Posted on: May 3, 2012

hansschmucker
Verified ownerGames: 836 Reviews: 3
This isn't a tower defense game
Rarely have I encountered such misleading reviews as I have with Anomaly. Practically every review contains the phrase "Tower defense" somewhere, when in reality it has about as much to do with the genre as Diablo with a strategy game. True, they're are a lot of elements which are, when inspected individually, quite similar (use mouse to direct unit to point X so that it can carry out task Y). But if you take a look at the game as whole, you'll see that it forms quite a different picture. If anything, Anomaly plays like an action-RPG with a pause button. You have one squad that you direct through a field of enemies (with really varied abilities; some can only attack you when you approach them at a certain angle, others will block your weapons or use the powerups that you deploy against you) to accomplish your mission. You can't your units up, so it really feels like you're directing a single character through the maze. While you can only change the path of your convoy where streets intersect, there are so many of those points that you can almost move freely on many maps. For every enemy you take down you get powerups that you can deploy against the next one, and money to upgrade your troops. The gameplay (eventhough the game is paused while you're shopping or planning your route) is quite hectic: Buying the correct upgrades and planning the best route so that you get the most money will only get you so far. To deploy the game-deciding powerups, you'll have to use your commander, a little guy that you control directly with your mouse. Every few missions a new gameplay element (like a special enemy, new unit or mission type) shakes things up a bit. While this may all seem a tad complex, it all blends together so effortlessly and is paced so well, that you can't help being impressed. Just turn your mousewheel and you'll switch (with a beautiful, but short, animation) to the tactical view. Turn it again and the action resumes. Press the middle mouse button to buy units, the right button to pause the action and deploy powerups and the left one to walk. That's it. No complex keyboard shortcuts or irritating mouse gestures. Then there's the atmosphere. Anomaly's graphics are impressive and not just by "indie"-standards. It's definitely not realistic, but every little effect, no matter if it's in the menues or in-game, just fits. The overall style is modelled roughly after RedAlert 3, with bright effects, menues, enemies and units on a relatively dull, half-realistically modelled map. When it comes to sound, the voices with their cute, again obviously RA3 inspired accent are outstanding and fit in well with the comically overdrawn "this is SOOOoooo serious" theme that can be found throughout the game (for example the likewise overly dramatic music). Long story short I love this game. Also keep an eye out for the iOS/Android versions which, really play quite a bit different than the PC version.
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