I had not heard of the Tower Defence game genre until I came across Fieldrunners by Subatomic Studios. In short, the aim of any TD game is to stop wave after wave of advancing enemy troops by placing defensive towers across the play area.
The key to succeeding in Fieldrunners is in the strategic placement of the upgradable towers. In the current version of the game 4 types are made available at different costs. Gun, Missile, Goo and Lightening towers can be purchased and placed on the battlefield at any point during game play. Tower upgrades can be purchased and installed in realtime depending on your available cash reserve. Cash is received for elimination of enemy units. If because of poor tower placement decisions or due to a simple lack of firepower 20 enemy units make it through the city gates, it’s game over. There are 3 difficulty levels and each game can last up to 45 minutes, or perhaps even longer, if you prove to be an especially effective field commander.
This brief description doesn’t really do Fieldrunners justice. What, on paper may sound like a rather dry game experience, is nothing of the sort. The graphical style, super smooth animation and utterly addictive game play make Fieldrunners perhaps the most entertaining iPhone game to date. The last handheld game that so completely captured my attention was Advance Wars on the Nintendo DS, if you’re familiar with that DS classic you’ll realise that this is high praise indeed! Deciding whether to upgrade current towers or place new ones, to position towers at the beginning of the map or nearer the city gate becomes tricky as the pace and power of the invading army increases with each new wave. Believe me, watching the last line of your defence towers battle it out just metres from your city entrance can be a heart-pounding experience!
Fieldrunners 1.0 is not perfect. There is currently only 1 map available, just 4 types of defensive tower and a limited number of enemy unit designs. But by far the biggest omission is the complete absence of sound effects and music. That’s right, not a single thud, hiss or crackle! The developer has promised that all these issues will be fixed very soon, perhaps even before the end of October.
Even in its incomplete state, Fieldrunners is certainly worth the £2.99 asking price.
Current App Store rating: 4.5 Stars (56 reviews).