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When Fieldrunners by Subatomic Studios first launched, AppSpy wasn't even up and running.
However, it was one of the very first to be reviewed and with good reason - Fieldrunners
came to define the tower defense genre for touch devices, combining an open-layout system
and grueling challenges that required players to design their mazes carefully to survive
as long as possible.
Almost four years in the making, the sequel finally hits, but with plenty of regular updates
to the original and more games in the genre than ever before, is the new game truly a
worthy successor?
You would be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled on to a HD remake - it's an easy mistake to
make, but one that's quickly corrected as you delve in to the deep variety of campaign
missions on offer. While the changes are light, they are also numerous and the end result
is a game that proves it's still the best at what it does.
Your choice as to whether you play the game on easy, medium or hard will affect how quickly
you gain access to new towers and power-ups - much of it you've seen before, but you'll
also be limited in what you can take with you. Picking the right combination of towers
and/or power-ups can be the difference between success or failure and that may be enough
for most fans, but hardcore gamers aren't left out of the loop as the harder difficulties
have been tweaked to require smarter strategic decisions instead of exploiting AI 're-routing'
quirks.
This is a good thing too as the AI has received a significant boost in the intelligence department
and are far more prone to 'spreading out', making it harder than ever to take out masses
of enemies with poor tower placement. The inclusion of trenches, bridges and tunnels
restricts your ability to build complex mazes - something that clearly identified the first
title - and also opens up the game to all new asymmetrical map designs that pair perfectly
with the different modes on offer.
For the score-junkies out there, you haven't been forgotten either, with 'combos' now affecting
your final score and subsequently the amount of coins you can earn for replenishing your
stock of power-ups. The combo and 'mega combo' can be triggered by dispatching as many enemies
as you can in as short a time as you can, earning extra energy for your 'airstrike'
ability in the process.
The game is gorgeous too. Players can zoom in and out on the detailed cartoonish world
with ease, and no matter how many enemies are on screen there's little to no noticeable
slow-down. It's only a shame the game didn't have a simultaneous iPad release to make use
of the larger screen.
Fieldrunners 2 may not represent a huge leap forward for tower defense titles, but fans
of the original and those looking to try the genre out for the first time have a lot to
look forward to.