I first saw a Castle Defense game a few years ago when my kids were playing one on the computer. It caught my eye because I loved the idea of just picking up enemies and flinging them into the air. There’s something very cool about that. Then we picked up “Defend Your Castle” on the Wii and soon the whole family was laughing as we flung the little stick figures around.
Such a simple concept for a game —- and very original. Since then I’ve picked up a few of the CD games that have come to the App Store and have had some fun with them. Being able to toss bad guys around with a flick of your finger on the touch screen is a lot more satisfying than the mouse or the Wii remote. I thought I had found just what I wanted…- but that was until Chillingo released MoreGames excellent “Knights Onrush”.
Now I had what I was looking for!
One look at the screen shots will show you that this game is far beyond the stick figures of the other games. Sure, they were fun, and creative…- but having a game with such rich graphics and such a great look is…- well, there is just no real comparison. And it’s not just the cool look of things, even the ways that they all die look great. It’s just as much a treat to the eye as it is for the finger.
As I mentioned, the game play for this genre involves the flicking of enemies, but there are different ways you can get rid of the baddies. Besides just tossing them you can also throw them back to the ground (very satisfying). This is great when you have big things like catapults that you can use to crush more enemies. And when you see enemies with bombs you can beat them to the punch by tapping on them and blowing them up along with anything near them.
That’s just a few of the things you can do. You can use money to upgrade the ways you can defend yourself. Flame Throwers, Boulders, a Gateway to Hell…- sure their cool, but it’s hard to beat a sacrificial hook that you can use to hang up an offering for a hungry dragon. Yeah…- you read that right. You can feed them to a dragon!
You can also spend money on defensive things. I like being able to buy different doors for the castle. Makes things a little cooler than just “fixing” the old door, and it looks great as well.
Game modes include an Endless Siege (think survival mode) and Madness (think impossible to survive mode). But the best game is the campaign mode that runs you through 12 levels. Here you get to work with different castles and meet up with some near impossible enemies.
Often I’ve put down in the “bad” section that a game might be “too hard” and, yes, this game can get you there, but I’m not going to put it there this time. Just know that you will have a blast getting angry.
Even through there is a lot of weapons to use, I found that it’s best to just keep flinging at times. Most of the weapons involve aiming and then waiting for them to power up again. Though I would also recommend you sacrifice enemies when you can –- you’ll need them later.
The one thing I thought the game could have done a little better is with the “help” menu. The information is there, but it’s almost “too simple”. Some actual help might have saved me from making mistakes early on, but you’ll get it after a while.
If you have ever played a game like this you’ll already know if you like this type of thing or not. If you didn’t, you probably already stopped reading. If you did like it I’d suggest you grab this one now. I’ve already deleted the other games from my phone and will just stick with this one.
Knights Onrush is a true find. Every piece of the game is polished and professional. Graphics, Sound, Control…- it’s all there and more. And…- best of all it’s fun to play.
Now I just have to explain to people why I’m laughing out loud at all the different ways I’m killing the enemies.
The Good
Beautiful Graphics…- Even More Beautiful “Kills”
A Lot Of Enemies &- Ways To Get Rid Of Them
A Campaign Mode
The Dragon!The Bad
Not Much…- Though The “Help” Menu Could Use Some Help.
Well this was nice to read, perhaps I will come back later and read more of this stuff!
Congratulations to “ Big Albie ” You have been selected as the winner of the free application contest from appVersity.com
For those of you not familiar with the free Premium code give away contests we have here please visit this url and start winning free apps today! You would be crazy not to!
I get bored easily with stick wars now but this looks like it would keep my interest.
I’ve never really been interested in castle defense games before, but this one looks more intriguing than others just based on the graphics.
Love the graphics. They make a mediocre castle defense game something special…
Looks like a fun game. Great review.
I have never played a CD game but this is the one I would choose. The graphics are simply exquisite.
this does seem way better than stickwars and i have yet to play a chillingo or moregames entertainment game that i have been dissapointed by but $4.99 seems a bit much. Maybe 3 bucks but I cant help but feeling its not deep enough for the price. Art style is awesome though. Maybe if i tried it out i could be convinced.
Awww man this looks wayyyy better than stickwars or defend your castle.
I’m surprised at the review. No real cons to the game!? MoreGames must have done an incredible job on it!
I hope I get to try it out
I’ve played a few castle defense games, but this one definitely looks like it takes the cake.
Seems like a very fun castle defense game.
Looks very nice. Tbh I couldn’t play stickwars for more than a minute without getting bored.
It’s great to see developers working on premium-looking version of stickwars. Some games in the AppStore definitely need a simple make-over to make it more appealing and worth playing. This could be a good start for developers to start putting more effort into making their game, though hopefully next time they’ll put up a more affordable price tag.
I Never Really played This Genre Of Games, And At 4.99 I Dont See This Being A Good Place To Start
The price point is a little high especially when compared to other games in the genre.
Knights Onrush is easily the best looking castle defense game out there. The game could use some tweaks to the difficulty, but it’s solid for what it is.
Very good looking game, nice review and too see that here isnt really anything bad about the game! Thats pretty amazing
sounds and looks like the best castle defense game on the app store. The only issue i see is that it is $4.99 while stickwars is only $0.99. While it may be better, its way more expensive.
Looks very slick… and I can see why you might be laughing out loud!
Definitely a winner in the short distraction category, and the campaign mode gives it some depth.
Looks incredible.
Campaign theme makes this a very intriguing/attractive game.
For a castle defense style game, this is probably the nicest looking one I’ve ever seen….
I hear lots of good things about this one. I can’t wait to try it out!