Tower Defense games seem to be all the rage on the Digital Download market at the moment and the beauty of all these games coming into existence is that they are all trying to be innovative, coming up with new ideas to not only improve the genre but to help make their game feel different from all the others.

Colony Defense, the latest game from Indie developers Mana Bomb Game Studios is no exception to the above rule. Colony Defense takes place on a 3D planet (think Super Stardust HD) with users being tasked with defending their base against the invading alien enemies, who following a predefined path are coming to destroy you. To stop these enemies you have an arsenal of hardware such as Standard, Laser and Flame Thrower Turrets all of which can be upgraded to become more powerful and help you cut through the enemy even faster.

The beauty of Colony Defense is that is quite unpredictable, each planet has roads which branch in all different directions and this makes it quite difficult to tell which route the enemy are going to take. Another challenge with there being so many different roads is that you need to make sure you place your turrets strategically otherwise you will find yourself being hammered as the enemy assaults your base.

Placing your turrets is a simple task, as you navigate around the planet you will be presented with red and green areas, the latter marks where you can place each item, allowing for you to be strategic with the placement of your defenses. To select an item you choose from the panel on the left hand side of the screen which increases in size the more you play. You can also upgrade and sell turrets from this panel.

Other interesting points of the game include the main campaign which is pretty expansive for an Xbox LIVE Indie game, with over 30 levels of increasing difficulty. As you progress through the levels you will be given new weapons such as the Orbital Canon and you will also face more and tougher enemies. It is very hard to get through all of the levels due to gradually increasing challenge, however all things considered the campaign does feels very balanced and is very well thought out.

The main problem Colony Defense has is the thing that makes it unique. Because the game takes place on a 3D planet you will constantly find yourself scrolling around trying to find each base before the enemy get to them, however it can get a bit disorientating at times, meaning that you will find yourself going round in circles without actually getting anywhere.

Graphically the game is pretty impressive for an Indie title, it feels very polished although the planets do feel a little empty in places. The sound is fairly basic however it does its job well enough, meaning that overall this game just about passes in the presentation stakes.

Pros

• Tries to be different
• Loads of levels to play through
• Good value for money

Cons

• An average Tower Defense game
• Doesn’t really offer anything new

Overall Colony Defense is really just an average Tower Defense game, there are certainly better titles out there, however you won’t find one as cheap as this. In the end it all comes down to preference, if you have a few spare points then this may be for you, but if you are a big fan of the genre then you may want to save you points up for a better quality title.

Score: 6/10