SteamWorld Tower Defense

Genre: Tower Defense

Players: 1

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Review:

SteamWorld Tower Defense is a Tower Defense game (naturally) first released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2010, which was later grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when the Nintendo 3DS released. This game has players using the touchscreen to install various robotic turrets and other defensive emplacements to protect gold mines from hordes of invading humans. It should be noted that this is the very first entry in the SteamWorld franchise, now better known for games like SteamWorld Dig and SteamWorld Heist.

The presentation here uses 2D visuals that seem to have been scrunched down to fit the screen of Nintendo’s handheld – strange for a game made for the Nintendo DSi. These visuals use an expressive cartoony art style, though it feels like this only comes across in profile images, since the actual gameplay stays fixed from a distance away so players can see as much of the battlefield as possible. The visuals are backed by a plunky, somewhat repetitive soundtrack that isn’t too distracting, but doesn’t do much to add to the experience.

As for the gameplay, SteamWorld Tower Defense is pretty typical for the genre, not doing anything particularly extraordinary or egregious, though it does have a few quirks. For one thing, there doesn’t appear to be any way to heal your turrets aside from upgrading them (fully-upgraded turrets slowly heal over time), and your turrets will be taking damage pretty regularly. The other issue is that the one turret that requires manual aiming doesn’t always seem to be very responsive making its use feel like struggling with the game… but you can’t just opt to not use it, as it outranges your standard turrets.

Of course, these complaints are sort of dancing around the bigger issue with this game – SteamWorld Tower Defense is surprisingly difficult for a Tower Defense game. Players are given an option early into the game to choose normal or easy difficulty, and I highly recommend they start with easy, because this game is fast-paced, unforgiving, and one problem can quickly multiply, as a stray explosive enemy can shatter your entire defense, or a sudden glut of speedy enemies can work their way past your defensive wall in a way that you have little time to respond to. There’s no pausing the action to build, here.

If it wasn’t for its lineage and its difficulty, SteamWorld Tower Defense would be a pretty standard, good but unexceptional Tower Defense game. Its high difficulty may make it more appealing to fans of the genre looking for a challenge, but it may be less palatable to everyone else. Still, for the low price of $5, this is a decent entry in the genre that should be entertaining enough to justify that low price.

tl;dr – SteamWorld Tower Defense is a Tower Defense game that has players installing robotic emplacements to defend gold mines from invading humans. This is a decent but fairly standard entry in the genre, though its high difficulty may limit its appeal somewhat. Thankfully, the $5 price tag makes this a good choice for fans of the genre.

Grade: C+

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