Developer: Lightmare Studio
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platform: iPhone, iPad, PC
Beware Planet Earth – Review
Haven’t we all thought about the existence of aliens or other life in outer space? What if there really existed another form of life out there, and what is that life form wasn’t that friendly? Well,then you might get a scenario like the game ‘Beware Planet Earth’.
Story
The story in the game is quite simple. You find Barney, who’s stuck in a retro toilet and who needs help. His farm is getting attacked by loads of aliens. The reason for their schemes? Barney’s precious cows. The aliens seem to find cows very intriguing and want to get some as guinea pigs for some testing. As a good Samaritan, you help out the troubled Barney and you protect his cows. As a thanks, you can protect his cows over and over again, as it seems that the lock of the toilet is magically closed and never to be opened again.
This is the only story-related content there is available in the game. Although it is a tower defence game, a bit more story would’ve been nice.
Graphics
The graphics in the game are rather simplistic, but are well-finished. The developers chose for a more comical style and this fits the concept of the game perfectly. The aliens look ferociously funny and the several defence systems seems like they’re been handmade by Barney while sitting on the toilet (thus they look quite amusing). The cows are probably the best animation in the game, with that little smile and a like-I-care attitude.
It is also quite awesome that you play the game in the four seasons and that every season has its own visual characteristics. Each challenge mode has its own elements as well. The cows have their own wardrobe it seems, because they have their own little outfits!
Sound
It seems that each season or bonus level has its own soundtrack and there are quite a lot of sound effects. The available music is very cheerful and puts a smile on your face. The fact that you will hear the same track for a longer period of time isn’t that bad, as you’re mostly focussing on killing the aliens that try to steal the precious cows rather than listening to the background music.
There are several sound effects, giving the game that bit extra. Some of them aren’t that notable, while others are more striking. For example, when an alien appears on your map, you’ll hear a nice “pling”, while you hear your handmade towers attack the other aliens.
Gameplay
Beware Planet Earth is a tower defence game where you have to protect Barney’s cows during one year. You place several defence systems along the path to your cows and those systems will take care of the aliens. As you advance in the story, you gain more “towers” to place. Other than that, there will also be an assortment of aliens with their own specific tactics and specifications. When you get into more difficult levels, you will have to choose which systems you which to take to battle. Thus it will be important to take towers that are efficient against the upcoming aliens.
To build your defending knights, you’ll need gears to ‘buy’ them. Every tower has its own cost, and I hear you think ‘How do I get those gears?”. Well, there is a special device that costs some gears to buy, but will provide you with the necessary gears for your other purchases.
There are some challenges for you to complete and they have their own settings. The goal still remains the same: protect the cows. This also counts for the bonus levels, but you’ll unlock these while playing the game.
The game contains two difficulty levels, namely normal and veteran. I started the game on the hardest difficulty and boy, was it hard alright. This game mode is definitely something for the pro tower defence gamers. If you picked a difficulty and you want to change it, you can always alter this in the options menu.
Conclusion
Beware Planet Earth is a tower defence games with quite a nice thing to protect: cows! The graphics are quite comical and the sound effects are great. Although the story is quite thin, this game is fun to play and will revive the inner cow-protector in you.
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