Tower defense games have always been abundant in the iTunes App Store. A few notable titles exist, but there hasn’t been one that is as unique as it is evolutionary as Origin8′s Sentinel.
Set in the near future of 2029, mankind has taken it’s first steps in inhabiting nearby systems and creating a mining colony on Mars. Two years later, a scrambled distress signal was a received. All further contact with the colony ceased immediately after that. Earth signaled for an emergency and suspected invasion. As the commander of the dropship Sentinel, you arrive on the planet Mars, to witness its struggle against hordes of alien attackers. You are now tasked to unleash the ships weaponry to save the colony and ultimately, mankind.
Featuring three key maps, players are required to protect key structures which is the barriers in order to block the enemies from smashing their way into the colony’s stronghold. One of the key features of Sentinel is the ability to zoom into the map. This is achieved using the same pinching methods iPhone users are accustomed to.
An array of technologically advanced weaponry is at your disposal, including lasers, bombs, slow effect guns, high damage beams and snipers – all upgradeable to create more damage to the enemy’s non-stop hordes of attackers. Placing them onto the map is as simple as a drag and drop operation. Take note that some of the enemy units are immune to certain weapons, for example the slow effects gun does no damage to the winged parasite. Your best bet is to place these weapons strategically. Upgrading the towers is as simple, just tap on the tower and select the upgrade button. A progress bar lets you know the current strength before and after the upgrade. If you decide that you do not need the said tower anymore, just sell it off by using the same method. Strategically, I tend to remove some laser towers and replace them with bombs when I could afford them. Unlike other tower defense games, Sentinel also features drones that assist in harvesting resources and repairing the barriers. The drones will quickly move towards the barriers when attacked by the enemy. At other times, they will be busy harvesting the green glowing crystals that are featured in each map.
Although the game comes with only three maps, there’s no lack of replayability – Sentinel features two battle modes, assault and endurance. Endurance mode is available once you beat the map’s assault mode and challenges your ability to survive as many waves as possible. If you like even more challenge, then try going for one of the four threat levels, from easy, medium, hard and all the way out to psycho level. Each map features a fixed path (some features two) for which the hordes of enemy attackers travel along. Along the map, there will be barriers that you need to protect – once any of the barriers are taken down, your drones would not be able to repair them, and if you do not place any defense past the said barriers, then it is practically game over when one of the enemy units reach your based.
Enemies attack your stronghold in waves, during which an enemy unit will travel through the attack path towards the barriers. Each kill earns you some money along with points. At the end of each attack wave, a little bit of interest is added on top of the amount of money you have. Although not much, this actually helps you plan your weapon upgrades. Additional bonuses are awarded if you managed to keep your barriers and base unharmed. Each barrier does have its own defense mechanism in the form of gatling guns, but they are not as powerful. Remember to buy a few drones (you can have a maximum of 3) to help in the repair work should any of the barriers get damaged.
Graphically, Sentinel looks awesome. The environment, towers and enemies are beautifully rendered with smooth frame rates and they continue to look good even when zoomed in. Each tower looks a little bit different when upgraded, but its not very noticable, especially in the heat of battle where you concentrate on the enemies more than your towers.
Sentinel features only one music track, which is audible early in the menus. It fits the game scenario pretty well, planting a suspense moment into the players mind right before they start a game.
An online high-score system keeps track of scores from players across both battle modes and threat level. Look for XCool and compare your score against mine. Okay, mine’s not a very high score anyways.
Overall, Sentinel’s approach to the tower defense genre sets a new benchmark for the rest to match. New gameplay features alone justifies adding this game to your collection. Origin8, as a developer is very affectionate to feedback. An update is in the pipeline (currently awaiting Apple’s approval) that will add a fast-forward feature to the gameplay, cutting down waiting in-between waves. More maps and enemies are also planned. Last but not least, there is also a lite version that lets you sample part of the game before putting the coins down for a purchase.
Check out Sentinel from the iTunes Store at only $4.99 a copy. I’ll leave the rest of this review space for some in-game screenshots and a gameplay video, courtesy of Origin8.
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Taps
App Data
App Name: Sentinel v1.1 | Publisher: Origin8 Technologies Ltd. | Purchase via: iTunes App Store @ $4.99 | Released: Feb 27, 2009 | Reviewed on: iPod touch v2.2.1
