Gamescom '12: Hands-off with Anomaly Korea

11 bit studios didn't mince its words when I asked it about the target demographic for its new "tower offense" game - Anomaly Korea IS the company's attempt to appeal to the Korean market.

If your head is filled with images of IAPs or other potential game-breaking changes to the outfit's Platinum Award-winning Anomaly Warzone Earth title, though, you needn't be worried: it's very much made from the same mould.

Indeed, the game is probably best described as a standalone expansion rather than a full-blown sequel, such is the minimal degree of change involved. This is something that will be reflected in the price of Anomaly Korea when it launches on both Android and iOS later this year.

In terms of new elements in the game, we're really just talking about one new tower and ability. The flamer tower is, as you might expect, a flamethrower o' death, which rains down fire on your units (and destroys them extremely quickly).

Your abilities, meanwhile, have been bolstered by the addition of Boost, which not only speeds units up, but also increases the rate of fire.

The biggest new addition to 11 bit's tower offense formula isn't a bullet point on a feature list, however. Missions now include more variety, with each of the 12 levels introducing something new that will test veterans of the game.

One such level I saw, for instance, switches off specific powers when your units enter zones on the map, meaning you can't fall back on, say, smokescreen to bypass towers. Another, meanwhile, sees you try to control and hold territories from emerging towers.

These missions are now enhanced through far-better voice acting from an actress who has featured in top PC titles like StarCraft (and it shows). So, that's the only real fault in the original game sorted, then.

Anomaly Korea is not likely to sway anyone that didn't care much for Anomaly Warzone Earth, but fans of the genre should be well catered for. I'll be virtually queuing up to get my hands on the title when the game launches on both Android and iOS later this year.