[i]"Yes, Phalanx of Resistance may not be the most gorgeous of games; yes, it may also not be the most polished... but for the incredibly low price of less than $1, the game is definitely markedly better than many other $1, or even more than $1, games that I've played before."[/i]
Featuring nostalgic 90s-style graphics and art, [b]Phalanx of Resistance[/b] is a pretty nice mixture of several genres, namely RTS, tower defense and surprisingly, clicker (I've removed "idle" from the "idle clicker" genre... and you'll see why in a bit). It takes the base building aspect from typical RTS games where you'll build certain structures to unlock new features, which sometimes means new turrets in this game.
[h1]Watch me play![/h1]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NagRllV3VEk
You'll also need to build power plants to expand the "blue zone" or the zone where you can build stuff and gather resources; and to power up certain abandoned structures on the map like the repair depot which will automatically repair any damaged buildings at a steady pace. P/S: If there's a repair depot on your map, you'll want to power it as soon as you can... it's truly a lifesaver! Another strategy is to upgrade your turrets when it has low health just so you can get a free repair.
The tower defense works as you'd expect. Enemies will land near the edge of the map and make their way to your base. You can technically create paths using walls in this game, but I've found that default layout of the map is already well-designed for a good defense. You just need to make sure you cover your kill zones well for ground troops. For planes and paratroopers, you'd want to have lots of anti-air and anti-air+ground turrets near your base and important structures like collectors and power plants - that's why it's a good idea to cluster them together.
The clicker aspect mainly involves gathering resources, namely wood, that you'll need to build anything in this game. Every click will earn you 1 resource item and most resource deposits will take several clicks to deplete. It's not just idle clicking though - you actually need to find and click on items that will give you the resource you need, namely vegetation and some stones. Also, I quite like the fact that since the game doesn't let you call a wave in earlier, you could use the downtime to just click around and collect stuff. P/S: There's an upgrade you can get to not click as many times if that helps.
Note that resources do not regenerate in this game and that it's actually a good idea to clear away deposits near kill zones just so you can more strategically position your turrets. Sometimes, Exogas deposits would pop up temporarily and you can click on them to collect extra Exogas. You'll need these gases for more advanced structures and turrets in this game.
[h1]Pros[/h1]
+ Game's fairly easy but it does throw you a curve ball now and then... like having airborne enemies in the first wave that makes a beeline for your base's HQ while most of your turrets are crowded around the kill zone at the entrance to your base or introducing paratroopers that will be dropped behind your kill zone.
+ This might be a negative for some, but I absolutely adore the 90s-style graphics. It's not particularly ugly - I've seen worse - but it's not really breathtaking either. It does, however, give the game a bit of an indie feel.
+ Has two game modes, Campaign (objective-based levels) and Skirmish (a.k.a. Endless)
+ Unique and unconventional RTS/TD gameplay that is surprisingly enjoyable!
+ A nice variety of turrets to use and enemies to destroy
+ Game's worth the cost!
[h1]Cons/Feedback[/h1]
[i]Before I start, I should mention that most of these are more feedback than cons since they are things that the dev could easily (I think?) work and improve on.[/i]
- Start the game by showing the main menu. I was caught a bit off guard when the game just thrust me into the tutorial without any warning on first start-up.
- Show turret's range during the building phase i.e. when I'm deciding where to place my turret
- Accurately show the range of a turret. I've noticed that the yellow lines aren't accurate.
- Clicking on the base to show the build-able zone (the blue zone) is rather tedious. Maybe make it a toggle on/off map feature instead?
- Let us save our progress in Skirmish mode
- Walls seem to be useless here? I've seen enemy vehicles just roll over my walls like they are flat.
[b]Optional[/b]
- Allow the player to cancel a construction or to sell off a misplaced structure. Maybe the game is designed as it is to ramp up the challenge, but I think many a player would appreciate being able to sell off a turret. Of course, the resources returned would be greatly reduced and that if a turret is not at full health, the resources obtained would be further and proportionally reduced.
- A level selection menu showing how many levels in total that's available for the campaign and letting a player replay levels when he/she wants to.
- I think this is a bug but I managed to bring over a turret from my previous level in Campaign mode.
[h1]Overall[/h1]
Yes, Phalanx of Resistance may not be the most gorgeous of games; yes, it may also not be the most polished... but for the incredibly low price of less than $1 (at the current 20% discount), the game is definitely markedly better than many other $1 or even more than $1 games that I've played before. As a game, it's pretty fun and manages to keep me entertained throughout. I also really liked how the dev tried to combine some elements of RTS, clicker, and tower defense and the result worked pretty well too.
Definitely a game a hardcore fan of tower defense games who is eager to try a different sort of TD and who grew up with and loves 90s-style graphics would want to play.
[h1]Side Note[/h1]
[quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]
