Stagelands – eternal defense

[h1]Great Concept but Way Too Greedy.[/h1] Stage Lands is a multi-layered tower defense game, which is a unique and great concept yet many other of its own flaws made this game being not successfull. From the beginning the progression is really quick and entertaining, the new units and layers gets more interesting and the upgradeble buildings really useful to invest in, as well as the captured towns. The first momentum is really strong and hook you in the first hours. The real problem altough comes early and gets significantly worse as you progress, you can buy units and some units are closed behind a pay wall as many mechanics can be invoked earlier. Soon you will find your layers being empty, because the free-to-play materials start to be less and less sufficient and it takes much more time to aquire or level up the heroes. The real wall will hit you around Wave 280 where you need multiple days to train your units and the income is so insignificant that at this point its a must to open your wallet for reasonable progress. It's also worth to mention to try and avoid global and guild chat as much as possible, as there is only a few players left and they constantly argue childishly with one and other how their guild is much superior. Just to mention "auto progress" button is really missing, you have to individually start each stage, which becomes really annoying in the long run. Overall its worth a try if you are really bored, as the concept is really unique, but do hardly advice on spending anything. [b]5/10[/b] [b]Detailed:[/b] [table] [tr] [th]Graphics[/th] [th]Overall: ★★★☆☆ ✨ It's cute, yet it has stolen many aspects from popular RPGs, the most noticeable being the World of Warcraft references. But I do find it really nice how the units change into a more badass look after each training session — that alone is worth a star! It makes it feel so good to level each one of them and gives a sense of curiosity about discovering how they are going to look later as they get stronger. [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Gameplay:[/th] [th]Overall: ★★☆☆☆ 🎮 The multi-layered battlefield is a good idea, but it is hit by many of its own flaws. There are unstoppable bosses who just run through the field without being stopped by your melee units. You only get 3 of those as well, and their critically low HP can bottleneck your team, forcing you to spend way too many resources on them, while your archers COULD clear the current wave with ease. The microtransactions are insane; you get constantly popping-up deals, which by itself wouldn't be a problem, but many mechanics and team comps are locked behind a paywall. This can cause you to buy units unaware that you cannot even complete their team bonuses. The gold and resource income after Wave 280 becomes so insignificant that progress is virtually impossible without waiting a LOT; the gold mine and storage scaling is a joke. Also, the artifact system is random, making you wait DAYS until you can find a desired set piece. Units are way too expensive, making your layers mostly empty as a free-to-play player, and the auto-progress button is missing, so you have to start each wave INDIVIDUALLY, which not only takes an astronomical amount of time, but it becomes more and more annoying as time passes. [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Story/Game Time:[/th] [th]Overall: ★☆☆☆☆ 📖 Sadly there is none, and the game time is around 50 hours at max. [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Audio:[/th] [th]Overall: ☆☆☆☆☆ 🔊 Straight bad, repetative and boring, probably was chosen from a free-to-use library. [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Achivements/Studio:[/th] [th]Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★★ 🏅 Gladly there is none. [/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Price:[/th] [th]💸 It's free! [/th] [/tr]