Review: Coast Defense - Plus Video
by Staff Writer
November 24, 2009
Update
The 1.1 Coast Defense update was released which adds features. Now there are online high scores, new weapons, enemies, and more levels. The features are nice, but the game plays exactly the same. The scores are basic, and the levels just provide more of the same which wasn't stand out in the first place.
It's still worth it just because there are better choices available. It's no doubt unique, but that only means so much. See our castle defense games appguide to find out the best.
Overview
Cost Defense is a World War II themed castle defense game. Instead of flicking enemies you fire upon them, and keep them from attacking your bunker. The enemies land on the beach and progress from left to right.
You have eight types of weapons at your disposal that you purchase using the gold you earn from how well you defend your bunker. Enemies include soldiers on foot, humvees, transports, tanks, and more.
Features
Coast Defense has one gameplay mode, and that’s survival. Just defend your bunker for as long as you can. As you progress through the days the number of enemies, and their strength increases so you will need to use your gold to buy some upgrades.
Eight weapons are included: M1 carbine (standard issue), M-16, M40A1 (Sniper), M-60 (machine Gun), Bazooka, Missile, plane bombing, and nuke.
The controls included take awhile to get used to, but they’re simple enough. You drag your finger to position your weapon, and tap the bottom right to fire. You tilt the device left and right to pan the camera across the distance between the beach, and your bunker.
The 1.1 update is coming soon which will include 30 new levels, new enemies and weapons, new gameplay modes, and online high scores.
The Good
Coast defense has a great WWII theme. It’s so refreshing to switch up castle defense completely, and provide a brand new theme with a brand new interaction method. We’ve tossed enemies every which way, but now you use classic firing mechanism. The WWII theme is intertwined into everything from the game screen to the menus.
The game is extremely well polished, and is really well done visually. The intricate design of the battle field is unmatched on the iPhone, and the soldiers, tanks, etc. are top notch. Another great sight is the shells from your gun flying off. The backgrounds vary slightly between days, and the explosions are absolutely massive.
The game is designed so everything is on a small scale. The small scale provides much more play area, and much more room to defend your bunker. The perspective puts you in the cat bird seat firing down upon the enemies from quite a distance. The background music is very nice like a heroic theme that first nicely.
The soldiers are tiny, requiring pinpoint accuracy. The play area is so big that you need to tilt the device to view the entire distance the enemies need to cover. Once the action amps up in double digit levels you will love having a more expansive area to defend. The weapon assortment is good, and each requires a different technique, and appropriate management.
The gameplay is solid, but nothing ground breaking. This is a perfect example of a game that is really nicely designed, but lacking in the fun department. You can play through it, but it’s not that enjoyable of an experience.
The Bad
Coast Defense just lacks the hectic constant action nature of castle defense. It’s just slow moving, that doesn’t provide much challenge outside of resource management.
Only survival mode is included which is a definite problem when comparing to the leader in castle defense games, Knights Onrush. You just progress through the days on increasing difficulty that we’ve seen before. The game takes a while to get into, and the action doesn’t pick up until you get into double digit days.
No online high scores are included or achievements or really any features. The sounds are annoying at best from the sounds of the gun firing to the repetitive dying sound of the soldiers. The game for the most part is designed well, but does stutter on explosions.
Resource management is extremely difficult for this game as ammo runs out quickly. If you don’t have enough gold then you won’ be able to buy the weapons that are powerful enough to defeat the ever stronger enemies. Also you have to manage you bunker well, but gold depletes quickly, and the costs are high.
Another thing that is missing, that is in other castle defense games is upgrades. You can’t upgrade any of your weapons, and that always adds reason to keep going through the survival mode. As it stands there is no reason to continue through the survival mode.
The Verdict
Coast defense is a well built game that looks great, but is sadly lacking in gameplay. There’s not much fun to be had, and lacks the fast paced action and fun of Castle Defense. The WWII theme is a great idea, and implemented nicely.
The game is only $0.99, and is a nice change of pace to castle defense. The fun factor is low, but the gameplay is still solid, and definitely picks up once you reach double digit days. Having only a survival mode, and lacking online high scores though lowers it to only worth it with no higher recommendation.