TowerMadness 2 Review

More of the same yet different sounds like a lazy contradiction, but to an extent that sums up TowerMadness 2 nicely. It's a solidly dependable Tower Defense game, much like its predecessor. At times it's disheartening to see so many in-app purchases emerge in a title priced at $4.99, but for the most part it's still pretty entertaining.

As before, the crux of the game is centered around protecting sheep from sinister aliens. It's a humorous concept, and it's reinforced through some entertaining character descriptions. It proves more entertaining than simply dealing with a regular war situation.

The type of towers that can be purchased are quite futuristic in nature. Laser firing rail guns play an (expensive) part along with plasma rifles and more conventional mortars. Support towers are newly available, such as a stun gun and shrink tower that slows the enemy's progress. In each case, such towers can be upgraded (first via spending wool to unlock the upgrade) before using currency during battle to upgrade them for that stage.

Wool proves quite vital here, opening up new upgrades as well as extra slots to enable one to use numerous different towers. That's also where the in-app purchases emerge with it possible to buy those slots and upgrades immediately, as well as buy a wool doubler to speed things up and circumvent some grinding. While combining in-app purchases with a fixed price to buy the game isn't anything new, it's still something that could make one feel fleeced (yes, I went there).

40 different levels are available in all, covering different landscapes and offering some variety. For instance, work through the desert stages and overheating issues arise with the need to cool down towers often. Play the icy stages and watch as the towers freeze up. It also makes things a little trickier, reducing the reliance upon buying expensive rail guns to do all the work. Similarly, the paths in which the aliens can wander get more convoluted, requiring one to plan a route for them to weave around as long as possible. It's similar to the techniques used by the Fieldrunners series and just as satisfying to figure out.

More attractive than its predecessor and with new towers to mix things up with, TowerMadness 2 is still an appealing and quite lovable Tower Defense game. However, it's a title that occasionally straddles freemium elements with premium elements too readily. There's fun to be had once one looks past that, but it's something to be aware of. I'm hopeful to see more balancing in future updates, if the regular support of the original TowerMadness is anything to go by. Limbic certainly seems keen to see the game evolve over time.