Anomaly Defenders Review

Switching back to Tower Defense is a wise move for the last title in the Anomaly series. Anomaly Defenders might not be especially revolutionary for the genre, but it’s a solid example of what works well and is easily enjoyed.

This time around, you’re protecting an alien world from invading humans. It’s a fairly traditional fixed-path Tower Defense game with different lanes to keep an eye on, offering extra challenge. This is also where much of the strategy of Anomaly Defenders comes into play, with it possible to place harvesting buildings in a way that encourages the hordes to follow a particular lane.

Things start a bit sluggish for Anomaly Defenders with only one tower type to choose from for the first few levels, but it’s worth sticking it out. While Easy is far too easy a mode to choose, Normal and Hard soon ramp things up. There’s a technology tree to assign points to, which adds some further variety to your upgrading potential while not overcomplicating matters. The amount of points you have at your disposal change, depending on the difficulty level you undertake, so it’s wise to push yourself as your upgrades really make a difference later on.

Soon enough, you’ll be appreciating the importance of placing towers behind structures and enjoying the benefits of a pause button that gives you time to evaluate your next move. It might start slowly, but once Anomaly Defenders gets going it’s pretty fast-paced stuff.

While Anomaly Defenders might not be a dramatic change for the genre, it knows what to do and how to do it well. It’s also quite visually impressive, demonstrating how far we’ve come on iOS devices. It’s a fine conclusion to a highly enjoyable series.