Siegecraft TD (out now, $2.99) is the tower defence variant of Blowfish Studios and Crescent Moon’s action-strategy game released way back in 2011. That was a huge success and rightly so. It mixed two genres so well that it was difficult to stop playing after a few levels. I wish I could say the same for Siegecraft TD. It features incredible 3D graphics and a few nice features, but it doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking to the already-crowded genre of tower defense games.
If you know how a typical tower defense game works, you can skip right past this paragraph. You have a map divided into different squares, so it’s essentially a grid. Waves of enemies enter from multiple sides of the map, sometimes from the center, and take the quickest route to the right-hand side where they will leave the map. Your aim is to stop them by placing a set of towers in these squares around the map to block the enemies’ path and force them to move around your towers, causing more damage. Each tower is upgradeable by up to 3 levels, each time causing more damage. More enemies and towers are introduced as you progress through the game, just as you would in any other tower defense game. If I could point out anything new gameplay-wise, I would love to. Sadly, I can’t.
Every veteran iOS gamer should recall TowerMadness, the tower defense game that introduced us to 3D graphics in the genre. It worked extremely well and left me in awe, the fact that I could pinch, swipe, and pan a 3D map on my iPhone while a mini battle was taking place. That was groundbreaking and made it easy to recommend some four years ago. Although Siegecraft TD includes the same camera possibility but with a few more options, it didn’t leave me in awe. I just expect it now. That’s not to say there aren’t any necessarily bad features of the game. In fact, everything good you would expect from a tower defense game is there. A variety of enemies, maps, and towers make the gameplay much more interesting and engaging, whilst upgrades make the battles much easier and more fun to see your enemies die one after the other.
There are only two difficulty levels — Easy and Hard. They are just that — it’s either way too easy so you can blitz through the level in no time, or it’s either too hard so you have to replay the level a few times before progressing to the next stage. I prefer the latter because I love a good challenge, but something between the two would definitely be satisfactory.
There are two main areas where you definitely cannot fault the developers — multiplayer and the polish of the game. The former involves fighting over multiple territories whilst defending your own using the regular tower defense mechanism. It’s kind of like a turn-based strategy game overall with tower defense at its core. It’s more fun than the single player mode for sure, and it seems to be the only innovation in the game. Secondly, the polish is superb. I haven’t come across one bug (yet, I suppose). The graphics are colorful and cartoony whilst the map’s 3D elements are varied but not too detailed so as to take away the casual feel of the game.
iFanzine Verdict: Siegecraft TD is a typical tower defense game that doesn’t bring a lot to the genre. Its multiplayer mode is the only real outside-the-box thinking whilst the overall polish make it a smooth ride, but there just isn’t enough to leave you in awe. It’s just another tower defense but with a kick-ass multiplayer mode, so it’s up to you if online or offline is your thing.