Developer: Senmu Studio
Publisher: Gamersky Games, Yogscast Games
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
The Gate Must Stand – Review
Just when we thought there was nothing new to be done with Tower Defense games, indie developer Senmu Studio throws their hat into the ring with their latest title, The Gate Must Stand. On paper, it sounds like a fantastic little game, combining classic static lane defense with the chaotic, dopamine-inducing rush of Survivors-likes. But can it hold up its defenses in practice, or does it fall apart in execution?
Story
When a game’s title is The Gate Must Stand, it should be immediately clear what its premise is. The game takes place in the medieval fantasy city of Belrak, the last remaining bastion of humanity. The city’s surroundings have been ruined by a massive invading force comprising all sorts of monsters, and now they are headed to the city. As the final line of defense, your task is straightforward: throw everything you have against these incoming demonic threats and stop them. Heroes can die (though they can fortunately be resurrected), but if the city gate falls, its defense fails. Unfortunately, this is the entirety of The Gate Must Stand in terms of story. There is no noteworthy world-building in the game, nor are there any narrative hooks that add to the atmosphere. Heroes themselves lack personalities and there is nothing here to make the battles feel impactful or unique.
Graphics
While we were installing our copy of The Gate Must Stand, we saw that the developers had posted an update regarding in-game artwork. At least some of The Gate Must Stand’s visuals were created by a third party, who had apparently used generative AI to make them. This resulted in backlash from the player base, and in response, Senmu Studio rolled back to an older version of the game’s visuals while they investigated, as their policy is not to use AI art. We’ll admit that we don’t know the extent of the impact of this rollback on the visuals at the time of writing, as all we could find online regarding the ‘AI’ visuals was older key art. With that out of the way, the version that we got uses a cartoon-inspired art style, with a medieval fantasy aesthetic. Unfortunately, the overall presentation lacks a strong, memorable identity or aesthetic hook, with both the stylised demonic enemies and your own heroes coming across as derivative fantasy character designs. In terms of performance, The Gate Must Stand comes across as relatively polished, though we did frequently experience frame rate drops when the battlefield became overloaded with enemies, projectiles, and flashy spell effects.
Sound
With a barebones narrative and a generic visual presentation, it’s probably not that surprising that The Gate Must Stand’s soundscape isn’t particularly memorable either. There is no voice acting present. Sound effects are functional, but not anything to write home about, and the music is forgettable.
Gameplay
We may not have been all that impressed with The Gate Must Stand’s audiovisual presentation, but can the game make up for that with its gameplay? In theory, there is enough here to keep things interesting. The game blends classic tower defense with Vampire Survivors-style hack-and-slash and bullet heaven mechanics. You take direct control of a single, auto-attacking hero in real-time, continuously juggling between fighting and managing static defenses as waves of enemies attempt to breach the city gates. Instead of the traditional towers that are the namesake of the tower defense genre, your defenses consist of destructible barricades that let you funnel enemies into specific lanes and death traps, as well as followers in the form of mages and knights. Followers can be leveled up by purchasing duplicates and stacking them rather than deploying them on their own. Relics, dropped by bosses, can be used to further upgrade your defenders into their ultimate forms. Regular enemies drop experience and currency instead, allowing you to bolster your defenses and improve your hero through random upgrades, both during and in between enemy waves.
Each run of The Gate Must Stand spans three stages and takes around an hour to complete, although there is a built-in double speed option for those that feel the game’s pacing is too slow. There are five difficulty levels, and each successful run unlocks the next tier, with enemies becoming progressively harder. Bosses in particular can be bullet sponges. It’s likely that you’ll face defeat more than once. This is, of course, entirely by design, as dying still awards rewards that you can use to unlock permanent passive upgrades, making future attempts easier.
The core experience of The Gate Must Stand is competent and highly functional, although we did run into some notable quirks during our time with the game. The most prominent issue saw enemies regularly get stuck on barricades, though the text-heavy UI bothered us too, as it hindered the game’s at-a-glance readability. To Senmu Studio’s credit, they are actively listening to player feedback and are rolling out patches and fixes on a nearly daily basis. Given that The Gate Must Stand is very much a budget title, coming in at a mere €9.49, this is a very pleasant surprise. It shows that the developers are passionate about making this one a success.
Conclusion
Right now, The Gate Must Stand earns an average score. The game’s underlying hybrid gameplay loop and randomized progression systems are entertaining enough, and the core experience is mechanically sound for the most part. However, the game is dragged down by a complete lack of personality and rough UI. As it stands, the game doesn’t quite feel finished. Perhaps this should have been an Early Access release instead.
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