Hills of Glory – WWII iPhone Review
Hills of Glory is the newest addition to the list of games developed by BulkyPix. For me, there are two kinds of games for my iPhone: The ones that kill time and ones where I actually sit down to play a game. Hills of Glory falls into the time killer category, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give this game a chance.
Gameplay
Hills of Glory is unlike most of the tower defense games on the market right now. Instead of setting up turrets to defend your base, you tap enemies who are on the way to kill you. When you tap them, depending on what characters you have on your team, a weapon will fire from your base and will hit the enemy instantly. Enemies are killed with one or more taps depending on the weapon and level of your characters. Other abilities involve swiping your finger vertically, horizontally, holding your finger in place, and more. In HoG, you’re actively engaging the enemy as opposed to watching the action unfold after you build turrets around your base.
There are three categories for characters in the game, each with a primary ability and a secondary ability. When you use each ability in-game, you’ll have to wait for a recharge before you can use it again. Each category has a roster of different types of teammates that you can unlock as you progress through the game. Your first squad member will always be the one that fires when you tap enemies to kill them. For example, the first character you get is a rifleman. Their primary ability shoots a single rifle shot at enemies you tap. To use your secondary ability, you’d swipe your finger down the screen. Once you do that, a row of vertical machine gun fire will start at your bunker and stop at the bottom of the screen. I have to admit, I did find some trouble activating some abilities. As I moved my finger in the motion as directed, the game did not register it. However, this is only an issue for me on one specific ability as all the rest work fine.
The other two catagories of characters come with heavier weapons such as napalm, bombs, grenades, and even Chopper support. As you progress through missions, you will be granted XP and gold. You can use this gold to either train your squad individually, or purchase new characters to replace existing ones. Every new character comes with bigger and better guns, so it’s up to the player to decide which route they want to take when spending their gold.
If you end up taking enemies quickly, you can always call out the next wave before it enters for double, or if you want the challenge, triple the amount of XP. The game can get pretty fun when there are numerous enemies on the map and the strategy really kicks in when you plan out what abilities to use at what time. I won’t spoil the game for you, but as you progress and unlock new characters, the more fun it is to use the weapons that accompany them. The music for the game can get a bit tiring, but there’s no harm in turning the volume off while you play.
Graphics
You won’t be awed by the graphics in this small package, but you won’t be dissapointed either. The game shoots for a cartoony feel and they got it spot on. There’s no blood or extreme violence here.
I encountered little to no framerate issues when I launched of series of bombs and grenades while I had a chopper in the air. Don’t be afraid to fire everything in your arsenal. Enemies are easily distinguishable from the landscape as well as other enemies. You will be fighting in different environments depending on what mission you’re doing.
Game Modes
The game features “FIRE AT WILL”, which is a sort of instant action that has an unlimited amount of waves. You are tasked to get as far as you can without dying. Campaign is standard with three parts, each containing its own chapters.
You high scores will be posted to the leaderboards of GameCenter and OpenFient so you can share with your friends. There are no multiplayer features.
Final Word
Hills of Glory definitely sets itself apart form the standard tower defense genre for the better. While I like to see action unfold before my very eyes, I also enjoy actively participating in the defense of my base. For those of you who think this is just a tap-’em-up type game for the iPad or iPhone, you’re wrong. As you progress, the game becomes more challenging in the aspect of strategizing what abilities and weapons to use at which time, and what enemies. For tower defense lovers out there, this is a must buy.
Written by: Jacob Lopez – jake108@Geekscape.net
