Defending Camelot

Review

“Ready my knights for battle. They shall ride with their King once more”.

Defending Camelot is a tower defence game in the style of Plants v Zombies; it’s played out on a field of five sections wide by nine sections in length. The object of the game is to defeat the oncoming army sent by Morgana, who wants Camelot and all it’s riches. Arthur, though, has no plans to give up his beloved castle just yet, so he calls upon his friends and allies to help defeat Morgana and the Ogre Lord once and for all, no matter what beasts and evil creatures she may send.

At the start of each level you’ll have a certain amount of coin to spend on any warriors (units) you may have, but this isn’t going to get you very far; you need to get coins in, so you can add more units to the field and protect Camelot. To do this you must first unlock the “Old Farmer”, placing these onto the field will then generate money so you’re able to build a strong troop. It’s a good idea to have plenty of farmers so you bring that coin in. Farmers on their own though isn’t going to stop the onslaught from Morgana and her minions; having a balance between coins coming in and warriors to defend is a must - it’s a fine line between victory and defeat.

As you progress from one level to another you’ll unlock more and more units all with their own abilities - some having long-range attacks, others much shorter - so placement of each unit is vital. No good having the farmers raking in the coins on the frontline, much better to have them further back in the field protected behind those you’ll be doing the fighting. You can also buy some more warriors in the merchant shop with gems you’ve collected. There’s a total of nine different warriors to choose from, ranging in price from 8,500 to 150,000 gems. You can also buy a cavalry flag, summoner card (adds another slot to summon troop) and replenish a special skill power-up.

In total once you’ve unlocked or brought all the units, there’s forty-four available to you, the enemy has a total of thirty-three units. One of the most important units to buy early on from the store is the “Young Farmer”- they cost 8,500 gems to buy and they use slightly more coins to place on the field (75 coins as to 50 with the old farmers) but they’ll generate more much-needed money.

There’s a Barrack for your units, where you can train any of the units you currently own simply by selecting one of the three types of training, which are indicated by a rake, sword and bow & arrow. If you click the rake you’ll see the farmers there, click on them and then confirm and your units will start training; you’ll see them in the field. The barracks doesn’t really train them to be any better, but what it does do is bring in extra gems for you to spend in the merchant shop. Do this with every unit you own, and the gems will start flooding in; make regular trips to the barracks to collect them. You can also get some extra gems from unlocking achievements; once one has been unlocked, head to the achievements page and claim your reward.

Once you have more than six units, it’s time to make a decision on which ones to use for a certain level; you’re able to only pick six at a time, unless you’ve brought the summoner card from the merchant shop which will give you an extra unit to take in to battle with you. To help you decide, it does show the types of creatures you’ll be facing in the coming level.

There are three types of modes you’ll face in campaign: Defend Mode, Attack Mode and Free Troop Mode. Defend mode is the typical game where you defend against the onslaught of monsters, although on some levels the monsters will already be on the field at the start of the round.  You’ll have no farmers to bring in any coins and you’ll have to destroy them before they reach your base using only the coins and units you start with; it may look difficult at first but there’s always a way if you use your noggin.

Attack mode is where you can attack their base and the winner is the one left standing at the end. Instead of placing a unit in a certain slot and it remain static, in attack mode you choose the lane to put them in and then they’ll walk out from the castle heading towards the enemies.  If any creature is in the way, then they’ll battle it out with the winner continuing to move forward until they either die or destroy the enemy castle.

Free troop mode is where you don’t choose any units at all; they are randomly chosen for you from the units you currently have. Trying to place them to stop the onslaught while not knowing what’s coming next can be a bit tricky, especially if a lane is full of creatures already banging on your front door.

There is also Survival Endless mode (needs unlocking before being able to play) for you to enjoy away from the campaign.  How far will you take Arthur, will you become a legend in your own right as you destroy wave after wave of Morgana’s monsters?

Upon completing a level you’ll be rewarded with gems, and depending on how well you did, the chance of collecting three stars.  You may also unlock new units. It will show you the total number of gems you have so far, with the options of replaying the level, going to the main menu screen or to move on to the next level.

In the options there’s Screen Resolution, Full Screen or Windowed, Graphics Details (Low to Fantastic), Music, SFX and Speed Mouse and Credits.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!