Most of the Earth has frozen over after a massive climate change when humanity lost a war against an alien race called the Machines. We can certainly admire the aspirations of the developer in trying to design something where no game has gone before, but is this alien endeavour too ambitious and experimental for its own good, or is it a commendable push in invigorating its static genre with much-needed innovation? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play as the attacking force – usually the “bad guys” – in a tower defence game? Speculate no further because 11 Bit Studios has answered that question with something it likes to call “tower offence”. The slow pace and constant, strategic management of resources that characterises the games may sound like either a fun time or a monotonous drag to you, but something like Anomaly 2 is, er, an anomaly. Other than that, this is a gem in the RTS genre community.Tower defence is more of a niche genre for a particular subset of gamers.
I don’t think I’ve dreaded cut-scenes in any other game as much as I have with this one.
However, the acting for the story can not. The story which sets up the gameplay is a pretty general run of the mill “we need to save the Earth from aliens”. With that said, it’s far from being flawless. Real-time strategy and tower defense isn’t for everyone but Anomaly 2 does a great job reaching across both genre isles to bring a unique experience that is enjoyable to many. Since you only have limited quantities of abilities, use must very conservative (none of that button smashing applies here) but more so being extremely time effective in weighing health levels, combat situations, and even your own character placement. These abilities are picked up off of defeated foes and are applied by your free-roam character. This dynamic really bridges the gameplay to always being active even in the situations between routes barren of enemies. In the midst of morphing your troops and selecting routes, you also need to apply abilities such as repairs and decoys. Later on, you have the ability to unlock the use of six vehicles, but there’s only five types of units to be chosen. This comes at the disadvantage of being short ranged and applying less damage. The first mech you have access to are called Hell Hounds, which have two independent weapons to take care of both isles of enemies. There is also the factor of being vulnerable on one side as it only has one has a single weapon. Assault Hounds (small tanks) have a high rate of fire, high target range, but need time to build up maximum damage output. This is where the “real-time” tag applies. As the commander of your convoy, you always have the constant decision to make of morphing your troops in Transformers style combat. Starting out early on, you can go from Gatling gun toting tanks to flamethrower wielding mechs. Did I mention futuristic bad*ss alien robots? Your route selection will most likely be influenced by the enemies which are futuristic alien machines, as well as weapon range, firepower, or even simply the amount of time it will take to complete the stage.
You have the ability to select which route to take at every turn. How you get from point A to B is one of many game changers. At this point you may be asking yourself, so exactly how does Anomaly 2 break such chains of fate?Īnomaly 2 has a uniquely designed travel system based around the convoy you are attempting to safely escort through the map for successful completion. It all seems very linear (but enjoyable) to an extent. Usually starting with a few very weak targets up until all hell breaks loose and you have roughly 20 upgrades on every corner. Whilst undoubtedly a strategy-based genre none the less, you get action right out of the gate. In my opinion, the better half of Anomaly’s genre, Tower Defense, is a whole other beast. Not to mention the the joy of knowing you are about to lose your best unit the next move. Personally, it’s due to the sheer amount of time it takes to get some gratifying action started. Ever put a real-time strategy game and tower defense game in a blender then popped it in to play? No?! Well, now you don’t since the people over at 11 Bit studios did exactly that with Anomaly 2.īefore I delve into the review goodies, it’s not too often I play a Real-Time Strategy game, let alone thoroughly enjoy it.
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