Sonic BOOM Games and developer Bight Games have recently released their tower defense thriller Kill All Bugs! into the App Store. While its arguable that the App Store needs more TD games, Kill All Bugs! sports some unique features that the AppSmile team is loving.
As with any game fitted into the tower defense genre, the goal is to stop waves of attacking enemies by setting up defenses. If the enemies are allowed to reach your encampments, they begin to attack and can bring you down quickly. In the case of Kill All Bugs!, the attacking forces are insects in various shapes, sizes, and abilities. More bugs are involved as the game progresses but Ants, Ladybugs, and Ugly Bugs are available right from the get-go. Movement is repetitive but entertaining and each critter looks distinct. We like the cartoony graphics ala the Gameboy era.
The 21 included levels feature one or more cities needing protection. If invading foes reach your cities the population will drop at a rate corresponding to the length of attack. Don’t hesitate too long to set up defenses on the outskirts of the cities or it will be lost and the game will end. Thankfully, Bight has made it possible to restart at the last level. Levels are well arranged for challenging gameplay. You won’t easily find suitable areas to place defenses. To the best of your ability, use your towers route insects around the map and away from cities. But, don’t block all access to a city or this little guys will rampage and destroy your towers. Unfortunately, there aren’t drastic visual distinctions between levels. Hopefully, this will be enhanced in the future.
Weapons are varied and require funding to purchase. Funds are accumulated upon individual bug destruction. If you’re familiar with TD games, all the expected artillery are present. The exceptions are the laser fences that can be placed to drain enemy power when bugs pass between them. We love this feature. We would have liked to see weapon upgrade options. Currently you can only buy and sell. Generators do enhance nearby towers, but we prefer the pick and choose upgrades available in other TD games.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Kill All Bugs! is the visual and audible packaging. Enveloped in a 1950’s Sci-fi/Horror theme, Kill All Bugs! delivers an exciting graphic experience in addition to engaging gameplay. Menus are well arranged and font “screams!” retro. Replayability is high as we found this to be one tough cookie to crumble.
If you’re into TD games and have a craving for more on the iPhone, give Kill All Bugs! a try today -- currently on sale for $1.99
Kill All Bugs! gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating:
