Lock's Quest First Look

Real-time strategy may be one of those genres that intimidate a lot of people, but it's proven to be rather flexible in recent years. Although games such as Supreme Commander still exist at the far end of the complexity spectrum, we've seen more and more casual RTS games pop up on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and various handhelds. One recent example of this is a game that THQ unveiled at this week's press event in San Francisco. Currently operating under the tentative name Lock's Quest, this DS strategy game was described to us by the game's creative director as an "arcade-y one-man strategy game" that blends the simplified combat of Advance Wars with the stylus-based movement of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

What you're essentially doing in Lock's Quest is building a fort to help defend you and your fellow villagers from incoming waves of enemy soldiers. Appropriately enough, the game is divided into build mode and battle mode. As you might guess, build mode is where the construction takes place. You pick any spot on the current map to set up a safe zone and choose the various types of walls, towers, and other defenses to suit your needs. All of these will cost you the in-game currency called source. That cost factor seems to be the main point of consideration in this mode because we're told that the building process itself is quite simple and intuitive. One example we saw of this is how the pieces adapt themselves to what's been built so far; if a tower or chunk of wall is facing the wrong way when you drag it out of the selection palette, it will automatically rotate to fit what's on the ground already. It's a simple touch, but when you're building bigger and bigger structures, the convenience is sure to add up.

The style of fighting is very much driven by the stylus and isn't just limited to selecting an attack in the menu. Many of the attacks that you'll find yourself using come with a motion prompt on the screen that mimics what you're trying to do to the enemy. For example, a cyclone attack might have you draw quick spirals on the screen, whereas a more rapid-fire spell will force you to tap a box as quickly as you can for maximum damage. You'll also move your character around the screen by pointing with the stylus, which you can do by guiding him at all times or simply setting a target point for him to travel toward. We're told that the overall pace of the game is quite frantic. Though we didn't get to play the game, the aforementioned member of the development team sure looked like he was getting a workout on his stylus hand.

One of the more interesting parts of the game is how the enemy AI changes its strategy as time passes. The campaign is divided into days, and each day the AI commander will deploy its troops in a new formation. If yesterday's mass ambush didn't work so well, the commander might choose to divide the troops in half to make a pincer formation that will attack you from opposite sides. Your opponents learn from your battles every day to keep you on your toes.

As the days pass, you'll also see a very traditional role-playing game story unfold to match the game's old-school, sprite-based visuals. You play as an archineer (think architect meets engineer) known as Lock, whose seaside village has been invaded by a villain called Lord Agony. This bad guy has spawned a race of minions known as the clockworks, which are the troops who come rushing headlong into those forts you've been designing. However, that's just about all we got to hear at this early stage in development.

Finally, Lock's Quest will offer competitive multiplayer through both local and Wi-Fi connections. You can expect it to arrive on the DS later this year.