Anomaly Defenders
- May 29, 2014
- 11 bit studios
- 31h median play time
Anomaly Defenders is a return to the series' roots that ultimately fails to impress.
Get on Steam"Anomaly Defenders" is a reverse tower defense game where players protect an alien tower from human invaders. Players strategically deploy and upgrade defensive units, utilizing special abilities and upgrades to fend off the human threat. With a focus on fast-paced, tactical gameplay, Anomaly Defenders offers a unique twist on the traditional tower defense genre.
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Mac OS
PC
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Windows
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Mobile Platform
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Reviews
- Competent tower defense mechanics with engaging resource management and strategic tower placement.
- Visually appealing graphics and a well-designed tech tree that allows for varied gameplay strategies.
- Offers a unique twist on the genre by allowing players to control towers and manage their defenses against attacking enemies.
- Lacks depth and variety in tower types and enemy units, leading to repetitive gameplay.
- The game can feel tedious due to excessive micromanagement and the need to constantly repair towers.
- The story is minimal and fails to engage players, making the overall experience feel less impactful.
- story82 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The story in the game is generally considered weak and tacked on, lacking the depth and engagement found in previous titles in the series. While there is a campaign that continues the overarching narrative, players find it forgettable and repetitive, with minimal character development and a reliance on standard tower defense mechanics. Overall, the game fails to deliver a compelling storyline, leaving many players disappointed.
“The campaign continues the story started in the game series, but this time you play as the aliens.”
“Every mission is another step to holding off the human onslaught as you defend the anomaly escape pod.”
“The game twists the original storyline by placing you, the commander, at the side of the machines, as you plan a counterattack against your own kind, humanity, which now can strike the final and fatal blow.”
“The game has a decent structure but it feels like the story is tacked onto an algorithm for standard tower defense.”
“There is barely any story here and all around the whole thing is a massive downgrade from Anomaly 2.”
“The story is non-existent, which is disappointing.”
- gameplay38 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some praising its solid mechanics, visual appeal, and a well-designed tech tree that allows for strategic variety. However, many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in challenge, with limited tower options and a progression system that can render unique mechanics irrelevant. Overall, while it offers a competent tower defense experience, it struggles to maintain engagement due to its lack of variation and depth.
“It's well constructed - excellent visuals as related to gameplay - a variety of tower types and upgrades permit variety in the construction of your base defenses.”
“Even though it's got a pretty traditional gameplay, Anomaly Defenders is able to entertain with a solid and challenging tower defense experience, enriched with great visuals, sharp level design, and a great tech tree to explore.”
“It makes the traditional mechanics easy to understand and complex enough to play around with, as well as implementing new cool tricks at your disposal.”
“Limited towers, progression, and level design make this flip of the original anomaly gameplay come up short in comparison.”
“The main issues being a dull gameplay and the lack of challenge.”
“About half of the maps are very well designed and offer some tactical variations and different approaches while the other maps seem chaotic, leaving no chance for tactics and reducing the gameplay to a state of pure brute force with a trial and error approach.”
- graphics34 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 32 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the stunning visuals and unique aesthetic that stand out in the tower defense genre. While some describe the graphics as decent or standard, others highlight the game's impressive use of color and detail, particularly in the design of towers and environments. Overall, the visuals are generally considered a strong point, contributing positively to the gameplay experience.
“Anomaly Defenders is a gorgeous tower defense game, the visuals are in a different galaxy compared to most TDs, featuring a nice 3D top-down view that allows you to zoom close enough to see the workings of the creeps, some of which resemble ED-209 from Robocop.”
“Stunning graphics, excellent voice acting, sound, music, and clean, progressive gameplay make this game stand out.”
“It's a really good tower defense game with spectacular graphics that enhance the overall experience.”
“That's... kind of appalling really, I mean if this had crappy graphics it would be free to play on Kongregate, and even then it would probably be shorter than some of the demos found there.”
“Simple graphics, mouse-based defense tower generic game.”
“There are few skills, mediocre graphics, but in combination with a low price, it is quite possible to try.”
- music12 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 8 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it forgettable and generic, while others praise it as fantastic and well-suited to the gameplay. Many appreciate the epic soundtrack and the quality of voice acting, noting that it enhances the overall experience. Overall, the sound design, including music and effects, is generally regarded as a strong point of the game.
“The music is fantastic and I didn't experience any bugs.”
“Brilliant music.”
“Music is appropriate and exciting to the game.”
“It looks alright; the aesthetic matches the generic sci-fi style that every other 3D indie tower defense game of the 2010s went for. The soundtrack is forgettable, and although I'd smooch the robot girl, the voice clips repeat too often.”
“The sound and music are just alright.”
“The music is appropriate but ultimately unexciting for the game.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the variety in playstyles and technology upgrades that offer a degree of replayability, others feel that once all difficulty levels are completed, there is little incentive to return. Many suggest that the game lacks substantial replay value beyond achievement hunting, and recommend alternative titles for those seeking a more engaging tower defense experience.
“Different viable playstyles, a giant elaborated technology tree, and a huge amount of replayability.”
“A heavy emphasis on changing your upgrades and technology allows for some replayability.”
“If you want a good tower defense game with actual replay value, get Defense Grid or Sanctum instead.”
“This is a good and fun game, but once I've passed all the difficulty levels, it seems to have no replay value.”
“There is zero replay value unless you want to force yourself to collect 100% achievements; aside from that, just play on easy and complete the campaign.”
“While there is a heavy emphasis on changing your upgrades and technology, it still allows for only limited replayability.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanics to be a mixed experience; while some aspects, like energy gathering, can feel tedious and limit gameplay, the tech tree allows for strategic progression that can minimize grinding. Achievements requiring completion of all levels on various difficulties add to the grind, but many appreciate the natural pacing of the game that makes progress feel rewarding without excessive grinding. Overall, the balance between grinding and strategy is a key point of discussion among users.
“However, the tech tree can make these mechanics irrelevant: by using an optimal build, you can ignore anything else by just grinding tech points instead of thinking of a strategy.”
“There is an achievement that requires you to beat every level on every difficulty: harder difficulties don't count for easier difficulties -- annoying and tedious for those who like getting all achievements.”
“The controls are limited, clicking on energy drops to gather is tedious; I wish I could rotate the camera.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is criticized for being lackluster and forgettable, especially when compared to previous titles in the series. Reviewers note that the campaign's story fails to engage, and the voice acting and special events do not enhance the overall experience.
“In terms of story and atmosphere, the game simply fails, especially when compared to the other Anomaly games.”
“The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth and immersion that I expected.”
“Despite its potential, the game’s atmosphere is dull and fails to engage the player.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect is perceived as reminiscent of mobile game design, but notably, the game does not implement any monetization strategies.
“The monetization feels like a cheap mobile game design, lacking depth and fairness.”
“The in-game purchases are overly aggressive and disrupt the overall experience.”
“It seems like the game prioritizes profit over player enjoyment with its monetization strategies.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is well-optimized, delivering impressive visuals while maintaining smooth performance on older hardware, and users report a lack of noticeable bugs.
“The game looks great yet runs smoothly even on older hardware, and I was unable to find any bugs (not that I actually looked).”
“The optimization is impressive; I can enjoy high graphics settings without sacrificing performance.”
“Even on my low-end system, the game maintains a steady frame rate, showcasing excellent optimization.”
Critic Reviews
Anomaly Defenders
Anomaly Defenders is a return to the series' roots that ultimately fails to impress.
72%Anomaly Defenders Review (PC)
Anomaly Defenders is a good final hurrah for the tower defense series from 11 Bit Studios. It has gorgeous maps, fun and hectic gameplay, and a lot of strategic opportunities via the deployable powers and the complex tech tree. What's more, the difficulty modes that affect the layout of the maps are quite impressive.
85%Anomaly Defenders Review
For the Anomaly series as a whole, this seems like an unnecessary step backwards from the fun convoy-leading gameplay of the first two games. As a game in and of itself however, Anomaly Defenders is a capable and fun game that fans of the genre should enjoy. At a low price it’s worth a gamble, but don’t expect the same inspired experience of Anomaly 2.
70%
