Ahh, tower defence. The genre that lets us know just how much we enjoy being on the winning side of a massacre. Build defences, then watch the most inept and inhumane generals since World War One send waves of troops to their deaths for no gain. And inept they are, as they will send their troops down the exact same path(s) over and over again, at least in fixed-path tower defence games like this one, never thinking to deviate or, well, attack the actual defences.

Of course, the pleasure we feel comes from configuring an efficient machine to stop these invaders – in the best tower defence games, the sense that you’ve come up with a perfect, elegant solution to a problem is a deeply satisfying one. So, when I read that this was meant to be a particularly challenging game in the genre my hopes were raised: could this leave me with the same sort of satisfaction as the immensely challenging geoDefense?

One thing was immediately clear, and it was that this game was not going to massage my eyes in quite the same way as the abstract beauty of geoDefense – this is an unusual tower defence game in that it’s given a real-world gloss: the maps you fight on look like, well, the maps you’d see in a wargame, and the enemies you fight and turrets you use all look similar to 20th century weaponry. This is an interesting decision, and adds a certain seriousness to the proceedings that’s unusual for the genre – it’s also fairly well done, with some lovely high-resolution backdrops, and nice little effects throughout. Unfortunately, it also highlights some of the unreality of tower defence games: it’s easier to accept an enemy that repeatedly dashes itself against your defences when it’s completely abstracted, or some sort of alien or cartoon intelligence. When it looks like a real army, the fact that they never deviate, instead wilfully throwing their troops at you, one at a time, without noticing the ever-growing pile of bodies, stands out a little.

Still, that barely detracts from the experience, and there are some nice touches in the game: the fact that every shot from your turrets leaves a crater or scorch mark, meaning that you can recognise your deadliest kill zones at a glance, really helps you feel as though your defences are doing their dogged best. The fact that the enemy troops will also learn where your turrets are and shy away from them as much as possible is a nice touch too: while they can’t leave the path, they can move to the furthest edge of it, which can put them out of range of a turret that’s just a little too far from the path.

There’s also a nice mix of enemies and defences to consider: you have anti-infantry defences, which as a rule can target ground vehicles as well, but do very little damage. You have anti-vehicle defences, some of which only do mild damage to infantry, others which can’t target infantry at all. And you have anti-air defences, which, er, can only attack aerial units. Obviously. Oh, and there’s the RPG trooper, who can target vehicles and aerial units, but not infantry. Conceptually, this means that you need a wide mix of turrets to cope with all the enemies; in practice, you’ll only ever need one or two anti-infantry turrets, with everything else focussed on vehicles, plus a few anti-air defences. Odder still is the fact that aircraft follow the same path as their ground-based compatriots: clearly you’re being attacked by a nation obsessed with roads.

Still, even when not catering for different enemy types there’s a nice range of defences – from short-range, direct fire turrets; to long-range area of effect howitzers; along with structures which can augment nearby turrets’ ranges and damage. And you’ll need most of them, as well: the levels are large, and often have multiple entrances and/or exits for the enemy to follow, so you have to work out the best way to cover all the routes effectively by using a good mix of defences.

Your defences are pleasingly dynamic, too – aside from being upgradable, they also gain veterancy as they destroy enemies, increasing their accuracy (they can, and will, miss – some types of defence more than others). On top of this, you can choose each defence’s priority: for faster, stronger, weaker or closer units – which becomes extremely useful in the later levels. This is a really nice touch, and one I welcome wholeheartedly.

And finally, the game has a well thought out award system – while not a Live enabled game, and so not having achievements, as you hit certain goals you receive awards, which in turn give you points to spend on perks – such as upgrading the amount of damage all of your turrets deal, or adding extra money to your starting balance of each level.

But, well, there are a few flaws. Some are (highly irritating) niggles: the fact that the defences are placed directly under your finger, rather than slightly above it, makes placing them more fiddly than it should be. On top of this, it’s far too easy to accidentally place the wrong defence (as you can’t see what you’re placing at a glance until it’s down), which means a massive loss of money, as selling the turret will get you half the money you paid for it in the first place. This can cost you a game – and when the levels go on for 100 waves, shooting yourself in the foot in the latter half because of this can be incredibly irritating. And then there’s the fact that the blurb describing what a turret does or specialises in only appears after you’ve placed it in the field – particularly annoying when placing the more esoteric defences down for the first time.

But annoying as these are, they’re still just niggles. The real flaw comes from the difficulty: or rather, the nature of it. The thing is, this isn’t actually that hard of a game. No single wave of enemies is particularly unfair to play against, as long as you don’t over-commit yourself early in the game to a certain type of defence. The problem comes from the length of the matches, and the inability to checkpoint: once you’re at 100 wave levels, the point at which you accidentally put the wrong turret down, potentially ruining your plans, is not something you can undo, which means that losses can feel unfair and overly punishing. This isn’t helped by the game not giving any hint of what’s coming next: an abstraction of the next wave would be useful, so that you don’t find yourself placing a cluster of anti-vehicle defences only for a vanguard of aircraft to come rushing out. It just feels that in lieu of coming up with interesting and different challenges (like, again, geoDefense), the developers have opted to stretch out the five levels they were willing to design, which can make the game less of a fun challenge, and more of a dull slog.

Still, when you do beat one of the later levels it can be quite satisfying, and were the game a little cheaper I’d happily recommend it: while it has its flaws, it’s a satisfying enough tower defence game that will keep you happily occupied for a few hours. Just don’t expect it to hold your interest for all that long before the tedium begins to set in.

Lushington Springs Gameplay Video

Lushington Springs Screenshots

Background : here

Version Under Review : 1.9

Website : lintfords.net, Twitter : @lintfordpickle

There is a trial version available and the full version is available for $1.99, The trial contains the first level in full (without time limitation).

Our Rating for Lushington Springs

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