geoDefense Swarm
by Jamin Smith on Thursday 1st Oct 2009

This review is actually very lucky to have been written. That’s not to say anything about the quality of the game, it’s just that I’m currently taking some time off to travel the world, and am therefore momentarily relieved of my AppGamer duties. Saying this however, I’ve managed to spare a few precious minutes to type this up from a hostel in Australia. You might be asking yourself why on earth I’d do such a thing when I could be frolicking on a beach or taking pictures of impressive architecture, and I’ll tell you; geoDefense Swarm is a remarkable game and I feel compelled to let that be known.

My six hour flight from Singapore to Perth was over all too quickly. After downloading geoDefense Swarm the previous day, I was keen to see how it compared to the original, which had set the standards for iPhone tower defence games pretty high. The sequel is everything one could hope for from the game, and then some. My flight could have been twice as long as it was, and (providing my iPhone battery could hold out that long) I’d still have been a happy bunny.

Creator David Whatley has tackled every problem with the orginal game head on, resulting in one of, if not the best tower defence experience the App Store has on offer. Where the original suffered from the acute problem of not being able to place your towers exactly where you want them, Swarm implements a honeycombe grid, where towers can be placed quickly and accurately. A cross hair just above where you might happen to touch means that misplacing a tower is no longer a problem. The grid also adds another dimension to the tactics and strategy involved in the game. Forcing creeps to take a certain path quickly becomes second nature, and knowing how best to use the grid is vital in completing some of the harder levels.

A sequel wouldn’t be worthy of the name without numerous additions to the original formula, and Swarm is no exception. In addition to a few new towers, Swarm introduces new environmental panels which seriously change the way the game is played. These panels can, for example, speed a creep up to twice its speed or refill it’s health. As well as this, some panels don’t allow towers to be built on them, and yet creeps can pass happily over them. Another nice addition to Swarm are the endless levels, which will release an infinite number of waves until your defences are beaten. This slight change to the formula makes for a very different experience, and one that has consumed the majority of my time with the game. The new features make the game a refreshing enough departure from the original, whilst retaining the core tactical gameplay that made geoDefense such a success the first time round.

As with the orginal, Swarm is tougher than a bucket of industrial nails, and proud of it. In order to get anywhere with the game, you need a good grasp of the tactics and strategy involved, and you need to be quick enough with your hands to lay down towers in time. As with the first, there are three difficulty settings; easy, medium and hard, but if it’s your first time playing the game, read that as hard, very hard, and impossible. With over 30 levels to plough through, Swarm has enough content to keep you playing for quite some time.

I really should be on a beach or something right now, so I’m going to wrap this up. Geo Defense Swarm is a game that lends itself perfectly to the iPhone and it’s related technologies. The addition of Open Feint and it’s leader boards give even more reasons to play the game, and seeing how your scores stack up against the rest of the world will have you trying to beat your old scores over and over again . Be warned: Swarm is hopelessly addictive; a quick 5 minute session after lunch can often be responsible for the loss of an entire afternoon. Swarm improves on the original in every conceivable way, meaning that it can proudly take the crown for the best tower defence game on the iPhone. Don’t deny you or your iDevice this game, it’s quite simply essential.

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