One Man Army
Score: 70% ESRB: 9+ Publisher: Chillingo Developer: Tickled Pink Games Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Shooter
Graphics & Sound: One Man Army is a pretty basic tower defense game and while that might not sound too exciting given the plethora of such games on iOS devices, it's gimmick is just different enough to stand out from the crowd. But first, the game's presentation. Visually, One Man Army gets the job done, but won't win any awards. The game's different locations look okay, but after the many times you will return to the same clearing in the woods, war-torn street or desert landscape, you beg for some variety. The mutant waves that march their way down the predefined paths have enough variety to easily recognize the different classes, but in general, they are pretty generic looking creatures. Sound is at about the same level as the graphics. The game's background music seems to go well with the marching hordes, but it never really got my blood pumping and pulled me into the game. Likewise, the sound effects seem to be there merely to fill in a required piece to any game. In the end, this is a game that should probably be played with the sound off. It won't hurt the experience, that's for sure.
Gameplay: So what is One Man Army's gimmick> Well, you are in the fight. While games like Army of Darkness Defense put you in control of a character as well, it's a side scroller, and you still don't really have control over the actual attacking. There, you have to find the sweet spot between Ash's boomstick and chainsaw. In One Man Army, your character is essentially a tower (he cannot walk around), and you direct his weapons at the enemy mutant hordes. Your character is the last man alive, or at least that's what it seems like, and you learn of a dastardly plot by the evil mutant army that has appeared on Earth. Your goal is to stop the innumerable waves of creatures before they get to their goal. All you have at your disposal is your small bunker, the weapons you gain along the way, and the various turrets you can place at specific points on each of the game's maps. As you would expect from pretty much any tower defense title, as the game progresses, you can purchase more powerful turrets, upgrade the turrets you have on the field, and even buy more powerful weapons for your character to use. Your character as a turret with a health bar is really the only aspect of this game that really stands out. That's not to say it's bad by any means. I found it to be fun to play, generally, it just feels fairly mediocre and average all around.
Difficulty: Okay, not everything about One Man Army feels mediocre and average. One Man Army is hard. I've played a good number of tower defense games in my day, and I've got a fairly good feel for how to balance my resources with my towers. Even with that experience though, I found One Man Army to be a tough game. I haven't beaten it yet. I've played through a good portion of the game and I am in the last world, but it has taken a lot of time on my iPhone to get there, not to mention the many replays of pretty much every level and wave. Don't expect to walk into One Man Army feeling like you can just own this game without any problems. Since your character is vulnerable and him dying ends the game just as easily as letting too many mutants through your holding point, you have two ways to be defeated in every level.
Game Mechanics: One Man Army uses an easy to pick up point and shoot interface. Where you put your finger down, your character shoots. The only exceptions are the buttons that line the outer edge of the screen. These are used to purchase turrets and health, or change weapons. Unfortunately, I found that I also had the occasional problem with this style of control. While there wasn't anything technically wrong with it, I did find plenty of occasions where my hand would block a good portion of the screen simply because I was trying to shoot in a certain direction. This was especially bad when it caused me to not realize that my gun was overheating. This is depicted by a meter on one side of the screen, and left me having to wait just a few precious seconds for it to cool down. Like I said above, there isn't anything wrong or bad about One Man Army. It's a good tower defense game that is hard as hell. If you are looking for a good challenge, then this is something to look forward to. Maybe there will be a version for the iPad at some point with better graphics and maybe a different way to control your character's shooting. If so, that would make One Man Army a much better experience.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
Related Links: One Man Army | iTunes Page Game Vortex’s Review of Army of Darkness Defense for the iPad
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