This classic tower defense game gets offensive.
Defenders of Ardania, by Paradox Interactive, is a beautiful looking game based off the lore from the Majesty series. If you have played any of Paradox’s other series, you may see many elements tied into DoA. The game has beautiful graphics and is remarkably crisp. The lighting, shadows, and many spells effects make great use of the iPad technology.
We’ve all played many versions of Tower Defense games, and honestly, they’re mostly all the same… DoA breaks away from the mold by adding in a complete offensive system as well. Rather than sit there and wait for waves of enemies to spawn and run in to your wall of towers, you also must send out troops to attack the enemy base. Certain troops specialize in certain things – you may have some that specifically rush forward to attack the base, ignoring all enemies, or you may send forth larger enemies designed to take out enemy towers. There aren’t so many units that things are overcomplicated, but there are definitely enough to have different varieties of play styles.
Luckily, there are a few different game modes, so if attacking really isn’t your cup of tea, you may choose to play the Tower Defense only mode. The largest mode is the main Campaign Mode, in which the player learns how to play the game, follows the storyline, and also gets some practice for future multiplayer action. That’s one of the coolest things about this game – the huge potential for multiplayer. The Campaign Mode alone allows all levels to be played in co-op or multiplayer, against AI or human opponents. You can play online with friends from all over the world… so talking trash across the globe will be totally possible.
DoA mixes a lot of RTS elements into their game, including the option of playing as different races. Humans are more mechanical, and may include hulking knights, speedy assassins, or tower attacking wizards. The Nature race focuses on organic and plant based buildings, with units such as animals and mythological creatures like dryads. For the badasses, or necrophiliacs, there is the undead race. They have very crypt based buildings, fused with sorcery and attack with vampires, ghosts, and zombies. Each race also has benefits, such as cheaper turrets for Humans, or self healing Nature units.
The gameplay itself is fairly self-explanatory, and only takes a round or two to really understand all the different elements. There are no long menus to navigate in battles – everything is done by simply clicking a kind of unit to send out, or a tower to build. This keeps things moving pretty fast, and I was definitely caught off guard a few times because I wasn’t paying attention. For a quick peek, check out the video below.
