Aspects TD (iOs) Review

Tower defense goes tribal.

Aspects TD from Sabaton Games is the latest in tower defense for iOs. With a tribal theme that has players ruling over the land as a demigod, players have ultimate control over both defense and offense. It’s an interesting set up – although you can gain up to sixteen different towers (called “totems” in the game) and twelve troops (known as “phantoms”), there isn’t the usual opportunities for upgrading, so it comes down to working out the right strategy to beat your opponents in a game that personifies challenging.

There isn’t a whole lot to the story line in Aspects TD. You are a powerful figure, bent on the task of protecting your lands from an invasion of dark forces. Though it starts out fairly strong in the story arena, it never really evolves much past that basic premise. Each level consists of a grid-like playing field, with the bottom screen representing your territory, and the upper screen that of your opponent, which will send out a pre-determined number of waves each level. Each field is marked with a set path that ground troops will follow to your base, and the areas around that path can be loaded up with a variety of totems that shoot at the path in pre-set patterns.

Those totems aren’t free, though, so you’ll have to walk a fine line between setting up an arsenal in the right places, and ending up broke right when a new type of opponent shows up. You begin each level with a set amount of mana – generally not a whole lot. You gain more mana each time an enemy troop is killed. This mana is used to purchase both totems and phantoms, and the more powerful they are, the more they cost. This opens you up for some serious strategy, as you work out whether it is best to save up for better equipment and risk enemy forces reaching your base, or spend it all and possibly end up in a tight spot.

For instance, fairly early in the game you will come across flying enemies that cannot be hit by standard totems (they don’t stick to the path either, and so have a quicker path to your base as well). This new totem pops up mid-level, so if you have used up all your mana on other totems, you’ll be stuck watching those forces fly right to your base as you desperately watch your mana slowly creep up. To make things worse, since those forces aren’t getting killed, you aren’t making mana from them either.

There is also faith, which is earned by sending out your own troops. Your troops work in much the same way as the totems, with a variety of troops of differing powers available as you work your way through the game. As expected, a more powerful troop will cost more, and that is mana that you won’t be able to use for totems. Do you load up your field with totems to defend, and neglect your offense? Do you send out an army of troops in the hopes of overpowering your enemy before they can defeat you? It’s a tough balance, and different for every level. This is really a difficult game, and you will find yourself repeating the levels fairly often. This does add length to a game that is rather short for the genre, but it can also be frustrating when it seems almost arbitrarily so.

Aspects TD is a challenging tower defense game that puts you on both the offense and the defense as you protect your lands from powerful dark forces. While it seems more difficult than necessary at times, and is a bit short, it is a diverting and entertaining game for fans of the genre.