Ever wonder what it would be like if all you had to defend a castle with was a pack of old men? Well, wonder no more, because Wizards and Goblins is here to answer any questions you might have. The first game from development studio Blackwater—and in that context, its not too shabby a game. There isn’t anything particularly new or genre pushing here, but its a solid execution of a game type that works well in portable format and looks great. The single song loop works well to convey the feeling a chaotic cartoon battlefield which matches with the visual aesthetic.
The game, as of August 14, plays though a fifteen stage campaign which tasks you with defending a castle at the end of various winding path ways. Each level has ten waves composed of goblins, ogres, and orcs. You have at your disposal eight wizards who can be placed in marked spots on each map. Although, of the eight, only the first three are unlocked at the start of each level. In fact, the unclear process for unlocking the other wizards is my main source of frustration with the game. When first faced with the locked boxes of the other wizards, I simply played through the game, fully expecting the other wizards to unlock as I passed stages in the game. However, that was not the case. In fact, I completed the entire campaign with just the three basic wizards. Which says something about the game’s design and perhaps the tower defense genre as a whole: planning and skill are the driving force of success not the variety of “towers”.
Speaking of the “towers,” the three basic wizards are Fire, Earth, and Air. Fire shoots quickly but does low damage. Earth fires slowly and does massive damage. Air is the only wizard that can attack Air units, of which there is also only one. The other five Wizards are Ice, who does moderate damage and applies a slow; Water, who makes enemies run backwards; Dark, who deals % of Hit Points; Cosmic, an upgraded version of Fire, and Blizzard, an upgraded version of Earth.
As for unlocking the other wizards, I found out later, completely by accident as I replayed each stage to get a perfect, that the ability to play the other five wizards had to be purchased for a moderate sum of gold, about 360 on average. This must be done for each wizard type, in each level. They do not remain unlocked and that annoyed me to no end—almost more than there not being a clear UI hint to the actual unlocking process in the first place.
From a game play perspective, this nit doesn’t really diminish the game because, as I stated above, I completed the game without the other wizard types AND it was fun doing so. I made it out of a fair number of the levels with only one life left. No, the issue I have about the unlock system is more of a personal design philosophy. To me, a campaign builds upon itself and Wizards is not doing that. If I unlock the Water Wizard on the first level, I should be able to use him in the rest of the campaign. As it is, his purchase is a strategic investment but it doesn’t contribute to the feeling of a unified campagin. For me, This could be solved by making the wizards more of an investment, instead of just buying the Water wizard at the start of every level, I would have to play well and earn enough gold to unlock him permanently.
That said, my experience with the game was positive. Even if I found their concept of a campaign not in alignment with mine, the levels were challenging as I played them and the last few really pushed my skills. If you find yourself in the market for a fantasy-themed TD and you don’t mind a rough patch or two, you could definitely do worse for a dollar.