Developed and published by Ironhide Game Studios, Kingdom Rush is a brand-new tower defense game that comes with a twist. Tower defense is one of the most iconic genres in the video game industry and every time I get the opportunity to review one, I always take it because it is extremely hard to deliver a good and solid tower defense game. Kingdom Rush is a fantasy tower defense game which means that there are tons of fantasy creatures in the game as well so it is already a winner but what about the actual gameplay and content? This is our review of Kingdom Rush on Xbox Series X in which we hire some random farmers to combat orcs and annihilate the evil forces.
Kingdom Rush begins like any traditional tower defense game with basic towers and smaller-level enemies to give you time to understand the basics of the game. Probably the only thing that you need to get adjusted to is playing with the controller because since you have to manage all of the towers you need to move the cursor around and sometimes you forget where the cursor is since it just jumps from tower to tower. Kingdom Rush features a huge campaign map where you must complete a level before moving on to the next one. At the map screen, you can purchase new upgrades using the stars that you earn from completing the levels and you can also choose the hero that you want to use during the missions.
At the start, you do not have any heroes or upgrades and you must complete some levels before you can unlock your first hero and take them to battles with you. In each level, there are different entry points for enemies from where enemy waves will start appearing on the map, and then you have your control points where you can build different towers and gradually upgrade them. Construction and upgrading towers require gold and you get gold for killing enemy units. At the end of each path, there are normally one or more (in advanced levels) exit points which you must prevent the enemies from reaching at all costs. Depending on the mode you are playing the game in, you will have a life so if it reaches zero, you will fail the mission and you will need to start again. The progress is saved each time so you only have to restart that particular level and not the whole game since this is not a roguelike.
Each level will also have a certain number of enemy waves that you will have to survive and they get progressively harder so you will need to build more towers and upgrade them on the way in order to survive in the game. Apart from this, you have two special powers as well. Once rains down meteors on your enemies while the other one allows you to summon reinforcements on any path and let the farmers pick up weapons for you against ogres, orcs, and whatnot. In certain levels, you will also find some bonus structures that you can use such as a broken Elven fort that you can rebuild to aid them and then recruit their warriors for your own cause. All of this costs gold so you will need to kill plenty of enemies to build up and upgrade everything in the game. Using powers does not cost gold but each comes with a cooldown timer so you cannot spam them.
The enemies are really well designed in the game and although everything in the game looks a little small, I really dig the art style of the game. You will fight will orcs, bandits, giant spiders, worgs, ogres, and every fantasy creature that you can think of. Each of these enemies comes with its own unique stats and you will need to watch out for their weaknesses and strengths in order to counter them. For example, certain enemies like the Shaman can heal fellow fighters and the Bandits can dodge incoming melee attacks. Similarly, enemies like bats will simply fly around and melee, and ground-attacking towers will not do anything against them so you have to be very careful and place down towers that can deal with all sorts of enemies in that particular level. You have the ability to sell and place down new towers in each level so you can always mix and match late-game as well if you do not place the right towers at the start of a level.
For fighting these enemies, you have your own unique units and towers that you can place down in each level. Unlike your enemies who will spawn in massive numbers, you only have a select number of control points where you can build and upgrade your towers, so you have to play smart to outsmart your enemies and annihilate them as well. You can put down Barracks that spawn ground forces that can tackle incoming enemies and slow them down to a halt while your Archer Towers rain down hell on them. You also have access to Mage Towers and Dwarves who bring their exploding shells so that they can rain on your enemies from their Bombards. Each of these towers can be upgraded and you can improve the damage they do against your enemies.
Also, I mentioned earlier in my review the special structures that you might find sometimes in levels. You cannot purchase and place down these structures in battles but you can use them by spending some gold on them. Some will need restoration while some will join your cause on their own but they do come with upgrades so you will eventually need gold for them as well. Some of these special towers will give you random powerups as well that you can use in the game by spending gold. For example, the Rangers Hideout will allow you to purchase two powers in exchange for gold including Poison Arrows or Wrath of the Forest. You can use all of these to your advantage and kill whatever comes in your tower’s range.
Naturally, all towers have a specific range, and they will only attack enemies once they are inside this range. Upgrading the towers increases their range as well as their damage and you have to balance the two options of whether upgrading the current ones or placing down new ones depending on your own playstyle. The normal difficulty levels are challenging enough in the game. However, if you are feeling extra special, you can try out the Iron or the Heroic modes as well to really test your skill at the game. There are no online modes in the game however the singleplayer mode offers a lot of replayability and you will probably end up spending hours upon hours trying out different heroes and upgrades.
During the initial levels, I was having a little trouble and I was thinking that the gold is a little hard to come by but as you play the levels more and again and again, you figure out various tricks that allow you to work around the gold shortage. During later levels, you will have every slot filled, all upgraded, and still, have plenty of gold lying around so you just need a little patience and learn some tricks to make the most of it in the initial levels. The game really goes easy on you in the starting levels but the challenge quickly picks up and it is a perfect balance. You do not have to be an overly smart person to win all campaign levels. The game does allow room for some mistakes, but you need to learn from them because the later levels in the games are really challenging and you will need the perfect balance of towers, upgrades, and gold to win them. But then again, this is the best bit of Kingdom Rush because it allows you to get good at it before really challenging you with its hard enemy waves. Kingdom Rush is really challenging and in a good way because an easy tower defense is no good.
Final Verdict:
Kingdom Rush is a challenging tower defense title that brings its own unique flare to the genre featuring a great art style and tons of epic moments. With tons of defenses to choose from and the ability to control your heroes and move them around the battlefield give you more control over your defense. The enemy variety in the game is insane and there are tons of enemies that you will get to fight with equally diverse and powerful towers and heroes at your disposal. The game is highly replayable with different difficulty options or if you just want to try out a different upgrade setup or heroes. If you love tower defense games and are currently looking for a solid, new one, Kingdom Rush should be on your buy list. Even if you are a new player of the genre, the game has enough to bring you even deeper into one of the best video game genres.
Final Score: 8.5/10
