm, however, which is also the reason why so many indie games receive a lot of attention over long periods of time.

Iron Grip: Warlord is a game that aims to blend two genres together, by combining first-person shooter gameplay with tower defense mechanics, in an attempt to provide you with a different view on both genres. As you might expect, much of the game had to be imagined on the go, since there aren't many similar titles like it and inspiration was the weapon of choice for the developers.

As far as the background story is concerned, it all revolves around two fictional factions that are at war with each other: the Atelians and the Confederates. The action takes place in a sort of alternate universe, although the weapons are rather similar with those from the first and the second World War. Not a lot of emphasis is put on the story itself, but there are a lot of references you can hear while playing, which really give the conflict a bit of weight and make you feel like you are part of the war. In the game, you can only play as the Atelians, while the Confederates are portrayed as the invaders.

As in every other shooter, you get points for killing enemy soldiers, but here the points are pooled into a resource called simply Power. This can be used when you switch to the RTS view, in order to buy more defensive buildings to aid you in battle, or even extend your arsenal and make use of better weapons yourself. The tower defense mechanics govern this part of the game and it is really a nice addition to the gameplay, since it is definitely a productive way to spend your time during respawn.

Every few seconds, new waves of enemies appear and you must do your best to kill them all before they reach a certain location. Beside foot soldiers, the waves might also sometimes contain vehicles, such as tanks, which are significantly harder to destroy and they can pose a serious threat if they are not dealt with. There are also special ground units called Officers, which are stronger than regular ones and they require a bit more attention when they spawn.

In the end, Iron Grip: Warlord definitely deserves a try and a few hours of your time, if only to try out the curious combination of genres. Despite the rather poor graphics and lack of polishing when it comes to the shooter mechanics, the game proves to be very addictive on the long run, especially when you get to work with other people in multiplayer.