Saturday, April 2, 2016

Tower Knights Review


Tower Knights is a tower defense game with a twist, literally. In this game you have to defend your tower. Just 1 tower, with a spiral ramp around it. Enemies enter the ramp from the bottom of the tower and make their way up towards the princess. Only thing standing between them and the princess is you. Well not quite literally as you have a lot of help in between.

First impress was that big. I did not see the potential of the game initially. I took it as one more tower defense game. Though I did kept playing it again and again. Later I realized the difference and decided to point out the factors that made it a tower defense game but not one of the usual ones.

Gameplay is simple and has RPG elements in the game where you level up your skills and unlock a wide array of powers. You can customize the powers to suite your playing style. There are not a lot of controls that you have to manage, making it a casual game in terms of controls, but you can lose the game if you are not paying attention. This makes it not mush of a casual game.

You have to tap on the sides of the screen to control your character. This makes the tower rotate and your character goes up or down the ramp depending on the side you tap. The tower twists to make your character stay in the centre of the screen. That's why I call it a tower defense game with a twist.

Graphics of Tower Knights are pretty average. Simple 2D animation that keep the game simple and enjoyable.

The has a high replayability. The difficulty increases slowly, giving you enough time to explore all the combinations of skills and special tower segments that you can add in between. You can always play a quick round in your break or while traveling.

Overall, its a fun game that can keep you busy for a while if you are a casual gamer. If you are looking for something more hardcore then you might not stick around for long. Though it does have a lot of levels and powers to unlock.

iScore:
Fun Factor - 4/5
Gameplay - 4/5
Graphics - 2.5/5
Replayability - 3.5/5
Overall - 3.5/5

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Clash Royale Review


Clash Royale is an interesting spin-off from Clash of Clans, one of the most popular strategy game on mobile. It has similar look and feel of Clash of Clans and you will start noticing the similarities almost instantly. However, the game play is fairly different, yet takes some inspiration from the battles of Clash of Clans. 

My first impression of the game was not very great. I had like the look and feel of the game but did not consider the game to be something that got me back again and again. But I did notice that I picked up my phone many times to play a quick battle.

The gameplay resembles a lot like Hearthstone, the popular turn based card game based on Warcraft and World of Warcraft from Blizzard. However Clash Royale is not a turn based game, it work more like Plants Vs Zombies' sun point collection system. You have to wait for the elixir to fill before you can place your units on the battle field. 

The game begins with 3 towers on each side with 2 bridges in between that your troops need to cross to destroy the enemy towers. All your troops have different elixir count and you can summon them when you have enough elixir. It has some of the known units of Clash of Clans and some new ones as well. There are units that you can summon and spells that you can cast using the elixir. The goal is to destroy enemy's crown tower. 

The graphics are comicy, similar to Clash of Clans that are pleasant to your eye and comfortable on your phone screen. Apart from that the graphics are nothing extraordinary. The sound is average, but nothing much was expected anyways.

I saw myself playing the game in my free hours. A quick game is never a problem, it does not demand a lot of time and yet it gives you a quick break from whatever you are doing. Over all its a fun game that can be fun to play while not bothering you much when you lose.

The game is not on android yet but it will be available on it soon. Super Cell is known to release its games on iOS first and later on Android.
Update: Game is now available on Android. Download link below.

iScore:
Fun Factor - 4/5
Gameplay - 4/5
Graphics - 3/5
Replayability - 4/5
Overall - 3.75/5

Download Clash Royale:
Apple App Store | Google Play Store