Oh, look! It’s another indie tower defence game! That’s something new and interesting we should all pay attention to”. No-one would blame anyone for thinking that the recent explosion of titles in that genre has resulted in quality going down and ideas becoming a minimal part of the development process as more and more studios latch onto it as a cheap and easy way to deliver content.
Unstoppable Gorg, thankfully, brings some new ideas to the arena. It’s heavily based on 1950’s sci fi B-movies and the source material is handled lovingly. As you defend your base using an array of satellites that run the gamut of tower defence fare – machine gun, rocket launcher, laser, super rocket launcher – you’ll voyage through a veritable pantheon of B-movie cliches, all lovingly handled and reproduced in the style of genuine 1950’s archive footage. Taking the defence off of the ground and into space is where the game really comes into its own, though – Unstoppable Gorg allows you to rotate your satellite defences through orbit to defend your base, and this is what sets the game apart from competitors.
It allows you to think much more adaptively in terms of gameplay -you’re not worrying about wasting valuable credits on sticking a turret on one of the outer edges because you can swing it around lightning-fast to a weak spot in your defences. The levels are fast paced and rather than just building a load of defences and letting them do the work, you can take a more proactive approach to fighting the vast range of alien ships. It feels more like fighting a war and less like hiding under a rock hoping your guns last longer than your enemy’s. Despite having over 40 stages of story mode which you can play through to unlock new UFOs and satellites, the Arcade mode is where the game really shines. You’re stuck on a map, and simply told to hold out for as long as you can. Rather than harvesting resources via research satellites as in the main game, you’re given 200 credits at the start of each wave to build turrets in orbit and fortify your defences. It’s much more balanced than the story mode which can quickly ramp up in difficulty to the point of becoming unmanageable and frustrating at times.
It’s easy to kill hours in Arcade mode because there’s no break between waves – you quickly become absorbed in the rapid fire gameplay and it becomes more about on-the-fly tactical decisions rather than ponderous pre-map point-assigning, and as you brave your way through the Story Mode, you unlock even more enemies and turrets for the Arcade – which eventually turns a simple matter of building rocket launchers into an intricate and adrenaline-inducing war of the worlds. Unstoppable Gorg is a thoroughly polished game but suffers from some balance issues – for instance, if you buy the wrong satellite with your starting funds in Story Mode, you won’t generate enough income to
buy another one in time to stop the deluge of UFOs from pounding your base into dust. You sell turrets back at less than half the price which leaves you with an odd amount of funds that’s often completely redundant, and the initial satellites might as well be wet space farts for all their effect against any other UFO than the most basic grunt ship.
It’s excellent value for money, a fully robust title packed with features and charm, only suffering from a few minor balance issues. If you like tower defense and B-movies, it should already be on your platform of choice!
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
