Hellemental

The sheer volume of tower defence clones available on the App Store is becoming seriously disconcerting: not a week seems to pass without several additional examples being added to the fray, ironically mimicking the endless waves of enemies that are so prevalent in the games themselves.

Hellemental is just one of many, yet its 3D visuals and unique story help it to stand out at least a little against the mindless horde.

Set in a light-hearted fantasy world and supported by a script which doesn’t take itself too seriously, Hellemental certainly starts off well. You assume the role of Elijah, a magic-user whose supernatural skills are in high demand.

The people of the kingdom of Norlisk have been left defenceless by their power-hungry ruler - who has marched off to find new lands to subjugate - so they’re willing to pay Elijah bags of gold if he can successfully fend off the unwanted attention of the monsters laying siege to their cities.

These magical beasts fall under the four main elements - earth, fire, water and air. Your default attack grants the ability to hurl a constant stream of rocks at the oncoming foes: however, if you want to stand any chance of protecting the city you need to utilise other spells, which can be purchased between assignments.

As with your opponents, these spells are bound together with the power of the four elements, so it’s crucial that you observe the relationship between them. For example, a water attack will douse out enemies affiliated with fire.

Your rock-throwing attack has unlimited ammunition, whereas other spells are finite. Therefore, it's essential that you spend cash to stock up on magical missiles between missions.

The battlefields on which you brandish these mystical weapons vary in terms of layout, with different pathways and obstacles to make your enemy’s advance as difficult as possible. Yet one thing remains constant: the city gates are always located at on end of the screen while your opponents trot in from the opposite side.

The evil forces make a beeline for the gate and hammer it with all of their strength. Should you allow this entry point to fall, then you fail the mission and the townspeople of that particular city will be exposed to the enemies' monstrous whims.

The playing area is presented in 3D and the engine does a respectable job of keeping the action moving smoothly. Attacking an enemy is a case of selecting which projectile you’d like to use, holding down the 'attack' icon in the bottom-left corner, and then tapping where you wish to hurl your fury.

You can zoom in and out using multi-touch to get a better view of the action and it's something you find yourself doing often. When you’re fully zoomed out you get a good impression of where your foes are coming from but successfully landing attacks is more difficult: for a higher level of accuracy you really need to zoom in.

When battles become frantic you find it becomes punishing for your delicate digits. In fact, the repeated tapping required to dispatch the rushing army of monsters quickly becomes tiresome.

Careful use of your special magic attacks can partly address this issue, but there are bound to be times when you run out of ammo and have to resort to your standard rock projectile, and it’s during these moments that Hellemental feels more like a chore than a pleasure.

While it brings some interesting ideas to the table, as well as some detailed visuals and a nice injection of humour, Hellemental is just too repetitive and painful to control.