I haven’t played a good tower defense game in a while. I know they still exist, but they seem to have eluded me until now. Assault On Metaltron, developed by indie studio Blue Sunset Games, got released on the Nintendo Switch (and will soon get a Steam release).
Golem, Orc, and humans
Metaltron is an energy-rich planet being invaded by an unlikely alliance of humans and orcs. You are a robot called Golem, who has to defend against the invading forces. If you wanted more backstory than this, you might want to check out a certain other book with the same characters because you won’t get more out of Assault On Metaltron. A simple and very short premise doesn’t mean the game is simple and short.
Building weapons of mass destruction
The game follows the classic tower defense principle. You build weapons in certain strategic places to stop the incoming enemies from reaching the energy cores each stage has. At each stage, you’ll start out with a small amount of funds to build weapons but luckily, you’ll earn currency with each enemy you destroy. Managing when and where to place new weapons (and upgrade them) is key to your success. The enemies come in waves and follow a predetermined path. For each enemy that gets past your line of defense, you’ll lose one of 20 energy cores. If all your cores are gone, you fail the stage.
In Assault On Metaltron, you can build three categories of weapons: base weapons, elemental weapons and special weapons. Some enemies are more resistant and/or vulnerable against a certain category. A good mix is key if you want to preserve all your 20 cores and score a perfect stage. As if that wasn’t enough, each weapon can be upgraded up to five times. Power, range and fire rate can all be upgraded separately by either buying the upgrade or by dancing in front of the weapon and waiting until a meter fills up.
Lengthy
The game controls as it should. The control scheme is simple enough so everyone from all ages can pick this one up. If you want to introduce a friend to this game, you can let them join you in coop mode. Getting through the solo campaign of 40 stages, takes you about 8-10 hours. For a game this cheap you can’t go wrong here. After completing 10 stages, a new part of the map opens up, offering you more challenging stages. If you can’t get enough, a skirmish mode was added to lengthen the game even further.
A bit bland looking and sounding
The only bad thing about the game is the very bland looking visuals and the repetitive soundtrack. The look of the game looks very outdated and the lack of change in scenery for 10 stages straight doesn’t help either. The soundtrack sounds cheerful but after hearing it over and over, I started muting the sound.
Conclusion
The core gameplay of Assault On Metaltron offers everything a strategy/tower defense fan wants. The many choices you can make offer enough variety to keep you going. The visuals and sound are forgettable but don’t get in the way.
