For the record, the scoring oddity didn't detract from the game though; still quite enjoyable.
@Ghotch: Forgive me if you already know this, but you need to have at least one charge in the the power meter at the bottom of the screen. If you don't have power, you can only fire regular shots.
3) Build Crypts on high points; high points close to the entrance get mana crypts, high points deeper in get fear crypts (which again, I do not rely on, but mana crypts further back don't generate much anyways) 4) Build whatever towers I can at choke points and corners a decent distance from the entrance. 5) When I get close to max mana, chop forests to get more money and continue building towers at corners/choke points. I don't have to worry about specific placement, because the fact that the terrrain forces certain towers means that as long as I don't put absolutely all my towers in the exact same spot and am paying even a modicum of attention, I will stop the enemy. And I didn't say you have to know which tiles to develop, I said the only choice is in choosing which tiles to develop. By the time you develop mana clouds and high points, there are very obvious gaps in your defense; fill those in, and you're fine.
@Rannan: A few towers at the front of a map is enough to proc the ninja smoke bombs (assuming you don't just meteor them into the ground). The special abilities are random, and so I would never count them as part of a successful strategy. The orcish den towers are all but worthless, being useful only for developing mana clouds (and the mana clouds themselves are so important that if you don't develop them first, you're making things harder than they need to be). Frenzy is a worthless spell, never doing more damage than meteor, which itself is only really useful for ninja waves; any other wave is trivially defeated by Crypts on high points and whatever towers you happen to be able to build at choke points or corners. Flyers and debuffs are not necessary for strategy, but *some* variation or differentiation is. But honestly, every single level in the original I beat by doing the following: 1) Develop all mana clouds. 2) Put whatever towers I can build at the very front of the map.
@Rannen (continued):All the aspects of Tower Defense games that I enjoy (choosing what towers are appropriate to build, choosing where to build your defenses, deciding what strategy I want to pursue) are all stripped away because the map/tower/enemy configurations leave virtually no options for variance in builds.
@Rannen: I strenuously disagree about this game requiring strategy where others do not. Towers do not have special abilities until you have talents or many upgrades, and even then most upgrades/specials are just more damage, meaning that your strategic options with towers are severely limited (do I do damage this way, or that way?); the lack of flyers, slowing towers, buff towers, and numerous other specific tower types renders the few tower types we do have mundane. The limitation on terrain type means you are not choosing where to develop your towers, but simply choosing which tiles to develop... and the mana clouds are so important that they make part of that decision for you. Combine all that with the very specific configurations required to deal with ninjas, and you are left with exceedingly few options that have any real effectiveness.
Have to agree with kingofsorrow; that boss with the streams of red bullets is absurdly good for getting extra lives. My first time through I finished with 19 extra lives >.>
4/5; -1 point for making the keyboard controls feel obviously tacked on (using the keyboard to navigate the map in dungeons is far slower than using the mouse, if the mouse goes anywhere but in the game window the entire thing pauses rendering it unplayable), and the slow reaction of abilities chained together (sometimes it takes 4-5 activations of an ability that's no longer on cooldown before it will go off, almost as if the cooldown is longer than the graphic indicates).
There's nothing inherently wrong with the game, and if you never played Icy Gifts this will certainly entertain you.... but it *is* just a reskin of Icy Gifts. A few new ball types, but nothing particularly exciting or strategic, and it's as easy as the original. Still, fun for about 40 minutes (how long it took me to get all achievements).
4/5; great concept, nice design, but the colors are problematic at best. (Red/Green Colorblind; it's not total by any stretch, and I'm not sure that's what is giving me issues, but it's all but impossible for me to see the differences, so I had to use trial & error).
2/5. The shield's position is not exactly accurate (numerous time my shield passed through an incoming projectile), making precise movements impossible. Unnecessary delays when you get a game over. Annoying display bugs when you do manage to get passed that. Interest system required to get all upgrades, with no indication early on just how much money you'll need to save (or how many levels each upgrade has). Numerous times where enemies attack simultaneously from all sides, literally impossible to defend against.
I know it's not a new game at this point, but there needs to be a way to command your units to prefer specific targets. It's irritating to have the units I've placed to guard one of two paths turn their backs on that path and attack units at the extremity of their range, while the units they're supposed to be taking down walk by them and move on to the exit.
@Pokemonboy111, nattyfrank, and everyone else who claims that this game is not original because it copied "Flood-it", I suggest you check the release dates. Since I don't expect you do do so, I"ll do it for you. Release date on this game: April 12th, 2007. Release date on Flood-it: October 4th, 2009. Call me crazy, I'm more inclined to give the "original" title to the one that game out 2 years earlier.
Is the in-game "Diamond medal" badge bugged? I currently have S rank on all but the final bonus level, and A rank on that level, but did not receive credit for the Diamond medal. There were quite a few levels I never got anything under A rank on... is it not giving credit because techincally I never got "A" rank on those levels? Or is it intended that this medal is inaccessible if you do too well :-P
Explicitly requesting ratings in your description, and purposefully withholding features contingent upon that rating? Not even going to bother playing if that's the case; if you think that little of your audience, I'm not going to waste my time here.
I know it's a slightly old game, but 2/5 for extraordinarily poor control scheme. I command a group of units to move to a specific point, half of then start doubling back before they've made it even halfway to their destination. Inability to simply click on a unit to select it, instead requiring drag + drop boxes. Imprecise enemy targeting, where it is all but impossible to tell whether your units are actually attacking an enemy target for a few seconds, critical during time trials. A solid game concept with nice mechanics, but my ability to enjoy it is completely destroyed by my endless frustration trying to get the units to execute even basic commands.
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