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Revenge of the Titans

Score: 90%
ESRB: 12+
Publisher: Iceberg Interactive
Developer: Puppy Games
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Strategy/ Action/ Real-Time Strategy

Graphics & Sound:

Fans of Puppy Games will immediately recognize Revenge of the Titans as a descendant of Titan Attacks, not only in terms of its visual aesthetic, but also in the character design. We loved the frantic, arcade shooting action of the original game, and Puppy Games puts a new twist on things by designing Revenge of the Titans as more of a Tower Defense or strategy title. The difference is apparent as soon as you launch the first level, with a broad playing field where you'll place units and monitor oncoming enemies. There's a lot happening on the screen, but some good design decisions keep you dialed into the action. Indicators show you where enemies are coming from, and your own units will sound off when they need your attention, as in the case of reloads. While the graphics appear somewhat retro, they actually are pretty slick and smooth, even on an older machine with modest capabilities. There's a bunch of great music packed into the game, to the point that a soundtrack was distributed along with this game when it was offered as part of the original Humble Indie Bundle. There's no spoken dialogue, but the frequent cut scenes are hilarious and don't lose anything for not having voice actors.

Gameplay:

As mentioned, this is about real-time strategy. Defending one area after another from the Titan horde is hard work. There's a slew of units available once you amass some earnings and assuming you research the proper technologies. We liked the fact that Revenge of the Titans included a deep tech-tree, giving you numerous ways to unlock and enhance units. You choose which units to purchase and how to use them on the battlefield. If defense is more your thing, there are plenty of units that serve a passive role to block and divert attackers. Each level you play introduces new enemy types or more intense waves of enemies you've already battled, so you'll need to keep improving your army. We found it a bit strange that there aren't options to replay past levels as many times as you'd like in Campaign mode to basically grind your way to success. You can revisit levels as part of the main story, but you'll only have the equipment available to you when you entered that level originally. To replay with full equipment, there are the Endless and Survival modes. Think of the main story mode as being closer to a puzzle/strategy game where you need to use your wits and the resources available, rather than grinding to the point that you can overwhelm your enemy. Quick reflexes are needed to respond to the danger that comes increasingly faster, but this is nothing new for fans of the RTS genre.

Difficulty:

We found Revenge of the Titans pretty challenging, nothing that seasoned strategy games won't welcome, but not for the faint of heart. The linear progress in Campaign mode means you'll need to think through exactly how you want to progress up the tech tree, whether it's purchasing new weaponry or researching ways to improve efficiency and power for existing weapons. It's not like your choices will cost you a victory, but they may make victory more difficult. You also learn to adjust strategy based on the types of enemies coming at you. The balance between speed and power is always at the center of any RTS, and Revenge of the Titans is no different. This game even includes a basic resource-gathering mechanic that keeps things interesting. You start each level with a reserve, but need to refresh that by mining crystals and picking up any special drops. Combined with some rapid-fire keyboarding to stay on top of all the activity happening on the battlefield, Revenge of the Titans does a great job keeping you on your toes.

Game Mechanics:

Installing Revenge of the Titans is a cinch, especially with the packed-in Steam key. You can't go wrong and you'll find plenty of good support on Puppy Games' site if you run into issues. Testing on an older Mac went well, and the game played well with the Magic Mouse and keyboard shortcuts. There are numerous reminders on the screen about keyboard shortcuts, to the point that you'll see helper pop-ups reminding you about some of the most useful ones. There's no way to really master RTS without learning some keyboard shortcuts, and Revenge of the Titans gets that. You can master the game with mouse movements, but it's going to be quite a bit harder. The only aspect of the game's interface we didn't like was the fact that when you place a unit, another of the same type is queued up and shown in the interface. It makes a certain amount of sense, and was probably intended to save keystrokes, but it can be distracting when you're trying to focus on enemy movement. Having to manage reloads for units is a tough mechanic, and there's no easy shortcut at first, other than scrolling and clicking on depleted units. Destroyed units have to be replaced while others can be repaired, and you get the idea now how much stuff is happening on screen at any point.

The distinctive design and cute-but-deadly Titans make Revenge of the Titans a keeper. If you missed this when the Humble Indie Bundle made its original rounds, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy now, if you're even remotely interested in strategy gameplay. This is the best combination of retro visuals and modern mechanics we've played in a while.


-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications
AKA Matt Paddock

Minimum System Requirements:



Mac OS 10.5, Two-button mouse; Also compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7
 

Test System:



Mac OS X 10.6, 3 GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400, 256MB VRAM

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Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated