Game Reviews

Beat the Beast

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| Beat the Beast
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Beat the Beast
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| Beat the Beast

The tower defence genre is so ubiquitous on the App Store these days that it behoves developers to search for a differentiating twist.

In the case of Beat the Beast the twist is literal: instead of playing on a flat 2D plane you're defending a circular fortress, around which a pathway has been constructed.

The game is presented in 3D, and you can rotate your view around your castle by sliding your finger left or right. It's even possible to zoom-in using a pinch command in order to get a closer look at the carnage.

The twist is only skin-deep, however. Visual tricks aside, Beat the Beast is pretty standard tower defence stuff. You create various towers to keep the hordes at bay, and you're also able to upgrade them periodically as the cash rolls in from successful slayings.

Unleash the beast

Beat the Beast's other innovation is the use of magic houses, which you can build away from the pathway to grant you mana - a resource that allows you to purchase special spells that come in handy when your defences fail to stop the invaders.

The welcome change of perspective means that Beat the Beast is able to stand out from its rivals, but there are a few basic problems that prevent it from going toe-to-toe with the very best the genre has to offer.

The beast of the beast

Firstly, there's no tutorial as such, and the only means you have of knowing which tower does what is to peruse the instruction manual on the level select page - not entirely unreasonable, you might think, but helpful hints on the opening level would have been far preferable.

Secondly, the game never seems to move quickly enough - even when you tap the 'fast forward' option. On later levels this can been seen as a blessing, as you have more time to react to danger and plan your strategy, but early stages take what feels like an eternity to complete.

Beat the Beast's fresh visual approach to the tower defence template should be applauded, but once the allure of those lush 3D graphics dissipates it's obvious that this isn't really any better than its competitors.

Beat the Beast

Tower defence gets a unique visual spin in Beat the Beast, though the game has niggling issues which prevent it from attaining true greatness
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.