PROTIP: If you're trying to get a specific map (for a specific enemy spawn point), just hit ESC and go back to the character screen, if you don't get the map you want. This will restart the level (which randomizes you a new level) and is by *FAR* the quickest way to knock out the creatures you still need. Also, SAVE ALL YOUR UNLOCKS FOR THE VERY END (i.e. for the very last few you need to unlock). No point unlocking stuff that you may end up finding/killing, through sheer luck, before you're done with the game.
Despite my better judgment, I played until all characters were unlocked. I feel like there's the making of a good game here but, in its current state, it feels like the developer was more interested in *releasing* a game than *designing* a game. There are like 6 different maps, total, and large groups of enemies share a single "rare" spawn point. Essentially, this means you end up having around a 1 in 6 chance to get the MAP you need then a 1 in FIFTEEN'ISH chance to get the specific spawn you need. It's incredibly lazy and it's completely unreasonable to expect players to unlock everything. The fact that the game offers ZERO challenge doesn't help, either. In its current state, I hope this doesn't get badges as, honestly, there's not much here but I'm glad to see the developer listening to feedback and, hopefully, we'll see a more fully fleshed-out game, in the future. 2/5.
For all the effort and polish that's clearly gone into the game, it's *astounding* that virtually NO thought has gone into game BALANCE or LEVEL DESIGN. Things get brutally tedious--and boring--in the later sectors as NOTHING interesting happens. It feels like the developer just "randomized" all the levels and called it a day, instead of making the effort to come up with interesting map sets. The "gold" achievements are also a joke as the completely ridiculous weapons make them absolutely trivial. I look forward to future updates (multiplayer?) but, for now, the game falls short. 3/5 for effort.
For all the effort that went into this game, it's kind of a sloppy mess. Virtually NOTHING is well-explained and having to dig around on an external website link--before you even get to play--just so you can try and figure out what's going on is pretty awful. Even after completing the game, I *still* have no idea how various stats/abilities really work. Also, hiding the "retreat" option behind "hitting the escape key" is borderline-infuriating. It should be CLEARLY visible so players know it exists! It's NOT a stretch to assume that you can't retreat from a FIGHT TO THE DEATH in a GLADATORIAL ARENA. Finally, I found everything about the equipment/inventory system to a poorly designed, completely unintuitive, tedious disaster. It feels like you spent all your time trying to be clever with the *overwhelming* number of statistics and then just said "eff it," when it came to itemizing the game. Overall, 2 stars for effort.
It really should be possible to save up more than 3 hearts, with the heart upgrade. It seems kind of ridiculous that, for the first two or three you see/get, you're *probably* still going have your three originals and, as such, get *zero* benefit from all the coins you spent. A similar problem can be seen with the time-slowdown... where you're only able to have *one* saved... despite *easily* getting 3 or 4, before really "needing" to use one. I mean, really, what's even the point? If the upgrades are going to be so restrictive, they might as well not even be in the game.
Why is the max survival score ~777? Doesn't it sort of defeat the purpose of a "survival" mode if the "survival" mode *ends*? Also, if you focus on Ice and Holy, you can pretty much just chain-heal yourself, infinitely, without ever having to kill a single opponent. The quick/cheap heals combined with the max-regen & and the fact that you're given temporary immunity, when you get it, basically makes you invincible. It seems like a bit of an oversight. :)
I purchased two upgrades, in the shop, my first time playing. When I reloaded it, later on, I went to buy the third upgrade and (despite having enough coins), the game won't let me (there's no buy button). It's a fairly crippling bug, when you want to be competitive on the mode(s) of your choice. Great game and concept, though!
Decent concept executed exceptionally poorly *and* exceptionally lazily. Since the AI randomly chooses its paths, levels can either be mind-numbingly boring ("oh, looks like 4 opponents are deciding to wander around the target for 5 minutes, making assassination impossible") OR laughably easy ("lol, the target randomly wandered straight over to me for a free win"). Additionally, the randomized location of the exit tunnel further reinforces these points. I'm sorry but, no, "random" does not = "clever." If time were taken to program preset enemy paths and preset exits, the game would be MUCH more enjoyable (and not necessarily any easier). 3/5, if only for having the foundation of a good game.
Possible Bug: Max Luck + All Luck Upgrades + Mother Nature's Blessing = Mystery Boxes seem to treat luck score as lowest possible, instead of highest possible. Possibly an issue with Mother Nature's Blessing specifically, which may be resulting in a higher maximum luck value than expected.
gukinator, that hardly matter when you *GET* to the high levels and don't have the necessary firepower to kill things effectively. You end up significantly behind the power curve which is a glaring oversight. The fact that *none* of the ship upgrades seem to be particularly balanced only reinforces the fact that +pixel is, intentionally or not, a newbie trap.
The +shield upgrades *really* need to scale better. As it stands now, the last upgrade practically *doubles* your regeneration while all the early upgrades don't do much, at all. The weapons have a similar--though opposite--problem... where the early points are worth *drastically* more than the later ones. A general "scaling pass," on all the upgrades, in the game, would do wonders for balance (and overall enjoyment), imo.
Overall, it's a fun and well-executed game. There one GLARING issue, however; the +pixel upgrade (and possibly the +score one) don't help you! Pumping up +pixel, so you can level up quicker, HURTs you because each tier of enemy is tied to a specific level! You end up hitting a high level quickly but don't have the weapon strength to handle it! If you jump pumped weapons/etc., however, you'd level slower but you wouldn't get overwhelmed! The best fix would be to tie each tier of enemy to a time-based system (i.e. getting more pixels, earlier, could possibly help you, in the long run, or would at least be worthwhile) but, as it stands now, it's a newbie trap... which is sort of a shame.
Also, in the tank editor, SYMMETRIC MODE (which is misspelled, btw, and which should probably be "Symmetry Mode," anyway) SHOULD BE DISABLED BY DEFAULT! It's ridiculous that you have to keep clicking it off, all the time, to make sure you don't place more guns than you want to and/or trigger the God-awful ERROR! popup.
I feel like this is a step back, in the Bubble Tanks franchise. Not having your enemies downgrade, before popping, takes a way a *lot* of the game's flavor. I also feel like having the "Arena" be so limited is a bit of a problem. Perhaps things would be more interesting with a mix of "able to escape from" bubbles and "BOOM! you're locked into this one!" ones? Having every single level be "clear bubble -> move right" is just boring. Also, there seems to be no meaningful reason to upgrade the class of your tank (and is there really *ANY* purpose to the red "body" bubbles? they seem like nothing but fluff). Finally, THE HELP FEATURE IS VERY, VERY ANNOYING. When you're trying to play the game, having to click through 50 help screens--hitting "NEXT" all the time--just gets to the point of being absurd. There are plenty of other--more eloquent--ways of providing in-game help, without resorting to an approach that, quite seriously, makes you want to outright quit playing the game.
As far as game balance goes, the "sacrifice" cards seem to be blatantly overpowered. Whereas with "Worker" cards, there's a decision whether or not to use them (and when), with the "sacrifice" cards, it's almost ALWAYS in your best interest to use them ASAP, if you already have a worker lead. The fact that they cost ZERO resources only adds insult to injury as it just makes the swing that much more in your favor. Remember, your opponent needs to pay EIGHT resources to play their worker, to begin with. A "sacrifice" card essentially amounts to a flat-out advantage gain of 1 worker AND 8 resources... with basically zero cost to actually play the card, to begin with. How this can be perceived as balanced, I have absolutely no idea... especially when the "remove" cards are all 5 Crystals for -8 Resource! In all honesty, my suggestion would be to just outright-remove the steals; they're somewhat destroying the game, if you ask me.
Compared to Castle Wars 1, yes, the game looks better but, as far as the interface goes, it's pretty horrendous, if we're being honest here. It is *MUCH* too difficult to see, at a glance, what your (and your opponents) resources are. At the very LEAST, they should be color-coded (similar to CW1) and *PLEASE* get rid of the ridiculous "mirror image" resource setup. This is a "card game!" UI ease-of-use should be the primary concern... not a borderline-afterthought!
Horrendous grind. Developer has no grasp of game balance/what makes games *fun.* Wouldn't have played more than a minute if not for the card. How this game averages 4 stars I have *NO* idea. As previously mentioned, dramatically reducing the costs of tricks (if not EVERYTHING) would go a *long* way towards making the game more tolerable. Sorry but I can't justify giving more than 2 stars, in its current state.
Fujitsu Defender is off to a good start but it's horribly balanced, much too long and, ultimately, boring. The fact that all the weapons hit the same "8 reload" cap is also pretty ridiculous... considering this means you can upgrade a Sniper Tower *FAR* more than you can a Machine Gun. It seems like the foundation for a decent game is there but the developer simply has no grasp of how to balance things, once the core mechanics are in place.
And, yes, winning with a single Frost Tower (and a few dozen Gold towers) is pretty ridiculous. :P
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