Review Rewind: Anthill

Line Drawing Base Defense titles quickly became a favorite genre of mine after playing today's Review Rewind title; Anthill. Originally titled Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense, the TTD was dropped in an update, and it simply took the name 'Anthill'. After I got an iPad earlier this year, Anthill was one of the first titles I moved over to the device, eager to find out how the game played on the larger screen. And it's fantastic. If you're a fan of the genre, Anthill is definitely a title you need to pick up, and now with it's added Infinite Mode that was included in the Version 2.0 update for the game, there's endless replay value, challenge, and ant controlling, bug killing mayhem to be had. Anthill is another title that can be added to the list of games that will never leave my iDevice. 

**Note: This review was written after playing Version 1.1

Line drawing and tower defense genres really seem to go together quite well from the couple of titles that merge these two genres I’ve been able to check out. Phoenix Defense Force, Boom Brigade, A.I.R. Defense, Into The Blue, and the ever popular Axe In Face come to mind, and now fans of the genre have another game to add to that short list of incredibly well done line drawing/TD games; Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense, by Image & Form International. 

To start things off, the graphics and animations. I&F has done an amazing job creating some very vibrant and layered environments. You get an idea of this right when you get to the main menu. The very well done environments match the equally well done bug models and animations. It’s actually so well done that you might end up finding yourself just staring at the screen watching them move around. The bugs are also very colorful, matching the vibrancy of the environments perfectly. It’s easy to tell that a lot of time and effort went into making the movement, look, and flow of everything within the game just right. To top it off, the music is Disney-esque, and almost like something that would have fit very well within A Bug’s Life. It compliments the atmosphere and feeling of the game perfectly.

Now onto the gameplay. You start out looking down at an anthill, surrounded by shrubbery. The tutorial is well explained, learning the basic mechanics in the first level, and then new mechanics when new units are added. You’ll need to draw a line from the top of your anthill to your desired location, and then decide what units to send out on that line. You’ll need to constantly collect food in order to send out more units, and there is almost always a leaf close-by that you can snag about 100 food points from over a short amount of time. So to start things off, you’ll usually draw a line from your anthill to that leaf, and then decide to send out your collector ants on that line. They will go out to the leaf, and start bringing the food back to the anthill. Now, to keep those ants safe, you’ll need to drag your finger across the screen, or pinch to zoom in and out, to scan the area for enemy bugs that will kill your worker ants and deprive you of food. 

Once you find out where those bugs are coming from, or where they might come from, you’ll need to draw another line starting from the top of the anthill to an intersecting point between the bugs and the worker ants, and then send out your attacker ants. These guys will kill whatever bugs are encroaching on your territory, and leave their bodies for your worker/collector ants to pick up and take back to the hill. So after your attacker ants have cleared out an area of enemies, you’ll draw another line to their bodies, and choose the collector ants to pick them up, and take them back to the anthill for some major food points. Once you’re done with a line, you hold down on it, and select the “X” that pops up. You are able to draw as many lines as you want, but the more you draw, the more spread out our available ants will become, so it’s best to erase the lines you no longer need in a timely fashion. You can also use bomber ants, who fly out of the anthill, and drop goo wherever you tap on the battlefield. A direct hit with the goo can kill an enemy instantly, but to do this, you’ll need to hit a moving target who has the ability to change direction at any point in time. Which brings us to the AI. Each of the bugs behaves differently. This makes learning how each of your enemies moves, and attacks essential in taking them out successfully.

After each level, you’re given a star ranking based on how many points you’ve collected throughout the level. This is more important than usual because you can then use these stars to upgrade your ants. The speed of the collector ants, brutality of the attacker ants, and more. If you don’t want to battle it out to gain stars, you can purchase them through an IAP, 20 stars for $0.99, which can upgrade your ants quite a bit, but it’s not necessary, and the game isn’t pushed toward you buying the stars at all. The difficulty is set just right, and you can replay levels to earn stars that you didn’t earn the first time through. You can not, however, re-earn stars, so if you got all the stars available in a level, you can not replay it and earn those stars to use for upgrades again. 

Anthill: TTD is GameCenter enabled, and has leader boards for all 21 of the levels that are spread across the 3 different environments. There’s also a leader board for your total score, which combines all of your best level scores. Having a board for each of the levels, as well as a star ranking that gives you stars for upgrades does add quite a bit of replay value to the game, especially if you’re a high-score chaser. With the game at $2.99, and on sale right now for $1.99, and being Universal, it’s a great buy for the amount of content and gameplay you’ll get. If you’re a fan of line drawing or tower-defense games, this is one that looks beautiful, and has an insane amount of strategic elements. The controls are nice and tight, and really, everything within the game is so professionally done that it’s hard to not call it one of the best, if not the best line drawing tower defense title available for the iOS.

**Note: Anthill is now priced at $1.99

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Black Water [Brisk Mobile] - $1.99

With so many first time developers hitting the AppStore lately, it’s always kinda nice seeing a new game from an already established development team. Not that I’ve got anything against new-comers, it’s just that when a new title from a company that’s put out more than a couple games in the past, you pretty much know what to expect when it comes to ‘will this game be updated’, ‘will it drop in price within it’s first week’, and of course, it’s polished and gameplay potential. Well, earlier this week, Brisk Mobile, developers of Battle For Cydonia, D-Star, Lasers, Drake’s Tower and Medieval, among others, just released the iPad exclusive, Line-Drawing Action Adventure game, Black Water. After witnessing the attack on Black Water’s sheriff, and running over to see if he’s still alive, he hands you his badge. It’s up to you to stop the attacks on Black Water and drive the bandits out of town. 

Now, Black Water can get very hectic, especially considering it’s a tap to shoot/draw a line to move type game. Each stage gives you a main objective, like stopping bandits from getting away after robbing a bank, saving the townsfolk who’ve been locked up in a church, drive away Indians from cattle lands, ect. There is also a secondary objective to complete after the initial objective, like clearing out the remaining bandits or Indians, finding a key to unlock the church doors, ect. 

As you make your way throughout the levels, enemies will spawn randomly, and come at you in waves. There are many different ways you can get rid of them, either taking them out one by one as they approach you, killing everyone once they come around objects, at close range, or you can run around a bit, trying to get a bunch of bandits in one spot, and then take them out with a shotgun, or TNT (which is done by drawing a circle on the screen where you want the TNT to land), or you can pick them off from long range using a riffle. This all depends on your style of gameplay, and the weapons the prefer, but it is nice having quite a few different ways to deal with the enemies.

While running around each stage, there are boxes and crates that you’ll be able to shoot which sometimes contain items that you can pick up, and enemies also randomly drop loot. These include health, ammo and currency. The scoring system is done pretty well, giving you score bonuses for taking out large groups of enemies, or one enemy after the other with combo bonuses. 

As stated, Black Water is another line drawing controlled game. However, unlike most of the other titles within the genre, Black Water does not contain virtual control schemes. This is basically a hit-n-miss when it comes to iOS gaming, as there are tons of gamers out there who prefer that the touch screen be utilized, and hate virtual controls, while others prefer to have iOS gaming feel more comfortable, having controls similar to joypads, and hate when games leave out virtual controls. It’s really just a matter of preference, but it could very well be the deciding factor as to whether or not many gamers will or will not enjoy Black Water. Now, you are able to double tap on the screen to constantly move in that general direction, but as this causes you to run into every object imaginable, it’s something that will most likely not be utilized by many players. I have had some issues with the line drawing occasionally not being responsive which, in a game that’s this full of action, can get to be pretty frustrating when it does happen, even though it’s not too often, it is something that could use some tweaking. 

Reloading is done by tapping the bullets at the bottom of the screen. If you choose to manually reload, it takes a lot less time to do so as opposed to having the game automatically reload for you once you empty your gun. This can get kind of frustrating, as a lot of the time, tapping on the bottom of the screen will, instead, have you fire in that direction which can cause you to take more damage by not reloading, and wind up taking away more time in order to do an auto-reload. It’s also pretty uncomfortable holding the iPad so that you are able to constantly tap the bottom of the screen, while tapping on enemies to shoot them, and draw lines to move, but if you’re someone who usually places your iPad down on a table or other flat surface while you play, this shouldn’t really be an issue. 

Starting off, you’re given a 5 shot pistol. As you progress throughout the game, you’ll be able to collect coins which you can use to purchase more guns. Going through the game, you’ll meet townsfolk who can make certain types of weapons for you, and once you do, those types of weapons will be unlocked, and available for purchase in the shop. For anyone wondering, yes, Black Water does have an IAP system, which you can use to purchase coins and stars for guns, and upgrading. 

Upgrading is done with the stars that you’ll earn in each stage. With each stage having a possible 3 star ranking, leveling up is something  you’ll continually need to do if you don’t want to get too overwhelmed as you progress. There are 3 different skill trees, Attack, Defense and Support, with each skill needing a certain number of skill upgrades above it to be purchased before it’ll become available. The Attack Skills upgrade aspects like walking speed, reloading speed, TNT blast radius, critical hit odds and more, while Defense Skills let you take less damage, give you a chance to deflect damage back to enemies, regaining life when you deal damage, and so on. The Support Skills are probably the last skills you’ll really want to focus on, giving you the ability to collect items from a distance, increase the points you earn from kills, increase the number of bullets you pick up, ect. 

The graphics are decent enough, though kind of cartoony, they do provide a well crafted environment, feeling like a more casual version of Gun when it comes to the atmosphere. The comic strip parts are where the game’s graphics shine, with some nice artwork to be found in these segments. The animations are well done, and the game runs very smooth. The soundtrack also helps to create a nice old western feel, though with the control issues, the game isn’t really as immersive as I’d hoped it’d be. 

GameCenter support is included with 26 achievements, but no leaderboards. With the great combo driven scoring system, I was pretty surprised to find this out, as it’s something that would have definitely added some replay value to the game. As it is now, getting 3 stars is not hard at all, so there’s hardly any reason to go back and re-play levels. Hopefully leaderboards for each ‘world’ will be added in the future. 

Originally priced at $1.99, and on sale at the moment for $0.99, if you’re a fan of western or line-drawing action/adventure games, it’s definitely worth picking up, and actually, with the content and gameplay, even with the issues I’ve had with the controls, I’m surprised that Black Water isn’t priced higher. Brisk Mobile has done a very nice job creating one of the best Western Themed iOS games to date, and if the controls do get tweaked, it’ll be a pretty immersive game on top of that. Since they’ve already updated the game, fixing an issue with the first Bank level looping and becoming endless, it’s pretty clear that the developers are listening to feedback, and willing to, very quickly, fix issues. Now I’ve just gotta get my hands on that minigun, and I’ll be set!

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Plight of the Zombie [Spark Plug Games] - $2.99

Zombie games are really getting out-done in the AppStore. It seems like every week, another zombie game is released, and I can’t see an end to it. Fortunately, there’s a whole mass of gamers who just can’t get enough of it, and plenty of developers out there who are willing to take a chance on yet another zombie game. North Carolina based Spark Plug Games, a fairly well rounded development company, producing over 50 products over the last 4 and a half years. It’s pretty safe to say that they’ve learned quite a bit since their inception, and with their most recent iOS and Android title, Plight of the Zombie, it shows. 

Plight of the Zombie is a line drawing puzzler which has you guiding Craig Creeper and other mysterious zombies through 5 worlds, and 50 levels of line drawing zombie fun. Each level contains 3 brains and various humans, some wielding shotguns, some pistols, some will just cower in fear as you walk up and bite them. Once you touch a non-zombie, they instantly turn into another zombie which you’re able to control. This adds to the puzzle solving, as you’ll need quite a few extra zombies to get blown to bits so that you can get a zombie to reach a gun toting human. Each level is completed once you convert all humans to zombies, whether you have collected each of the 3 brains or not, so planning out your paths is a pretty important aspect of the game. 

In each of the 5 worlds, you’ll have different zombies which you’ll start each level with. In world 1, it’s Craig Creeper, a basic zombie that can’t take much damage. However, these basic zombies become useful in world 2, where you’ll control Charlie Chunker; a nice fat zombie that can take loads of damage, but moves relatively slow. He’s also unable to fit through many of the smaller pathways in the levels, which is where the basic Craig zombies need to be utilized in order to progress through the world. Learning how to utilize each zombies strengths and weaknesses is essential for completing the game. 

Another great facet of PotZ is the level design. It’s evident that Spark Plug Games has spent an incredible amount of time with the layouts and designs of each of the levels in Plight of the Zombie. As I’ve already stated, the level design comes into play by blocking off some zombies, while others are able to reach certain areas. But also, sometimes figuring out how to collect all of the brains in a level before converting all of the humans will require some quick thinking and figuring out which zombies need to go ahead of others, when zombies should be sacrificed, or when one should be used as a decoy so that others can pass by safely. Early on in the game, you’ll start seeing brains which have a timer underneath them. In order to collect these, you’ll need to reach them before the timer runs out and to do so, you’ll need to employ various tactics throughout the game. 

With Plight of the Zombie priced at $2.99, being Universal, having slick graphics and some of the best line drawing gameplay I’ve seen on the iOS, and although it starts out a little slow, once you hit the 2nd world, the game really picks up. It’s definitely worth grabbing, even if you’re sick of zombie games. It might just reignite your love of the genre, and give you hope that, when used to their full potential, zombie games are not done evolving. Not by a long shot. Including GameCenter integration with 16 achievements (that unfortunately, are not working ATM), a store full of items which you can dress up your zombies with and 3+ brains per level, there’s quite a bit of content to keep you busy for a while. Spark Plug Games has also stated that every 2 weeks, new cosmetic items will be added to the shop, and that we can expect more level packs as well. Plight of the Zombie definitely shows that Spark Plug Games knows exactly what they’re doing, and precisely what it takes to create a fantastic line drawing puzzler. It’s one development team that, without a doubt, we are going to be keeping our eyes on. 

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Boom Brigade 2 [10Tons] - $3.99

10tons has brought out some fantastic titles for the iOS gaming scene. Azkend, Joining Hands, Grim Joggers, Sparkle, and more. Boom Brigade, a tower defense/line-drawing strategy arcade title, is definitely one of my favorites from 10tons, which is kind of funny, because line-drawing games and I don’t really get along. But there’s something about Boom Brigade which just hit’s the right nerve with me. Now, I get to experience it all again. Boom Brigade 2 is finally here, and it’s everything you would expect in a sequel. The same great gameplay mechanics and type of gameplay as the original, with more of everything.

Boom Brigade is a real time strategy line drawing defense title. You might not think it, but all of those genres mashed together really seems to work out well, especially since 10tons has done such a great job with the design of the game. You’ll guide army men around the map by drawing lines for them to follow. Enemies come at you from all sides of the screen, and you need to defend your base through wave after wave. 

There are two modes contained in the game, the 30 level Campaign, and a Survival Mission Mode. In the campaign mode, before each mission, you’re able to select your load outs for the givin units, and then go into battle. While you’re in battle, you’re able to pause the action with the icon in the lower left corner, and draw the lines for your men to follow along. This really helps out when the action gets hectic, and it does get very hectic. Throughout the stage, various power-ups and health containers are dropped from the sky, helping you to fend off the onslaught of aliens. 

Boom Brigade’s line drawing controls are some of the best I’ve ever experienced on the touch screen. One of the things that really turns me off of line drawing games are the clumsy controls, never really drawing the line exactly where I want it to be, or not responding and cutting off halfway through a path. Here, 10tons has done an excellent job making the controls precise as well as responsive. 

Graphics-wise, Boom Brigade 2 has a top/down view of the battlefield, but that doesn’t effect the gameplay like you might think. Your units are very clear, and it’s easy to tell if you’re moving your machine gunner or shot gunner, and the environments have plenty of detail. The animations also help add to the gameplay, with great death scenes and sounds, blasting the enemy away becomes very satisfying.

With 30 missions spread across 3 environments, unlockable upgrades for every character, and loads of line drawing strategy, Boom Brigade 2 is a game that’s definitely worth picking up if you’re even remotely interested in the genres. Priced at $3.99 (on sale ATM for $2.99), and Universal, as well as including GameCenter support with a whopping 11 leader boards, and 16 achievements, and a whole set of Survival Missions, there’s loads of replay value to be had. 

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Anthill; Tactical Trail Defense - 2.99 (Image & Form)

Line drawing and tower defense genres really seem to go together quite well from the couple of titles that merge these two genres I’ve been able to check out. Phoenix Defense Force, Boom Brigade, A.I.R. Defense, Into The Blue, and the ever popular Axe In Face come to mind, and now fans of the genre have another game to add to that short list of incredibly well done line drawing/TD games; Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense, by Image & Form International.

To start things off, the graphics and animations. I&F has done an amazing job creating some very vibrant and layered environments. You get an idea of this right when you get to the main menu. The very well done environments match the equally well done bug models and animations. It’s actually so well done that you might end up finding yourself just staring at the screen watching them move around. The bugs are also very colorful, matching the vibrancy of the environments perfectly. It’s easy to tell that a lot of time and effort went into making the movement, look, and flow of everything within the game just right. To top it off, the music is Disney-esque, and almost like something that would have fit very well within A Bug’s Life. It compliments the atmosphere and feeling of the game perfectly.

Now onto the gameplay. You start out looking down at an anthill, surrounded by shrubbery. The tutorial is well explained, learning the basic mechanics in the first level, and then new mechanics when new units are added. You’ll need to draw a line from the top of your anthill to your desired location, and then decide what units to send out on that line. You’ll need to constantly collect food in order to send out more units, and there is almost always a leaf close-by that you can snag about 100 food points from over a short amount of time. So to start things off, you’ll usually draw a line from your anthill to that leaf, and then decide to send out your collector ants on that line. They will go out to the leaf, and start bringing the food back to the anthill. Now, to keep those ants safe, you’ll need to drag your finger across the screen, or pinch to zoom in and out, to scan the area for enemy bugs that will kill your worker ants and deprive you of food. Once you find out where those bugs are coming from, or where they might come from, you’ll need to draw another line starting from the top of the anthill to an intersecting point between the bugs and the worker ants, and then send out your attacker ants. These guys will kill whatever bugs are encroaching on your territory, and leave their bodies for your worker/collector ants to pick up and take back to the hill. So after your attacker ants have cleared out an area of enemies, you’ll draw another line to their bodies, and choose the collector ants to pick them up, and take them back to the anthill for some major food points. Once you’re done with a line, you hold down on it, and select the “X” that pops up. You are able to draw as many lines as you want, but the more you draw, the more spread out our available ants will become, so it’s best to erase the lines you no longer need in a timely fashion. You can also use bomber ants, who fly out of the anthill, and drop goo wherever you tap on the battlefield. A direct hit with the goo can kill an enemy instantly, but to do this, you’ll need to hit a moving target who has the ability to change direction at any point in time. Which brings us to the AI. Each of the bugs behaves differently. This makes learning how each of your enemies moves, and attacks essential in taking them out successfully.

After each level, you’re given a star ranking based on how many points you’ve collected throughout the level. This is more important than usual because you can then use these stars to upgrade your ants. The speed of the collector ants, brutality of the attacker ants, and more. If you don’t want to battle it out to gain stars, you can purchase them through an IAP, 20 stars for $0.99, which can upgrade your ants quite a bit, but it’s not necessary, and the game isn’t pushed toward you buying the stars at all. The difficulty is set just right, and you can replay levels to earn stars that you didn’t earn the first time through. You can not, however, re-earn stars, so if you got all the stars available in a level, you can not replay it and earn those stars to use for upgrades again.

Anthill: TTD is GameCenter enabled, and has leader boards for all 21 of the levels that are spread across the 3 different environments. There’s also a leader board for your total score, which combines all of your best level scores. Having a board for each of the levels, as well as a star ranking that gives you stars for upgrades does add quite a bit of replay value to the game, especially if you’re a high-score chaser. With the game at $2.99, and on sale right now for $1.99, and being Universal, it’s a great buy for the amount of content and gameplay you’ll get. If you’re a fan of line drawing or tower-defense games, this is one that looks beautiful, and has an insane amount of strategic elements. The controls are nice and tight, and really, everything within the game is so professionally done that it’s hard to not call it one of the best, if not the best line drawing tower defense title available for the iOS.

Anthill: Tactical Trail Defense gets a perfect score of 10 out of 10.

Links;

Full Version - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anthill-tactical-trail-defense/id414658364?mt=8

Website - http://anthillgame.com/

Version Reviewed; V 1.1

Reviewed On; 4th Generation iPod Touch - iOS 4.3.3

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