Crashing the Party
The PSN tower defense club has a new member, and Comet Crash is bringing something new to the shindig: offense.
Published: April 6, 2009
And that's actually the other area where Comet Crash differs from the other PSN tower defense games. Most maps have a fairly large-ish open area where you're not only allowed but straight-up encouraged to build complex routes for the enemy units to snake through -- routes literally formed from your defensive turrets. If the idea of creating as windy and damaging a path as possible for encroaching enemy baddies doesn't sound at least a little exciting, then you've probably stayed away from most tower defense games.
That the game's AI adapts on the fly to try to either squeeze through or, if the path is completely blocked, re-route itself on the way to your base (you can't completely cut off all routes, which keeps the game competitive, especially in multiplayer), means adaptability is just as important for human players as it is the AI.
These are all lessons doled out piecemeal, but by the time you've wrapped your head around the different rules that Comet Crash presents, the game takes on a curious sort of hybrid nature; build up your own armies while making sure the resources earned from blowing up the asteroids floating around the level are sufficient to drop and upgrade your own defensive towers. To help ease the strain of scooting your little ship (which also serves as the sole means of interacting with your bases, as well as being the means by which you drop in new towers), little blue power-ups will extend the pull of your built-in tractor beam, allowing you to scoop up new cash from blown-up asteroids from as far as halfway across the map once you've gotten fully powered up.
And so the game is a dance of offense vs. defense. Early on, it's simply a matter of cranking out enough units to attack the enemy, but toward the end of the game, you'll have to be fair more devious. Do you spend the cash to upgrade that row of laser turrets in case the next wave is dozens of flying attackers, or do you drop it on building yet another factory capable of cranking out more tanks -- or save up for the more expensive Thief unit that can actually turn invading units into your own attackers? Choosing wisely is often the difference between watching the spectacular chain reaction that results from your units destroying the enemy base and all the units on the map along with it vs. watching the same thing happen to your own base.
Whatever the outcome, the game does so with minimal flair. I don't mean to insult the folks at Pelfast, but even the cartoony, clearly simple feel of PixelJunk Monsters bests what Comet Crash attempts in the art department. The angular, simplistic units are obviously designed with sheer numbers in mind (and I actually liked that their shapes meant that when unleashing a massive wave, all the units would stack together almost like a big snake), but the game isn't going to blow anyone away visually. At least not in terms of detail; when witnessing a full four player match, massive serpentine forces wiggling around the map, lasers flying like crazy and turrets constantly pthutting away at incoming attackers, it's truly a sight to behold -- especially because it's not always clear who is going to be the victor in the midst of all that chaos.
Similarly, the audio is rather simple. The effects are usually little more than some laser or electricity fire, with the whooping klaxon of new towers warping in, but the musical backdrop, a kind of driving, dramatic loop akin to something out of a big sci-fi invasion scene, does a great job of holding it all together.
Comet Crash is, simply put, a great little tower defense game. It's different, which is arguably the best thing about it, and while it didn't quite grab me with the kind of longevity that something like PixelJunk Monsters did (yes, I know, I keep referencing it, but it's still the gold standard on the PSN right now), what was here was more than enough to keep me entranced to justify the $10 purchase price. Online multiplayer would have been great, but with a few local friends or even just against the surprisingly competent yet fair AI, the game offers tons of replay value. If you haven't soured on tower defense games, Comet Crash should be an instant purchase. Even if you have, the idea of being able to take the fight back to the enemy may well be intriguing enough to pull you back in -- at least for a few more hours.
