Last week, developer DeNA released Star Wars: Galactic Defense, a tower defense game for Android and iOS based on the Star Wars movie franchise. The game generated a little buzz online, and being a Star Wars fan who also enjoys a good tower defense game, I decided to give it a shot.
After the mandatory “Connect this game to your Facebook account” screen goes away, the first thing the player is prompted to do is choose a side. Being the kind of nerd who always chooses the light over the darkness, I rolled light side, and discovered that my first unlocked hero would be Luke Skywalker. Sweet! Then I decided to see who my starting hero would be on the dark side. Turns out it was Darth Maul. Boo!
I first downloaded SWGD for my iPhone 5. As I started to play the levels on Tatooine, I came to a quick realization. I needed either skinnier fingers, or a much larger screen to play the game effectively. The maps are large, and the NPCs and Heroes are small. Sure, I could zoom in, but then I couldn’t see the full map and I was risking someone sneaking past my defenses without my knowledge. My chubby fingers not-withstanding, a mobile game should be designed with users of mobile devices in mind. After my first couple of levels, I switched to my iPad, and all of these problems disappeared for me.
Now that that complaint is out of the way, I can say that the game is actually quite good. I found it challenging, especially early on, when you have very few resources and your heroes are low level. Some folks have complained that it’s TOO difficult, but I never found that to be the case. The levels are 100% beatable, and while you might have to switch back and forth between beating new levels and replaying old ones for experience, I don’t find that to be a knock on the game. What can I say? I like a challenge.
The game gives you 5 energy and you burn each time you play a level. One energy regenerates every 15 minutes, or you can purchase more with gems, which can be purchased for real money. Yes, the game is free, but as with most mobile games these days, spending your hard earned dollars will get you more of what you want from the game. Gems can unlock items, characters, energy, and credits. Personally, energy was never a problem for me in the many hours I spent playing this game. Each level takes probably 7-8 minutes to play, which means you can play through 8 (if you’re lucky) levels before you actually run out of energy. By then, close to an hour has passed, and usually my wife was giving me a dirty look, so I would take a break.
The towers are fairly well-balanced, and the heroes move swiftly enough to catch and delay even the swiftest foes. When all else fails, you can always call in an air-strike, which generally clears the board of all enemies that are not tanks or walkers. Some have complained that the game is a clone of Kingdom Rush, and I can see where that would be annoying if you played both games. I, personally, never played Kingdom Rush, so I didn’t find it being a clone to take away from the experience.
Even if it is a clone, Star Wars: Galactic Defense definitely had the feel of a Star Wars game, and if you like tower defense games, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. It’s both challenging and balanced, and as casual games go, it’s not too shabby.
[Images: DeNA]
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