I'm going to have to agree with everyone. I dove into this, I kept playing, but I haven't gotten past the third level, and I consider myself pretty good at TD games. I spent my training manual to get the Hammer dude, not realizing that it would be a zillion games before I got a chance to get anything ever again. I was looking forward to digging in and trying out all the spells, traps, etc ... but at this rate, I don't have enough hours in my life.
OK, restarted this game, and avoided buying the giant hull. Was fun, but a little easy -- know something is wrong with that hull when the game goes from frustrating to easy just because I didn't get it. Also wonder if the Slo-Mo skill is broken. It's so cheap, that with one upgrade to Battery Level I was able to use it over and over with almost no break. It's hard not to win when everyone else is standing still and their bullets are frozen.
I agree about biggest hull -- I saved up for it and hugely regret it. I'm dying constantly, and before then had no problems. I've tried many builds. At least let me sell it back! I feel like otherwise I'll need to start over, and I don't think the fun/time ratio will be in my favor then. Usually when there is a mega-expensive item, its downsides aren't so ... huge.
I never really understood the appeal of the "dress up" genre ... until now. I could imagine playing a tabletop RPG, and pulling this up to show players what a random enemy looks like. Just hit the random button and say, "You're fighting ... THAT." Along those lines -- a "save" feature, or just an "upload" and "download" as txt (or however that works), would be neat. But you're busy making actual (great) games, so I'm not expecting it.
Why would you (Kong) add achievements requiring us to complete certain maps ... when the maps, as near as I can see, don't have names? This is assuming that the achievements aren't for maps we have to buy ... because that would be unbelievably lame. As opposed to annoying.
To amend -- I was talking about level 8. And I found a way to beat it, by playing with upgrades, and a bunch of different placements. If no one else has mentioned this, it must just be I hit on a strategy that worked fine up till then, but suddenly didn't.
I don't mind the last level being hard ... but the other levels were so easy, I don't feel like I've been led up a difficulty curve. Feels more like being struck in the face by a cold fish. I keep replaying it because I believe there should be a strategy ... but really it's become a puzzle game, not a TD game, trying to find the one solution that will work, or failing immediately. Basically, I think it's poor level design. Rest of the game, though not a challenge, was really enjoyable.
This is really fun. Here is my one major complaint -- the link to your site is sandwiched between the most-used buttons, some of which I hit in a panic (like the pause or time change) when I suddenly realize a wave is blowing past my defenders. Then a window pops up, and instead of taking care of the problem, I'm staring at your homepage while the creeps go on and ruin my perfect score. This makes me dislike your homepage. If you intentionally put the link there hoping for accidental clicks ... that's kind of lame. If unintentional, can I suggest that a better design would be to move it up top somewhere?
Umm ... did I just finish? I can't even tell. But besides that, and all the comments about ninja AI that I totally agree with, this was pretty fun. The upgrades, for 3/4 of the game, actually felt like significant choices, and having them show up as visual equipment was very satisfying.
Yeah, now that I finished I can confirm this was a super fun use of time. I would love to see a future version that let's me play a lot longer, with more of everything. And -- if you spend all your time flying over zombies early on, you won't earn nearly as much money. Though I'll admit I never figured out exactly how I was getting those epic kills, but I enjoyed getting them.
Am I right in thinking that this game is ridiculous amounts of fun? My faith in this game grows with every minute. I think it can probably cure cancer.
Just played thru with the mage, and have to say this is well put together. I agree with two minor complaints -- towards the end, it was pretty easy. I had a huge stockpile of potions I rarely touched. The "junk" option for inventory is great. But not being able to sort the buy/sell the same way I sort my inventory is frustrating. Also, the rollover sometimes just displayed my companion's current equip, and not mine. But minor impediments aside, this was a very satisfying game. Thanks for making it!
addendum -- this game makes me feel like a g*dd*mn superhero up till the superfast homing missiles. then it makes me feel like a g*dd*mn failure. a fiery, dead, failure.
I like having to time clicks for normal attacks, it adds just enough interest to feel like I'm not just watching things. Suggestion -- adjust the damage of hitting the critical bar by some combo of the following criteria: 1. how short the hit box is 2. how close to the start of the bar it is 3. and how close to the exact middle you get. So, if you nail dead center a tiny box right at the start of the bar, you do (let's say) 75% more damage; if you barely get into a large box at the end, maybe only 25% more. This would increase the suspense of regular combat attacks. .... I am also finding this game too easy, but at least for now am finding it too fun to stop!
I'm sure there are many viable strategies to deal with the 2-2 missions and beyond. But before that I was playing a different game, with steadily ramping difficulty and increasing build options. This new game, where the enemy just has to touch my base to destroy it, is not what I was enjoying. The infection missions should be an alternate gameplay mode, or increased difficulty option. I want to play that core concept, not this mod you are forcing on me.
Oooh, pretty and blocky. I've been playing this for a bit, and I'll admit I still don't know exactly what makes some blocks erase others, and others just plop down. My suggestion is that if someone is fiddling around when the tutorial kicks in, instead of shutting it up, add something for compulsive fiddlers who don't actually know what they are doing (like me!). Like, "You seem to know what you're doing, but just in case here's the quick summary: Blocks disappear when [explanation]. New ones spawn from the core [explanation]. If you want to know more, then [blah blah]." Oh -- and after trying to win, I've been trying to lose for the last five minutes, just plunking blocks down. Can't seem to implode the universe.
Hehe, the tutorial gives you two chances to stop fiddling actually. =P You can run the tutorial again if you want to, by turning it on in the main menu options. What you need to do is make three whole pieces of the same kind (not the cubes that the pieces are made off but the whole piece) touch and they'll go splodey. Hope that made it clearer. There is a description in the game instructions on the site aswell btw. :) Cheers! Oh and you'll implode the universe eventually if you keep playing. Check out the game instructions for more info. =)
Note to Dev: if you lose the Europe level (not that I did, like a minute ago, in a horrible drawn-out fashion), the game won't officially "end" because of the reinforcement islands. Besides lacking a little closure, I wanted to watch the history without fog-of-war on. Not a big thing, but worth looking at. Thanks for this great game!
Yes, if you're wondering what all the hype is about and the early levels seem too easy/familiar, then this is the game for you. It keeps unfolding, each level is truly another level of complexity. It's not just about the gameplay, which of course takes its DNA from the classic, but about level design, and intelligently adding new features/elements to the mix. It's really well done!
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Wow, buy/sell sorting, cant believe I didnt think of that :P