DOFUS: Battles 2 HD Review

Almost a year ago, I reviewed a great game called DOFUS: Battles HD (DOFUS: Battles for iPhone is available as well). DOFUS: Battles HD was an interesting mix between a tower defense, real-time strategy, and an RPG based in the World of Twelve from popular MMORPG, DOFUS. Still today, DOFUS: Battles HD remains my favorite tower defense and one of my favorite games in general on iOS. DOFUS: Battles 2 HD (DOFUS: Battles 2 for iPhone) is the sequel to the hit game and the gameplay in this one has been completely flipped. This time the player is the enemy.

While I wouldn’t choose the sequel over the original in this case, DOFUS: Battles 2 HD provides the unique experience of being the attacker in a tower defense. Jeff Stobbs, the enemy in the previous game, is now the main character. He goes through various levels trying to reach the end of the level by sending minions to take out “towers” - the characters from the old game. Like the original, the minions can be given equipment to make them more powerful and, while those minions can’t level up like characters in the previous game, Jeff Stobbs can and does level up. Leveling Stobbs up increases the variety of summons he can perform, gives him new spells (like healing and shields), and increases the amount of summons he can have out at a time.

Gold is still what’s earned at the end of a level, but, unlike the previous game, the character doesn’t earn the ability to send more minions by destroying the tower characters. Instead, Stobbs has a set limit of how many minions can be out at a time and when they’re destroyed those resources are returned to him. So the strategy is picking how many which minions to attack and the timing of sending those minions out.

I wasn’t happy with the control schemes in DOFUS: Battles 2 HD. Players have to place directional arrows on the grid to make minions turn. This would be fine if the game was a turn-based strategy, but since it’s real-time minions often move too fast to direct them optimally. Also, the control arrows in the mini-games played to unlock new minions weren’t as responsive as most d-pads.

DOFUS: Battles 2 HD simply isn’t as fun as the original. But it’s definitely an interesting take on tower defense games and is worth playing for major fans of the original and, of course, fans of the MMORPG, DOFUS.

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