策马守天关

策马守天关 is a really interesting take on the tower defense genre because it does not just leave me sitting behind a wall of towers waiting for enemies to arrive. I have to control heroes directly, build defenses, deal with huge waves of enemies and make decisions while everything is happening at once. I liked that combination because it gives the game much more of an action RPG feeling than I normally expect from a tower defense game. The tower defense itself has plenty going on. I have to think about where I place my defenses, what kind of enemies are coming and when to spend my resources. Different towers and units are useful in different situations, so simply filling the map with whatever I have available is not always enough. I enjoyed finding better positions and changing my approach when a particular strategy stopped working. The hero control is what makes the game stand out the most for me. Instead of only giving orders from above, I can directly move my Three Kingdoms heroes around the battlefield and use their abilities myself. This gives me something important to do during a wave rather than just watching the defenses work. I especially liked being able to combine hero abilities with my defensive setup, since good timing can make a difficult situation much easier. There is also a surprising amount of variety outside the main campaign. The game includes different maps and modes, including single player challenges and cooperative content. The newer modes add free building and roguelike style random tactical skill choices during a match, which makes each run feel less predictable. I also like the idea of the two player modes because defending a battlefield together gives the tower defense mechanics a completely different feeling. The competitive side is another interesting addition. The one on one mode has both players defending their own base while sending units toward the opponent, so there is more to think about than simply building the strongest defense. Choosing towers, deciding when to send troops and controlling the hero all matter. I found this much more interesting than I expected because it makes the game feel like a lighter version of a MOBA mixed with tower defense. The biggest weakness for me is that there is a lot to learn. There are heroes, towers, equipment, upgrades, different modes and plenty of systems that are not immediately obvious. I sometimes felt like the game was hiding useful information instead of explaining everything clearly. The free to play structure also includes in game purchases, so progression can feel more complicated than it needs to be. Still, once I started understanding the different systems, I found the amount of variety quite appealing. Overall, I think 策马守天关 is a very solid tower defense game that manages to feel different from the usual formula. The combination of tower placement, direct hero control, equipment, large enemy waves, cooperative maps and one on one battles gives me plenty of things to experiment with. It can be a little overwhelming at first and I think some systems could be explained better, but the actual gameplay is enjoyable and surprisingly deep. If I like Three Kingdoms games or tower defense with more direct action, I think this is well worth trying. Rating: 7.2/10