Foursaken Media are one of the most impressive and well-respected developers for iOS. I have anticipated all their games from the very first, N.Y. Zombies, to their latest, Block Fortress (out now, $1.99). They have earned their very own folder on my homescreen. That’s where I put all games that are cross-genre, just like Block Fortress. It’s a mix of tower-defense, first-person shooters, and creative sandboxing. Kind of like Minecraft on steroids.
The best way to describe Block Fortress is by dividing it into two parts — building and defending. Before you start shooting against the enemies, you place ‘barracks’ on your map, which you then protect with walls, turrets, and all sorts of other forts. You must also select weapons and items for your character which you will use in-game, as you cannot swap the weapons during combat. Once you’re done setting everything up, hit the compass in the upper-left corner to allow the enemies to attack. This where the FPS perspective comes into play — your blocky hands hold a gun, plasma gun, or whatever it is you chose, to defend your barrack against the enemies.
Block Fortress has three modes to choose from — Survival, Quickstart, and Sandbox. The former is self-explanatory – you start with limited resources that you must build up as you defend against waves of enemies. Quickstart allows you to quickly start (duh) the game – you have a bulk of resources to build your dream fortress. Lastly, Sandbox gives you ultimate control of building and enemies. All three modes are fitting options for all players, so there’s always an alternative if you don’t like one of them.
The depth of Block Fortress is immense. As with all games from Foursaken, there’s always more to the game than meets the eye. Dive past the simple blocky visuals and you have entered your own little world. Each fort you build is fully featured with a ton of customizability. Power blocks, lights (to see at night), and farms (to replenish health) are all waiting to be modified. The developers have also gone all-out with the first-person shooter part of the game — there is a wide range of weapons to choose from to suit your style of defense.
As for the graphics, don’t expect much. This isn’t a game with next-gen graphics. It’s based on the idea of creativity from one of the most simple-looking games on Earth — Minecraft. It’s not totally boring, though. You shouldn’t even care what the game looks like because you will be so deep into the tactics of it all.
I have tried to fault Block Fortress wherever I can. As you have read, I can’t. If you cannot get used to first-person controls on a touchscreen, you might have a hard time. But Foursaken have addressed that by including the Sandbox mode, so you don’t have to constantly pan the map during combat.
iFanzine Verdict: Block Fortress is another incredible game from Foursaken Media. Its in-depth gameplay and addictive nature encourage creativity from players, something that is lacking in recent iOS games. There is just so much to each aspect of the game that makes it worth much more than its mere $2 price tag.