Revenge of the Titans (2011)

A game best served cold

Developer Puppygames

Things You Might Like

• Retro-style graphics
• Mash-up of Tactics/Real Time Strategy
• Expansive Unit Research/Upgrade system
• 8-Bit Inspired Soundtrack
• Automatic difficulty setting

Things You Might Not Like

• Graphics reminiscent of the good old days
• Large amount of options may leave some users panicking at first

Conclusion
Revenge of the Titans is a great take on the Real Time Strategy/Tower Defense genre with absolutely beautiful retro-inspired graphics and hours of fun.

5 out of 5 Planets Defended

Josh Robinson

***

I don’t mean to shatter your world, but mankind is at war…with aliens. Specifically, aliens from Titan, Jupiter’s moon. The fact is that we’ve beaten them back before, but now they want some more. It’s your job to use your minimal budget and quick thinking to defend Earth and her territories. So let’s jump into how you’re going to do that.

First of all, let’s talk pixels. Revenge of the Titans has an eye-catching style that blends modern graphical power with the retro look that many of us love. In fact, I made the mistake of calling the graphical styling pixel art. I was quickly corrected by one of Puppygames staff and informed that it was [...] carefully crafted to give the impression of pixel art. Now, you might look at it and think, So what? It does look like pixel art, but the difference is in the resolution scales. You can go from a small window to full screen on a 1920 x 1080 screen and it still looks fantastic. The image remains crisp and drives home how well-designed the artwork is.

Now, let’s talk about gameplay. Revenge of the Titans plays like a classic Real Time Strategy. You have a selection of units you can deploy at will, bearing in mind that you are on a budget and money doesn’t grow on trees. You can place your units just about anywhere and almost everything is upgradeable. The units, all stationary, range from simple turrets to enemy annihilating laser cannons that will bring even the mightiest Titan to its knees. This is another good point: the enemies change frequently and have varied stats. So keep your eyes open; no use using turrets on a giant Titan when only the finest in laser cannons will do the trick.

At the successful completion of each mission, you can choose to upgrade a single item. Sometimes this is researching a new turret, or others it’s researching how the alien swarm thinks (which unlocks further upgrades down the road). And while it’s true that money doesn’t grow on trees, it does grow in crystals. This is a huge help, because it means you aren’t stuck with your paltry allowance. In fact, you’ll need to harvest crystals for money or you’ll quickly be overrun by the horde. And did I mention the power-ups? No? Well, there are power-ups. Some are randomly dropped, some are purchased; all are useful. They range from a smart bomb that will clear your screen of alien scum to a freezing power-up designed to halt the enemy in their tracks. All in all, there is a LOT here. You can play a Campaign, an Endless mode (self explanatory), or a Survival mode. I admit, most of my fun was in the Campaign mode.

Lastly, the music is incredibly entertaining and will remind some people of a rather moody Daft Punk song. Every bit of the soundtrack lends to the feel of the mission.

The only drawback to this game is the depth of the options available to the player. When you sit down to play a round, your keyboard becomes a command console and suddenly your keys may look rather foreign to you. Shortcut keys are in abundance here, and you’ll need them to stay on top of the situation. Mousing over any item in your arsenal will bring up stats and the shortcut key, so you can learn them rather quickly. However, don’t expect not to use a majority of the keyboard. For those accustomed to console gaming, be prepared to step out of your comfort zone, and find yourself happy that you did.

Revenge of the Titans is just what you like to see from an indie developer. It has charm, great gameplay, and it’s polished. So skip the movies this weekend and pickup this title instead. You’ll get more than your money’s worth.

Buy Revenge of the Titans on Steam now!