http://xblaratings.com/ 6506-6304 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/6506-sanctum-2 I was quickly captivated when I started up Sanctum 2. The graphics are crisp and colorful, and the music is very intriguing. Graphically the world reminds me of Mass Effect or Halo. The setting welcomes you into the world to try out this new tower defense game with a twist – it’s also a first person shooter. I have not played Sanctum 1 so I have no basis for comparing it to the original game. I have played quite a few other tower defense games though and generally I get bored with them early on. My favorite TD on the Xbox is ‘Orcs Must Die’ but Sanctum 2 will be placed right there as a favorite as well. My review is based on about 2 hours of play and I definitely recommend this game if you are a tower defense aficionado or even if you are new to TD. There is quite a bit of content here and in some ways reminds me of ‘Orcs Must Die’ as far as the gameplay is concerned. There are four characters to choose from which all have unique weapons and skills or abilities. As you level up in rank you gain perks, more types of towers and secondary weapons. For instance, Sweet Autumn uses a weapon called a Rex and it looks very much like a fuel rod from Halo. The default character you start with, Skye Autumn, has an assault rifle, Simo uses a sniper rifle and Haigen Hawkins uses a shotgun. The enemies are various aliens that are after your core which is a large sphere shaped object that you are sworn to protect. There are small to large enemies and before the wave starts it gives you the path that they will take and the number of each type of enemy. Of course, as I played the first time I had no idea how to know which defenses would be best for which enemies it was showing that would be coming so it was a guess. However, once you play against them you know in future waves how to handle them. After you complete a wave of enemies you get resources to build or upgrade more defenses. There appears to be 4 zones in the world. You start in the Facility which has 4 locations to complete, which includes the introduction/tutorial section, before moving on to the next zone. If you want more challenge there are settings to add ‘Feats of Strength’ which generally give you more XP but make the enemies much harder in various ways. This seems similar to turning on the Skulls in Halo games. Last but not least, this game has 4 player coop! I was not able to play with anyone yet but the game looks like it will be very easy to invite your friends or play with the general public. In summary, this is a beautifully done tower defense/fps game and well worth a purchase. ]]> Tue, 14 May 2013 23:17:03 -0500 6260-6275 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/6260-skulls-of-the-shogun ]]> Sun, 07 Apr 2013 12:34:59 -0500 6260-6238 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/6260-skulls-of-the-shogun Skulls of the Shogun melds turn based strategy and action in a way that works really well. Some turn based games can be slow and dull after a while but I never felt that way playing this. The turns go by quickly and while the gameplay is fast there is a lot of depth to the strategy as you progress through the story. The game does a good job of adding new units and abilities as you work through the story so that you get a chance to learn each one in turn. I do recommend you look through the controls before you start though. When there are a lot of units on screen it can be hard to pick the one you want with the left thumb stick. However, you can use the D-pad to rotate through units and the triggers to zoom in. I never saw that mentioned in game but as soon as I looked at the controls it made playing much easier. In addition to a good strategy depth Skulls of the Shogun is a really funny game. The whole back story presented at the start of the game is ridiculous and sets the stage for a fun time. The dialog between characters is really well done while being over the top. It fits the fun art style well. The humor I think is important because there is some level of trial and error as you learn to play and how each unit is best used. Even when I found myself losing I never really got frustrated because it was too funny. There is an option to go back the previous checkpoint which is better than replaying some of the longer levels from the beginning, but even those are only 15 or 20 minutes long. Definitely check out Skulls of the Shogun. It is a really well done game and worth playing through even if you decide not to try out the multiplayer. However, you really should check out the multiplayer as well as 4 player matches can be quite frantic and fun. ]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:05:11 -0600 6000-6172 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/6000-worms-revolution This could have been a pretty good game had it not been for the extremely slow tutorials. From the beginning you're put through a mandatory tutorial. It’s a good idea to teach you how to use certain weapons but the fact that you can’t skip it may serve as a problem for some. If you can put the slow tutorials aside, you might end up liking the game a bit more than I did. Fans of strategy games might like this title. You definitely have to think things through in order to get to the main objective. You’re given a good amount of power ups to aid you through each level. Some power ups are good for melee others help you wipe everyone out. Some even help you climb to impossible heights! The controls have their ups and downs as well. On the plus side, you can zoom in and out in order to plan things out better. Knowing what’s ahead of you can help out a lot. The aiming with certain power ups can be a bit weird at times. On the down side, your little worm character goes pretty slow. I understand that he’s a worm and all but if you make the wrong move and miss a jump, you’re going to have to make the slow trek back up to where you came from. You could always try jumping forward but that’s pretty much just as slow as crawling through the map. One good thing about the game though would be the graphics. For a side scrolling game the environment is pretty nice. Some levels can be pretty big and have a nice layout. All in all, Worms Revolution isn’t a bad game if you’re into the slow-paced strategy games. If you’re looking for something more fast-paced then I would try another game. ]]> Sat, 08 Dec 2012 04:36:42 -0600 5405-6095 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/5405-anomaly-warzone-earth This game is a decent spin on the tower defense genre by making you the army marching in. Starting on the Android/iOS this is a decent game but a game that cannot be recommended to anyone who has played or owned the previous versions. The graphics are better and has some more modes but the core is the same. I say get it for much cheaper on the android or iOS rather than XBLA ^^ ]]> Sat, 08 Sep 2012 23:56:47 -0500 5405-6076 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/5405-anomaly-warzone-earth I found Anomaly Warzone Earth a refreshing view on the typical tower defense games. Taking an offensive stance and trying liberate Earth from an alien threat was fun and packed with good action. As the Commander in Anomaly Warzone Earth your role is integral for all missions success as you will have to select which units you need for each level, route them to the most appropriate path, upgrade them with your hard earned cash and use your abilities to protect and heal them, as well as attacking enemy structures. The game will introduce you to more enemy structures as you advance and each of them will require different approach to pass or else you will quickly see your units being destroyed. Overall its a great game to play and recommended to check out :) ]]> Sat, 18 Aug 2012 21:35:04 -0500 5405-5894 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/5405-anomaly-warzone-earth Well, I just saw this morning that this game is on sale for 320 MS points. Had to try the demo first...but I think I really like it. Reviews have been good, and it's a different spin on the standard tower defense games. Think of it as reverse tower defense. It was an instant buy for me. Not sure how long it's going to be at 320 MS points, but like someone said...there's avatar awards, so it's essentially that you're buying avatar clothing and getting the game for free! :-) ]]> Fri, 25 May 2012 18:19:41 -0500 889-5868 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/889-magic-the-gathering-duels-of-the-planeswalkers This is a fun game of magic, the biggest flaw is there is no ability to build your own decks with the cards that come with it which sucks. Because they have a newer version "Magic 2012", I would suggest just getting the newer one as it is a better game overall. ]]> Wed, 02 May 2012 11:50:12 -0500 5405-5816 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/5405-anomaly-warzone-earth I’ve started playing Anomaly Warzone Earth in the past on both my PC (Steam) and my Xoom. In both cases I got part way through and then got side tracked and never finished it. It is not that I was not enjoying the game but I just don’t play games that much on either platform. So, I was pretty excited to play Anomaly Warzone Earth on the Xbox with a controller in hand. If you have not tried it on another platform the gameplay is pretty unique. It is almost the reverse of a tower defense game where you are the guys walking through the turrets. Only, you can only control a single character, the Commander, and you have the ability to change the course of the troops under your command as needed. As the Commander you are responsible not just for picking the route for your troops, but also repairing them, calling in air strikes, using decoys, setting up smoke screens and picking up supply drops. You also get to choose your squad of troops and what order they are in. While that may seem like a lot of things to do you rarely are trying to do them all at once. When you need to change the route or your convoy’s order the gameplay pauses while you do so. So, you can focus on the action while it is happening, and not have to worry about dying when you are working on your tactics. The Xbox Live Arcade version adds some new levels, but even without them I’d recommend playing this version over the others. Instead of a click to move system you actually have direct control of your Commander’s movements. While for some this may not be a big deal I found I greatly prefer it. The graphics look really nice on the Xbox 360, and while the voice acting is not the best I’ve heard the sound overall fits the game well. I have been really enjoying playing through Anomaly Warzone Earth on XBLA. The levels start of fairly linear, but get quite challenging as you progress. Fortunately, you also get additional troop options and the Commander’s abilities as you progress to help. While I did not beat every level on the first try I was not frustrated when I did lose a level. In every case it came down to me making a bad decision in either the path I chose or using the wrong ability at the wrong time. If you are a fan of problem solving and strategic games then I’d highly recommend picking up Anomaly Warzone Earth. While I personally will probably not ever beat the whole game in the harder difficulties they are there for those of you who want that extra challenge - and are smarter than me :) At $10 there is a lot of content to keep you busy for quite some time. ]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:52:10 -0500 5327-5788 http://xblaratings.com/xbla-list/48-strategy/5327-defenders-of-ardania Defenders of Ardania is the latest entry to the Tower Defense genre here on XBLA. We have all the typical trappings of the genre on offer here: A base to defend, different kinds of upgradable towers and wave after wave of "creeps" thats will try and assault your base. What Defenders of Ardania does to mix things up though is that the creeps are coming from an enemy base situated across the map. You and the enemy are responsible for sending out waves of troops to storm the enemy castle. So that means your troops are running through a gauntlet of enemy towers and the enemy is running through yours all the while competing for real estate for building those towers. This all sounds very good on paper. But what it boils down to is very dull, drawn out games. Stalemates were common place as I went through the campaign. The units don't have nearly enough speed or health to punch through even the most basic of defense set ups. This lead to a few games where all of my towers were placed and the enemy had all theirs placed. Neither side could get troops through. It left me baffled as to how to speed things along or to make a shift in tactics. What would make this easier? Being able to attack/destroy enemy towers. Well you can. Kind of. Sometimes. At least the game tells you can during its tutorial. Funny thing is, basic troops CAN'T attack towers. So your given information that you can't immediately use. I can't tell you how long I spent trying to make my regular units attack the enemy only to realize that this is an ability of unlockable units that you get later in the game. Needless to say the tutorials are lacking. Defenders of Ardania is full of good ideas that don't seem to take shape in the execution. It reminds of a DOTA type game like League of Legends if you took out the player controlled Heroes. That takes out the entire game you say? Exactly. Stalemates are all too common and games drag on for far too long. I tried on multiple occasions throughout the week and couldn't find one opponent via Quickmatch or Custom Searching to try out the multiplayer. I can honestly say that is is a title that is best avoided. There are much better Tower Defense offers available in XBLA or the Indie section. ]]> Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:45:50 -0500