Pros	Cons
Colorful graphics, backgrounds, and theme	Some worthless towers
Hero units add more gameplay and variety	Not much story
Multiple difficulties and developer updates

Epic historical characters + tower defense = fun. Such a simple equation, yet so many get it wrong. Luckily the developers at Astepgame were able to get it right. The rich lore from the three kingdoms offers a bright and colorful experience to the elementary gameplay of a tower defense. The simple mechanics of the game, such as faster speeds, special hero skills, weapons, auto saves, etc. offer a streamlined and addicting experience. But can a tower defense game be that fun?

The title screen lets you jump right into the game and even let’s you change the language to Chinese and Korean. We probably wouldn’t use that language feature, but it’s nice to have.

Starting the game allows you to have up to three save files, a definite need, especially when your friends always take your phone to play. After selecting a file and beginning the game, simple enough instructions pop up. When the instructions are over you can either choose a level or look at your units. Before you start a level, it’s beneficial to select the units tab. There you can find info regarding all your units. You check hero bios and equip game changing weapons. These weapons can be the turning point to a perfect score.

When you start a level you’ll notice the awesome Chinese inspired backgrounds. They aren’t super detailed, but they’re drawn nicely and vary from level to level. At one point you may find yourself on grasslands and another you may find yourself in the snow.

Continuing with the graphics, we can look at the hero sprites. These are what really separate the game apart. Not only are they fantastic to look out (the in game characters looks very similar to the portrait), but also fun to use. Each hero has a unique set of abilities, and slots to equip weapons through a menu before the game starts. Heroes also enter battles with bosses, prompting a rock, paper, scissors battle. An interesting concept that only adds more to the game. Although you might not use all heroes (some are just not as good as others…), you’ll definitely find heroes fun to use.

Aside from the heroes, the rest of the game plays like a regular tower defense. There are five different basic towers you can buy, each with three upgrades. All the towers are diverse and offer their own specific uses, however after playing through most of the game we realized towards the end of the game that there were mainly only two towers that were useful, namely the hammer and archer unit. This wasn’t a huge take away though, most tower defenses have units that are just better than others.

Selecting those towers, and other hero units become a fun and challenging process as you strive for a perfect score. The multiple difficulty levels provide a balanced starting point for any gamer. On top of that, after beating levels on “Hard,” a “Hell” difficulty unlocks giving you access to an awesome looking dragon logo.

Overall, the game offers a fast, fun, and addicting experience. Although the story isn’t in-depth, the addition of classical heroes from the Chinese history makes the game a unique tower defense worthy of the three-dollar price tag. We love equipping our best items to our favorite hero, Guan Yu, and making him God-like. If you’re a fan of tower defense games, you’ll love this game.

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