iPhone / iPad Game Review: Tesla Wars HD

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Tower defense games come in a wide variety of sizes, styles and approaches, but in general they all involve keeping enemies at one end from getting to your base at the other end. Games like Fieldrunners and Plants vs. Zombies and Defense Grid: The Awakening are great games that exemplify the breadth of the genre – and the various apps stores, casual game sites and digital download houses are filled with generic clones of those games. Now we have a game that takes a different approach – and works surprisingly well! Let’s take a look.

The Hype:
Tesla Wars is an awesome action and tactic game. Your goal is to defend the last Tesla Tower as long as possible against myriads of enemies. They use chainsaws, tanks, missiles and other weapons and attack from land, air and even underground.

You can use powerful Specials, as well as mines, toxic bombs, freeze, electromagnetic storms and even earthquakes. You are rewarded for every killed enemy with points and game money which can be spent on improving Specials, recovering energy, repairing of the perimeter, etc.

You can also organize a Tesla Wars mini competition with the family or friends using in-game user profiles. This helps quickly find vulnerabilities of each kind of enemy and develop the most effective tactics for Tesla Tower defense.

Integration with OpenFeint, Game Center, Facebook and Twitter allows you to share achievements in Tesla Wars with millions of people around the world.

Try different strategies of combat and organize a competition with family or friends using up to 10 independent User Profiles! Game Center, Facebook and Twitter integration allows you to prove everyone in the world how cool you are!

The Reality:
When I read ‘The Hype’ and see a game that calls itself ‘awesome’ and promotes social integration to show everyone ‘how cool you are’ … I cringe a bit and my expectations plummet. Fortunately I read that AFTER I had played the game for a while and knew it was solid fun.

I am strange in that even in ‘no plot’ games like rogue-likes and tower defense I assign some arbitrary plot or scenario as a backdrop to my gameplay. Yeah, weird … I know. Anyway, my setting for Tesla Wars is that you are the lone commander of a remote outpost that stands between two warring factions. Your nation has sought to keep the peace between these factions by erecting walls, and eventually adding towers with massive Tesla coils to enforce the security of the walls. Both sides know that to come into range of the tower means almost certain death.

Unfortunately for you, both sides have decided to press their war against each other – and to do so right through the pass you are guarding! As a result, from the very beginning you are under constant attack.

Fortunately for you, as you have success you gain currency to help upgrade your tower with improved offense and defensive capabilities as well as occasional external support. All of this stuff is very expensive as your empire is busy keeping peace on many fronts.

All of that stuff is more or less true in the game – both sides are attacking you, and will keep on pressing until either they are dead or they take down your walls and tower. With each wave you get more resources to spend on upgrades, and you can unleash those special attacks only occasionally.

The challenge ramps very rapidly, and after the first dozen or so levels you can expect to quickly go from getting ‘immaculate victory’ to ‘defeat’, which will force you to change up your tactics. Then you will pass the level … and need to change tactics again – and again. For a game that starts very easy, it gets challenging very quickly and never lets up!

The game is integrated with Game Center and Open Feint, and you can report progress on social networks if you want – or not, as adults seldom appreciate getting tweet-blasted the way some games do, or having their Facebook wall plastered with miniscule details from a single game.

For an inexpensive tower defense game Tesla Wars offers loads of challenge and hours of gameplay – and with the recent update to version 2.5 the game is FREE for a limited time, making it impossible to pass up. Either way it is worth checking out if you are a fan of tower defense games!

Review: Tesla Wars HD

Where to Buy: iTunes App Store for iPhone version and iPad Version

Price: Free (for a limited time)

What I Like: Fast paced and challenging gameplay; plenty of upgrade paths available; fun ‘one more wave’ gameplay; did I mention it was challenging?

What Needs Improvement: Some levels can get very challenging; now they need a ‘Stand O’Food Empire’ playground mode!

Source: Publisher provided review code

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!