Robo Defense
| Robo Defense | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Lupis Labs |
| Publisher(s) | Lupis Labs |
| Platform(s) | Android |
| Release | 16 September 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Robo Defense is a real-time strategy tower defense video game developed by Lupis Labs and released on 16 September 2009 for Android. The game involves player player placing down turret towers to prevent enemies who come from one end of the map to reach the other end.
Gameplay
[edit]Robo Defense is a real-time strategy tower defense game with five different maps. The game is started by pressing the new game. The player is sent to the "select difficulty" screen, where players may choose their desired map and level of difficulty by clicking the top and down arrowhead. The game has ten different difficulties in the beginning, but new level of difficulties appear after the player finishes the maximum level of difficulty.[1]
After selecting the desired level of difficulty and map, the player starts with an empty field/track. After a few moments, the enemies, in the form of little infantry troops, appear. The player must place towers in order to obstruct the path of enemy. To do this, the player must buy one of turret tower displayed in the bottom right corner of the screen by clicking on it. After clicking a tower, the player may drag it into the field of play. The player may upgrade the tower by clicking the turret tower and choosing one of the upgrades available. The player may obstruct the enemy's path by making the route longer through the strategic placement of turret tower, but the player is not allowed to block the enemy's path. Killing an enemy generates in-game cash for the player, which may be used to buy and/or upgrade turret towers. The player lose a health bar for every enemy that managed to pass to the other end of the map. If the health bar goes to zero, the player loses the game.[1]
There are several different enemies and turret towers. The land attacker enemies follow the route made by the placement of turret towers, while air attacker enemies fly straight ahead to the other end.
Meanwhile, the turret tower has three different types. The machine gun and rocket towers, also known respectively as the blue and yellow towers, can shoot down both land and air attackers. The slow tower, slows down enemies. These towers have multiple variants which could be obtained through upgrades.[1]
Development
[edit]The game was released for Android on 16 September 2009 by Lupis Labs.[2] The game has two different versions, the paid version and the free version. The paid version of the game has five different maps and unlimited difficulties, while the free version comes with only one map and 11 difficulties[3] and doesn't allow the player to save in-game progress.[4]
Reception
[edit]Sales and accolades
[edit]The game was named as the best-selling premium Android game in October 2009 and was downloaded 7,600 times over the course of the month.[5] From January to March 2011, the game regained the title of the best-selling premium Android game and was downloaded 186 thousand times in the Android Market.[6]
Critical response
[edit]The game received mostly positive reviews, with some comparing the game to Fieldrunners. Jon Mundy, writing for Pocket Gamer, stated that the game was heavily inspired by "medieval siege warfare". He also described the game as a clone of Fieldrunners that almost has the same graphics when compared to Fieldrunners. The reviewer praised the game for giving opportunity for players to upgrade and modify the turret tower, since it makes the game significantly differ from the more straightforward gameplay of Fieldrunners.[7]
Andrew Podolsky from GameSpot lauded the game as "precise, well executed, and works very well". Despite criticizing the game as less impressive and the inability to zoom in and out in the opening and ending of the review, Podolsky later praised the game's distinctiveness for allowing the player to increase the level of the turret tower between level changes and the game's ability to customize difficulty and maps.[8] Ryan Paul of Ars Technica commended the game's simplistic user interface and the well appearance of the units and terrain. Despite this, he described the game as "not visually stunning".[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Hull, Richard (8 December 2010). "Strategy Guide (AND) by Sour". Gamespot. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ "Robo Defense". Gamespot. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Paul, Ryan (23 August 2010). "Reviewed: six great games for Android". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Ionescu, Daniel (May 4, 2010). "12 Essential Android Games". PCWorld. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Zackariasson, Peter; Wilson, Timothy (August 21, 2012). The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-136-25824-4.
- ^ Jordan, Jon (April 20, 2011). "FADE estimates Android Market game sales in Q1 2011 at $8.8 million, up 330%". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ Mundy, Jon (June 14, 2010). "Robo Defense". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Podolsky, Andrew (July 2, 2010). "Robo Defense Review". Gamespot. Retrieved February 15, 2022.