Guardians of Ember is a dynamic and complex tower defense with decent graphics and voice acting

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

For a long time I did not come across a tower defense, in which I would immediately screw up the second (!) Level. The most popular genre is perceived to be so old and mature that it seems unrealistic to see something new in it. It is all the more pleasant to get an invite for testing from Nova Games, the publishers of "Karl - King of Beetles", which got to the App Store tops. Their new project "Guardians of the Ember", jointly with HitRock Game Studio, is just an unusual mixture of classic tower defense with the active use of magic and other punitive tools of victory.

So, "Guardians of Ember" is a game with a main focus on tower defense, but diluted with additional gameplay elements for more active participation of the player during the battle.

Canonical TDs were fun, but they didn't create the right level of engagement. Bursting with turrets and indifferently watching as waves of enemies either crash against the line of defense, or, if there are flaws in the strategy, see off opponents with a glance over the edge of the map.

There's nothing like that in Guardians of Amber. That is, of course, there are towers and the corresponding upgrade system, but this is only a static basis for defense.

The hero controlled by the player has a huge influence on the process and result of the battle. Physically, the hero is not present on the map, but it is thanks to his special abilities that you can pull out a frankly losing battle.

There are several heroes. At the beginning of the game, a sorceress is available - a typical magician who uses elemental magic to control and destroy opponents. Each ability has its own unique effect and cooldown. As you progress, an assassin, a mechanic, a warlock and a shaman will be added to the list of heroes. As you can imagine, the secret of successful hero control lies in competent spell management.

The developer did not stop at the heroes and added artifacts to the game. An artifact is an extremely powerful (stronger than any hero spell) item with a unique effect that affects the entire battlefield.

The player can use any of the artifacts obtained during the passage, focusing on the current situation. The fact is that not all artifacts have exclusively combat effects. One causes silence, which will clearly help against magical opponents. Another slows down all enemies and hints at being used against fast groups of attackers.

This is how an ordinary TD turns into a full-fledged dynamic batch with the need to competently use the abilities of the heroes and timely connect the power of artifacts to the battle. All this is served with spectacular visuals, matching tense music and great voice acting.

I really want to highlight the voice acting. The game begins with an introductory video with a poetic story of the history of the world.

Such attention to sound in a mobile game is rare. Each character speaks with his own voice, matched to the character. For this reason, playing Guardians of the Ember with the sound muted is highly discouraged.

Actually, that's all. The game really seems difficult, and for a successful passage you will have to wean yourself from the excessive casualness of typical modern tower defenses. However, with sufficient straightening of the arms, the plot goes through normally and the donat present here will not be useful.