Yes, most satellites can be upgraded, and while you assign the upgrades in the satellite-select screen (which is otherwise directly inspired by PVZ) you have to buy them during play… which is where I can start ranting about problems in the game at last. In this mode money’s only earned through defeating waves of enemies, and it’ll take a good 20 waves before you earn enough to have a satellite in each slot… and that’s not counting upgrading. ![]() Tougher saucers versus rocket turrets, brain invaders versus lasers, surprises like these keep coming and compel the player to keep playing, at least during the first playthrough.įurthermore, completing levels unlocks new challenge maps that mess up the rules to interesting effect (such as one ring constantly rotating or be locked in place) or new locations for the Arcade mode, which is basically Survival and is even more dangerously addictive than the main game. Every level introduces a new satellite or invader that completely changes your battle tactics, so no level is played quite the same as the last. ![]() What makes it more compelling is that Futuremark have learnt a lesson from PopCap about keeping players hooked. You may have set a line of instant death down one particular saucer path (always marked, helpfully), but what happens when another wave comes from the opposite side and you’ve only got a single machine-gun? Answering this question is the core of Unstoppable Gorg, and it’s a compelling one. Moving one ring of course moves all satellites on that ring, so you have to regularly shift rings so that the right satellites take on the saucers that they’re best at destroying, and the support/money-producing platforms remain out of harm’s way. This idea forces you into thinking up a new tactical style which becomes second nature in no time at all, the hallmark of a simple and compelling idea done right. It’s a rather clever idea really and completely changes the mechanics of the tower defence genre, putting as much emphasis into manoeuvring your satellites into the path of attacking aliens as building them. There are several rings around the base with only a few places on each ring to build them, but each ring can be rotated so the satellites can change position. The setup is that the titular Gorg are aliens invading Earth’s solar system, and you have to defend each planet or space station with an array of orbiting weapon-mounted satellites. There’s only a certain amount of spots you can place them, yes, and once placed you can’t move them… but you can move the spot. Except in this case, you don’t, as those “stationary” platforms are a little more mobile. All defending, no attack, hold off the assaulting forces through careful management of stationary defence platforms, the main resource is the sun, you know the drill. ![]() Even an exclamation mark would’ve made it 80% more tantalizing.Īmbiguous title aside, Unstoppable Gorg, like PVZ, is a tower defence game. Futuremark’s Unstoppable Gorg could really have done with a title like that. Plants Vs Zombies is catchy, intriguing, memorable, and makes you want to play it just to find out what it’s about. Did you know that PopCap’s phenomenal tower defence title Plants Vs Zombies was originally going to be titled ‘Lawn of the Dead’? A swift no-no from the Romero estate curtailed that, but I have to wonder if the game would’ve been as popular as it is now if it had that title instead.
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