Title: Cartoon Wars 2: Heroes Format: Mobile Release Date: May 24 2012 Publisher: Gamevil Inc Developer: BLUE G&C Price: Free on Googe Play Store ($0.99 on Itunes store) ESRB Rating: 9+
You might have heard of this game through its predecessors, Cartoon Wars and CW gunner, which were touted as one of the best time killers in the in the Google Play Store last year. CW2 has also been in the Itunes App Store for a while now. Let’s see if the current offering maintains this proclamation and adds anything at all to make it more than just another time waster.
Story
The game is an entertaining defense strategy arcade war game played in real-time. It so happens that you are part of the army that has been expelled from the kingdom your king once ruled and you seek vengeance by going into war while defending what's yours. You own a castle/fortress which is host to the protection and production of your cartoon army. Once summoned by you, soldiers charge into battle where they encounter enemy cartoons and eventually have to infiltrate the enemy castle in order to win the round. Special heroes are selected to lead and accomplish individual tasks as well as fulfill standard ones, killing enemies, etc. Play on and you will uncover a vast array of units and upgrading systems to use in battle. As you would expect new heroes as well as a hoard of improvements can be purchased at any time by using the game’s currency, gold coins, or earned the hard way.
Gameplay
On the battle ground there are a few things to look after, always keeping you on your toes; soldiers to recruit, max mana to boost, and ultimately, a castle to defend. The game is far from short of upgrades in the form of weaponry, battalion and methods to keep incoming soldiers at bay. That it does well. You level up by killing stick figures and defeating the castle, earning gold coins and SP. When it comes to ballistae and individual aiming of of arrows, you might find aiming a bit difficult. It all comes with practice. Initial help screens are informative, taking you through all important actions before you dive in.
If you think this is just soldiers and arrows you have another thing coming. Keep playing and the environment changes. The battleground gets a bit nasty to say the least. If you don’t constantly improve your main heroes, upgrading units as well as the defensive power of your castle, defeat will be a common occurrence.
Presentation
The wildly illustrative papered out screens are a marvel to look at. The animated theme never digresses and holds the cartoon’s story and movements together. In comic “flip book” style the characters glide through the motions of battle with sound effects galore. Loading and upgrade screens are smooth and well rendered. There are little to no adverts. In fact I only saw one at the beginning which I closed and has never bothered me again. The music is “game of thrones” with lighter instruments, which helps maintain the fun factor. Never has the game frozen or forced closed so far on my Galaxy S2.
Final Thought
If it were possible that the purchase of Gold Coins were not so invaluable this game would get a near 10 from me. Like many of the more polished games, there needs to be a more sought after methodology and equilibrium of gaining SP and wealth without having to enter the store for super upgrades. This becomes more apparent as enemies get harder. Of course from a developer’s POV, with this offering being FREE, there must be a way for them to make a living and fortunately for us store purchases are as lenient as can be compared to other titles I’ve played. Overall, this is more than just a time waster. A defense game requiring brain and brawn and a job well done.
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Final rating: 8.5/10
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @Lkbanner PSN: siamplante
