By Alec Meer on September 10th, 2009 at 4:52 pm.
I still love tower defence games, and flip you for saying otherwise. Flip you right in the fliphole. So, the just-revealed Colony Defense has attracted my easily-distracted interest, as it’s TD across a suitably orb-shaped planet rather than a flat plane. Sure, the enemies still march in convenient lines, but the idea is you ping all over the planet’s surface and manage multiple battles at once. There’s a video below, sadly narrated by an incredibly sleepy-sounding man, but it gives a flavour of what this is going for.
BE! ENTHUSIASTIC! ABOUT! YOUR! OWN! GAME! Sigh.
Still, really dig the concept – looking forward to giving it a shot early next year. Here’s the main features revealed so far:
* Not your Mom’s tower defense! Defend each planets colonies from the alien onslaught in this high action / strategy title.
* Full 3D. Manage multiple strategies as you orbit above the surface of the planets. Rotate around the planet to keep an eye on the battles happening all over the planets surface.
* Multiple alien spawn points and multiple paths aliens can take to your helpless colonies, ensure frenzied, action-packed battles.
* Arcade style controls. Built from the ground up to be used with an XBOX 360 game pad. Works just as well with a mouse and keyboard support.
* 10 upgradable weapons to fight the good fight with. Ricochet laser cannons, flame throwers, stasis towers, artillery cannons, and many more, make for unique strategy each level.
* Real time Orbital Ion Cannon, when you need that extra punch!
* Thirty two unique levels to engage the enemy on.
I really had no idea my mum had played so many tower defence games. Learn something every day, eh?
10/09/2009 at 16:54 LactoseTheIntolerant says:
Jumps are for sissies.
10/09/2009 at 17:04 Richeh says:
I got the impression he was narrating that from inside his car with an exhaust-hose running through the window. I was half expecting him to sign off with “tell my mum I love her”.
10/09/2009 at 17:12 Ian says:
I can’t be bothered thinking one up, so just insert some terrible joke about your mum defending MY tower, or something equally infantile and/or nonsensical.
10/09/2009 at 17:39 Jayt says:
I miss playing my old mauls and TDs on war3
10/09/2009 at 18:01 Gotem says:
your mom’s Colon Defense?
how’s that for terrible joke?
10/09/2009 at 18:11 Heliocentric says:
Your mom wasn’t so much defending my tower as she was ascending and descending it?
Like Lights of altair tickled my true 3d perspective gland, does this have a demo?
10/09/2009 at 18:55 Kevin says:
Terminally congested nose aside, this game appeals to me not at all for a few reasons:
The controls look shite.
What do we gain from having a globe as opposed to a top down map? It would appear the answer is: “the game is made harder through artifice.”
It innovates not at all. Lasers that leap from target to target? An “oh shit” button that costs credits to use? Upgrades!? Where are they getting these wild ideas? From the Godhead itself? From a latent species-wide shared consciousness? Or from every other tower defense game? I guess thats one for the philosophers.
While I think its hard to make a truly bad tower defense game, it is (apparently) very easy to make a mediocre one, because they’re everywhere. While Manabomb’s taken a year to make a polished looking one in 3D, that doesn’t mean the gameplay looks like any more fun than any of the many free tower defense games that litter the internet.
Perhaps I’m wrong and they’ve buried deep their innovations and only when the title is unleashed will their creation transcend the genre and change the world. One can hope.
10/09/2009 at 19:54 Railick says:
Let me get this straight. They want you to defend the planet from a space invasion with flame throwers and artillery weapons? I have a feeling if you had a flame thrower large enough to shoot from the surface of the planet into orbit it would probably ignite the atmosphere and destroy all life on the planet any way.
And also shooting bullets from the ground into space with a giant cannon , as far as I know, is called a mass driver cannon not artillery which would shoot from ground based location to another ground based location O.o
I can’t watch the trailer so maybe I’m wrong. Do the enemies just come from the ground to attack cities in the ground? IF so this is a pointless upgrade. Also my mums tower defense experience would probably only include using bait traps to kill ants in the kitchen, so at least that claim is correct ;)
10/09/2009 at 20:30 Jason@Mana Bomb says:
Whew! Tough crowd. I realize I’m a terrible narrator, but I would like to state that I am certainly very excited about our game. Just sounds like I have Down’s syndrome. I promise never to narrate another gameplay video again.
Control-wise, the game is very easy to play, no problems there. I suppose that is difficult to tell from the gameplay video. Demo is coming soon, then you can unleash the real judgements.
As far as innovation, we aren’t trying to re-invite the wheel but put a small twist on an existing genre. We’re a 2 man team, we don’t have the time or the money to “change the world”
10/09/2009 at 23:06 Poita says:
Jason good luck with your game. I got respect for anyone that get something done. I guess you have to expect a tough crowd just about anywhere on the net though.
I have to say that after playing Defense Grid I’m looking for a new TD game. I wish someone would mod Battlezone 2 cause it had ace tower defense mechanics with the turrets and gun towers. Grid defense has criminally few levels but was fun. Thing I hated about it though was that by the time you got a massive arsenal built up the level ended.
I don’t like the idea of a sphere. Not everyone thinks in that dimention. Maybe give us the option to flatten it out like pac man. ;)
Anyway good luck and I’ll check out the demo.
10/09/2009 at 23:20 Railick says:
Hey Jason don’t be to hard on yourself. For one I like the name of your company, Mana Bomb is a very good name ^_^ . I think I misunderstood what the game was about (I thought it was a TD game where the enemy cames from space and attacked the surface but it appears they’re already on the surface)
Don’t think for one second just because you’re two men that you can’t do something great together. The ideas are what are important and those are free (of course the ability to turn your idea into something people will buy is also important and that isn’t free hehe)
10/09/2009 at 23:38 Heliocentric says:
The moment you go from free mod or flash game you open up the gates of hell upon yourself.
But i’d rather you had bad marketing than a bad game. I look forward to a demo. Your implementation of a sphere could allow for great things.
11/09/2009 at 00:23 wviperw says:
Speaking of TD in space, The Space Game over at Casual Collective is a pretty good diversion and a unique twist on the genre.
11/09/2009 at 12:44 Jayt says:
“Let me get this straight. They want you to defend the planet from a space invasion with flame throwers and artillery weapons?”
Let me get this straight, your actually breaking down this game’s mechanics and commenting on their (lack of) realism?
give me a break.
11/09/2009 at 12:49 Jayt says:
@Jason, I do think it would be cool if the planet was actually colonised to some degree, so it actually felt like your defending your home planet rather then a big rock in space. Like maybe around the colony points have some civilian/commercial/industrial buildings etc. Just a thought.
11/09/2009 at 14:33 TeeJay says:
BE! ENTHUSIASTIC! ABOUT! YOUR! OWN! GAME! Sigh.
They need some of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TixBam47h4
13/09/2009 at 00:24 Marshall says:
This looks like Star Defense for the iPhone, which is also played on a spherical(ish) plane. Fortunately, that game is fun as hell so this has a good chance of being similarly rad.