Review: Revenge of the Titans (PC)

Title: Revenge of the Titans
Platform: PC/Mac (reviewed on PC)
Developer: Puppy Games
Publisher: Puppy Games
TL;DR: A challenging, yet rewarding, tower defence title
Family Friendly?: Yes! Scroll to the bottom to see why.

The internet is awash with Tower Defence titles, and every so often a commercial defence title is released. Revenge of the Titans blends the tried and tested tower defence gameplay with subtle, yet effective, RTS elements. The game features a meaty campaign mode and a few other features to create a charming and challenging title.

Spanning a number of planets, the campaign has you defending against the nasty little Titans. Ok, so they’re not that little, but we are prepared. Initially you start with the most basic of towers, eventually upgrading and researching your equipment to squash the critters before they reach your rather important base. The upgrading is done in a rather unique style to other tower defence titles; rather than upgrading everything in game, you are given the choice to upgrade or research the next piece of shiny technology before every invasion. Many a moment can be spent scratching your head wondering what on earth to unlock, as unlocking the wrong thing can lead to dire consequences. Do you research the ghost-titan killing device, or concentrate on defensive measures? Some unlocks simply open up new paths to various bits of tech. Following the wrong unlock path, however, can have you regretting your decisions … inevitably making you trawl back and re-do a certain few levels.

RTS elements are weaved in subtly, but effectively, within the title. Players must accumulate crystals in order to purchase towers and defences. Defences can be deployed to ward off, or attract, enemies in certain areas, and your own mini army of robots may be deployed from special buildings. It is an inclusion that adds more to this tower defence game, and is woven in so well that players may not even notice it at all.

The problem is, Revenge of the Titans has a very steep learning curve. The unlock system can mean that one level you are having the time of your life blasting Titans into dust, but next level you’ll be crying to mummy as the Titans smash down your door. Fortunately, at the risk of losing out on the best possible score, the player can generate an easier level. This was very handy in the latter part of the game, where things really start to kick-off and you’re faced with a whole muck of different sized Titans.

After most levels you are faced with a new enemy. And while I loved the sheer amount of enemies that Revenge of the Titans has to offer, at times I felt overwhelmed when being faced with more than one or two at a time. Some may shoot at your turrets, some may spawn on the map, and some may even fly. It’s incredibly hard catering for all their attacks, leaving a player frustrated and puzzled, especially in the later stages of the game.

As for the look? 8-bit graphics mixed with a sense of humour is always a win-win for any indie game. The simplistic art-style makes Revenge of the Titans an incredibly charming and witty game. Titans come in a number of shapes and sizes, and just watching these critters scurry about is fun enough, let alone allowing your defences to blast them to kingdom come. Every planet is coloured slightly differently, so whilst the gameplay doesn’t change greatly from place-to-place, the pallet change offers a fresh environment for each series of battles.

Two extra modes are included with the game:, an endless mode and a survival mode. Both are pretty much self-explanatory, and add a fair amount of gameplay hours a piece. The campaign is where players will get most of their fun; even if the fun is thwarted by the somewhat snowballing difficulty should you choose the wrong upgrade, but the game would still feel incomplete without these inclusions. They also provide a decent platform to test your post-campaign defence skills along with the effect of different towers on enemies.

Revenge of the Titans is certainly one of the best, if not the best, tower defence game I have played. If players are willing to sacrifice that bit of time or score by back-tracking or trying an easier stage, then the game can become very rewarding. It’s fairly lengthy and certainly worth the few bucks it costs to download. Frustrated players best avoid it, however, as Revenge of Titans can have you pulling out your hair, gritting your teeth and restarting the level on more than one occasion. All in all an incredibly solid, charming and challenging title.

Family Friendly?
The art-style, witty humour, and simple gameplay all characterise this as something for all ages. It can at sometimes be rather tricky and unforgiving, however with a little patience I am sure this can be avoided. Revenge of the Titans is a good title for the young-uns with no bad language, sex, or drugs in sight, just a bunch of Titans and a variety of things to halt their advances.

The Good

Fun, fun and fun

Variety of upgrades and defences

Cool retro graphics

The Bad

Steep learning curve

Back-tracking required

Frustrating at times