Revenge of the Titans, or how a new take on a classic gameplay mechanic can turn into an unexpected indie surprise.
I got Revenge of the Titans as a part of the Humble Bundle initiative, that offered other interesting and fun indie games, for a price of your choosing. I was most intrigued about this title, having heard or seen quite a few about the other games (Osmos, Braid, Machinarium, and Cortex Command).
The first thing that struck me about this game was it's fun, retro-like interface. The color palette is really well picked (the colors of the interface change when you move to a new location for missions), and the effects are simple, but pleasing. There are three game modes: Campaign, Survival, and Endless. The last two are kind of similar, but they do have distinctions. Either way, it reminded me of Plants vs. Zombies. Actually, I am going to make several other remarks about things that resemble Plants vs. Zombies.
The core game mechanic is that of a tower defense game. Enemies come rushing down a road, you build towers around the road to kill off the enemies. The cool thing about this game is that they made a winding set of roads, like those in an abandoned city, and the enemies don't necessarily follow these roads. Of course, if they'll find one, they'll follow it, it's going to be faster for them, but even then, they won't stick to it. When there is a larger number of units present on the map, they then to cluster up, and in that moment they overcome the road's capacity. Another cool twist is the way you unlock new firepower. First off, you need to mine minerals in order to gain $$$ to build defensive structures (StarCraft, anyone? just joking, but the minerals do resemble those from SC just a bit). After each level you complete you'll gain a sum of money, based on several things. You can choose to invest that money into new technology, or building more defensive structures in the next level. The research tree is..well, not actually a tree, more like a bush. Not because of the size, but of the interconnectedness (wow, that's a word) of the available research items. To unlock a certain defensive structure will most likely require you to first research several other distinct items.
The plot of the game is straightforward. Basically, Earth is under attack from the Titans (shocking, right?) and your mission is to hold the line against various types of Titans. There are numerous 'key' moments when the General or the Scientist will have a line to say, either of advice, or briefing on the next mission. This is another moment when I saw a resemblance with PvsZ, in that the characters don't actually speak, it's more like a coherent succession of "bla bla"s (just like the guy with a frying pan on his head). You'll eventually move to all different planets (each one having a different color scheme for the interface, like I said). There are some boss events, as well, when a giant Queen, or in general, a giant X will attack, as well as the other, smaller titans. I found these missions particularly challenging, but luckily, the game has a "new level" option, that restarts the level with an easier difficulty. (really comes in handy at times)
Even when you finish the campaign, you'll still want to play some Survival or Endless modes, as the whole game feel is pretty fun and charming. I feel as though they could have added more puzzle types, making it even more fun and compelling!
I would place this game right up there with Plants vs. Zombies and Braid.