Ironhide Game Studio | $8 (£7)
- Plenty of tactical permutations
- Beautifully rich, detailed levels
- Somewhat fiddly on smaller screens
The original Kingdom Rush arrived on iOS in 2011 as a premium-priced port of a web browser game. It feels like it came from a completely different era, in other words, yet the basic formula has held up remarkably well over time.
As the name suggests, Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance represents a fifth slice of intricate tower defence action from developer Ironhide Game Studio, and all series fans really need to know is that it’s more of the same. That’s often a phrase used to damn with faint praise, but in this case it comes as sweet relief.
There are two exit points and two Heroes to cover them
Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance plays all the hits – quite literally in the case of the plot, which sees the good and evil forces from previous iterations teaming up against a new threat. In being able to select from a growing assortment of heroic and demonic towers from the off, Alliance lacks the thematic consistency of earlier games, but also gains some fun freewheeling synergies as a consequence.
I found myself relying on the classic archers/wizards/infantry trilogy early on, setting up crossroad ambushes for successive waves of enemies to blunder into. However, the provision of more exotic options – and two additional tower slots – encourage experimentation.
The tower upgrade tree is compelling
Mandalorian-referencing infantry units with rocket packs? Yes please. Dwarven flame thrower towers? Oh, go on then.
Each tower can be upgraded several times during a run with the currency earned from mowing down enemies, at which point you can invest in two special abilities. The wizard tower’s ability to enhance the attack power of all surrounding towers made it the core component of my set-up, but there are plenty of interesting abilities to play around with.
The comic book interludes are charming
Heroes make a return – that is, singular units with godly powers that can be commanded directly – and this time you can wield two simultaneously, adding a dash of real time strategy to the steady clockwork flow of levels. Together with the towers, there’s a decent selection to unlock through play, but the need to pay real money to access some of them is unwelcome – especially when those singular towers and heroes can run to the same price as the game.
This general upping in scope, together with a 2D cartoon art style that’s even more densely packed with detail, means that we wouldn’t recommend playing Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance on an iPhone. The series has always been better on a tablet, and with this latest entry owning one of Apple’s larger screens is key to getting the most out of the game.
Each level is dense with detail
Reservations over monetisation aside, Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance is another superb slice of casual strategy. It would feel old fashioned if it weren’t so beautifully executed, and so much richer and more rewarding than most of the iOS games that are released these days.