Each stage is setup with a set number
of enemy waves to survive as well as a number of milk mining kittens to protect.
The
improved enemy wave system should allow for greater replay value as the game becomes less predictable.
As the game progresses the switch puzzles become more complex and
enemy waves more regular, but the rhythm and flavour of missions rarely changes.
The single player campaign literally reaches a point of a repetitive one
enemy wave after the other with only cutscenes to keep a player involved.
The focus is on aiming down the sights to battle
massive enemy waves, while a couple of features (like slow - motion breaches) feel lifted directly from that franchise.
The campaign is made up of various mission styles,
including enemy wave - based missions, escort objectives, follow the leader, and more.
The game features really short play cycles, on the level
of enemy waves but also the full time a whole session takes.
It's a nice big playground where you can enjoy hack n» slash to its fullest with fun time trials, acquire extra Master Seals to unlock a character's full combat abilities, and earn extra gold and experience by battling
enemy waves in Arena Mode.
While all of these missions tend to share an end goal, they usually play out as shortened Garden / Graveyard Ops games with players defending a base until a boss or special
enemy wave appears and the item required for the mission is recovered.
While most of the missions are OK, there are special Shield Generator missions which are slogs through multiple
enemy waves as you drive into the heart of an enemy base.
The length of time things like drills take is also a divisive aspect; on the one hand it creates tension, making me constantly check the progress bar while waiting for the
next enemy wave.
Graceful Explosion Machine was designed for aficionados of arcade shoot «em ups, and you can achieve ridiculous score multipliers by
eliminating enemy waves continuously.
Each map, whether open or fixed route, encourages a different strategy, such as trying to find an optimal path to redirect enemies, making the best use of limited space, and breaking up
individual enemy waves to avoid being overwhelmed, all while planning ahead for future waves.
Little changes, like eliminating the time limit
between enemy waves or offering a single damn checkpoint on those escort missions, would have worked wonders.
Each run may throw you on the mercy of the random number generator (every once in a while an
unexpected enemy wave will wipe you out and leave you spitting nails), but the solid ruleset and deep interlinked mechanics allow advanced players to constantly improve their skills and deepen their understanding of how the systems work with every failed attempt.
There is a team deathmatch mode in which two teams race to be the first to score twenty - five total kills, and a survival mode in which the goal is to see how
many enemy waves you can survive before being shot down.
The levels have a variety of objective - based missions, such as escorting / destroying a convoy, defending / attacking a base, or just surviving a
few enemy waves.
Iron Brigade plays like a cross between a straight mecha action game and a tower defense title: a stream of
enemy waves come through generators towards a target you need to defend, and all you have to hold your ground with are deployable turrets powered by super-science and a creaky WWI - era mecha with some truly fearsome heavy artillery haphazardly pasted on.
If you're playing with a team of 4
then enemy waves will arrive quicker and be harder to defeat - Singleplayer means enemies will move slower and take less hits.
INFINITE MODE - now with many more weapons and
adjusted enemy waves, this mode is even MORE fun and also easier to achieve its rather tricky trophies.
You will then have a few seconds to set up you initial defenses before the
first enemy wave begins to spawn.
A new playing field, more weapons,
different enemy waves - you keep the core tenets of the game, but you try to throw the player off by subverting their expectations.
You might think you're being clever if you build up a wall of level 5 infantrymen to stop the enemy from breaking the front lines, but you won't be smiling when the
tenth enemy wave throws six healthy warriors against your weakened defenses.
Of course, funds are limited and
enemy waves pile onto each other without mercy until one side prevails.
Multiplayer events can support as many as 12 players and include deathmatch, team deathmatch, hourglass (a team king of hill variation), assault, the highly challenging king of gravity, grav control (advantages from kill streaks), gravity slaughter (using grav powers), and survival (four players against
constant enemy waves).
The player should have a similar treatment
for enemy waves — what type of enemy will spawn, how many, at what strength level, at what spawn locations.
With their attractive aesthetics, intimidating bosses,
relentless enemy waves, and quality soundtracks, they offer an experience that average, less inspired shooters often fail to match.
Sure, it shares some similarities (e.g. piloting a small ship,
shooting enemy waves, etc.) from the iconic game that helped popularize arcade shooters.
To top it off, there is the Endless Siege mode, which lets you play as many days as you can survive, and Madness, which throws insane numbers of
enemy waves at you at once.
Certain enemy waves, such as the Cavalry are much faster and require special attention — I suggest machine guns.
In order to have soldiers you need food, and in order to have food you need farms, and to build farms you also need crystals, so the player needs must plan carefully to build what's necessary to survive the
next enemy wave.
Other than partaking in the story, Trials are present and these feel a lot like a horde mode, with you needing to beat up a couple
of enemy waves.
Each enemy wave will have their story!
Upon entering each arena in a level you'll activate a Test of Faith, which act as modifiers, mixing up the gameplay by doing things like making it rain bombs, spawning monster allies near the Altar, giving you Infinite ammo, making
the enemy wave tougher, turning on friendly fire and even changing player's weapons ever few seconds.
Ships are presented as a series of randomly generated rooms that can contain a various selection of obstacles,
enemy waves, or treasures.
The screen scrolls automatically and
enemy waves are the same each time you play meaning that Cloud God becomes a learning experience that evolves as you play.
Never mind the secrets, the scoring tricks or the order of
the enemy waves: what makes this game unique is how personal it is.
The longer you last the more dangerous and overwhelming
the enemy waves become, though to help you out with that are items and weapons that appear the longer you survive.
Be warned that as you progress through the missions,
the enemy waves will get larger.
After numerous false starts (i.e., withdrawing without defeating all
the enemy waves), I was finally able to finish the missions, which was admittedly very satisfying.
But complete the game and you'll unlock some classic difficulties like Son of Sparda and Dante Must Die, which change - up
the enemy waves and, best of all, add in new enemy behaviors, or in other words, give»em more ways of stabbing you in the face.
Each level consists of several waves of enemies, and once
an enemy wave is over, the player must use the crystals obtained from defeating enemies to repair damaged structures and strengthened its defenses.
- Having extra challenges sounds good, you can reuse parts of some levels and modify the enemies there, making all sorts of mini-trials using different rules like time - attack, survival,
enemy waves, etc..
Some of these modes task players with playing with limited resources, upgrades, or towers, while others increase the amount of
enemy waves or give abilities to the cursor.
Horde 3.0 is your typical «survive
the enemy waves» mode, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.