Take us to your editor

Assuming that it’s not just your mothers that read Felix, you’ll probably be aware of the simulator surplus that has hit the Felix office. Well, Excalibur Publishing (those lovely folk who send us these games) also publish real games. Sorry if I sound condescending to you hardcore sim-junkies (you know who you are, and I’m putting a padlock on the games chest), but these are actual games. (Let’s ignore the fact that Farming Simulator 2013 was the best selling game on Steam last week.)

The Unstoppable Gorg

With a title like The Unstoppable Gorg, this game was either going to be one of two things – terrible or awesome (or I guess the third option is that no-one in the office knows how to spell George). Thankfully, it’s the latter of the two real options. Much like Dredd 3D, The Unstoppable Gorg ended up with good reviews but few people went to see or play it when it was new. A segue, I know, but I need to spread the good word, as a sworn-in member of the Disciples of Dredd.

TUG (as it forever shall be known) is a tower defence game with a nice change – you can move your towers. You’re in charge of defending a variety of planets from B-movie-style aliens (you know, the ones wrapped in tin foil, flying in ships made of cardboard boxes and held aloft by string), and you can place a variety of satellites (read: towers) to stop the invaders.

So, being in orbit, you can move your satellites around to cover the new route of attack. It’s balanced out by the fact that the aliens can attack from any angle, so it’s a little harder than it first seems. The earlier missions feel like your run-of-the-mill tower defence, but quite soon you’re having to alternate between dragging your satellites into range of the UFOs, and away from enemy fire.

Some tower defence games, such as Revenge of the Titans, keep your research/upgrade choices throughout the campaign, which can be a bit of a pain, when you realise you’ve been barking up the wrong (research) tree, for the last five missions, because the whole thing is confusing. TUG makes you work for your rather simple upgrade points – they aren’t handed out like some sort of intergalactic candy – instead you’ll need to place research stations around your planet to fill up your research bar. If the mission finishes and the bar is full, you get the medal and the point, to use as you wish. Finish all of the missions objectives (i.e. none of your satellites are destroyed) and you’ll unlock the mission for the challenge mode.

The well-balanced difficulty modes will keep you playing for a long time, and it’s not too gimmicky to bore you before you finish.

Unusually for a tower defence game, the cut-scenes are really fun to watch and actually bring something to the game. It adds a sense of 50’s immersion, akin to Fallout 3 & New Vegas. I’d heartily recommend this game to anyone who’s interested in tower defence games.

Well, now that’s over. Let the probing begin.