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Review: Anomaly: Warzone Earth

Many gamers will have heard of 11bit Studios’ highly lauded iOS/Android title of last year, Anomaly: Warzone Earth (which is widely regarded as one of the best games on iOS); however, I was surprised to find out it was originally released for the point-and-click crowd on PC and Mac. It is this version that has been ported in full to XBLA, and what a great little port it is.

More ‘Tower Offense’ than ‘Tower Defence’, Anomaly: Warzone Earth puts you in charge of a convoy of mobile armour, primed with a goal to destroy set targets (towers) or reach a specific location. You control the Commander from top down on foot, which does seem strange given the nature of the war at hand, but … whatever – it works. At the beginning of each level, players select vehicles based on the amount of cash at hand, and set waypoints, before releasing the convoy. As they travel about destroying targets, the player is awarded money, which can be used to buy more vehicles (players can also sell to buy better ones), or to apply upgrades. Waypoints can be changed on the fly, if necessary, and the Commander can collect and deploy power-ups to support the convoy.

And that’s it, in a nutshell. It’s a fairly simple title really, with only 14 levels across Baghdad and Tokyo, and completing these will also unlock a wave-based challenge based on each city. These challenges are not unlimited (Baghdad contains 10 waves, and Tokyo 18), but they are in some ways more satisfying than the story mode, as the story is dispensed in favour of more fast-paced complex action. This XBLA version also includes some additional content – 6 levels of Tactical Trials, which are essentially played out in a “virtualised” training ground environment and again more complicated and hectic than the Story Mode.

That’s not to say the story is bad – it’s just… simple, both in terms of writing and complexity. In brief, an alien craft has crash-landed on Earth and created an “anomaly”, into which you take your convoy to find and destroy the enemy. Personally, given the lack of cut scenes or video to aid in the story telling, I found the level briefs to be dull, and skipped through them… for the most part. Still, it provides a straightforward foundation for the action, and so achieves its purpose.

Visually, Anomaly: Warzone Earth is unlikely to win any awards. It does look wonderful for a top-down strategy title, and the designers have put a lot of detail in to the vehicles, enemies, and the cityscape, but the grid based layout of the cities is sterile and dull for an HD title on a large screen TV. On my iPhone, I was blown away, but it’s less impressive a year on.

However, there is much enjoyment to be had here. As someone that does enjoy strategy titles–and in particular, tower defence titles–I really had a great time. I think part of the beauty of these kinds of titles lies in the simplicity of controls – as the Commander, there’s only so much that can be done. Then, just sit back and see if it worked. While players CAN add support and make changes on the fly, occasionally the action will move so fast that it won’t help, adding some extra stress to an already frantic title. Playing on Casual, players will only be challenged in the very last few levels. However, on Normal or Hard, things do get far more challenging, and it’s a satisfying game to play.

Still, the game does get repetitive, and perhaps the developers were aware of this; hence, the limited number of levels. Who knows? The truth is, it’s short in comparison to similar titles, and if you are keen to get as much as possible out of this game then you might be disappointed, but it was exactly what I was after. I played through the whole game and all of the additional unlocks, and this met all of my desires.

In summary, Anomaly: Warzone Earth comes highly recommended to fans of strategy, and will provide limited enjoyment for an equally limited price. It’s not complex, and it’s not mind-blowingly gorgeous, but it IS a great looking, action-oriented title that will keep you going until you’ve unlocked every achievement – and perhaps beyond. And isn’t that all most of us are looking for?


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About the author

Greg Newbegin

Proud father of two, and a lover of games. Retro collector, writer, and fan of all things Japanese. I love all gaming machines equally.