Age of Defense is out today on Steam, but there’s not enough time to get it finished in time: It’s a tower defence game in the style of the Kingdom Rush series, only instead of knights and wizards, you’re blessed with a roster of Fred Flintstone and Chuck Rock.
Originally released in 2019, Battlecruiser Games now has a Valkyrie Initiative on board as a publisher. They’ve given it a revamp and added well over 100 new bits and bobs. As a precursor to the release, today sees a free prologue on Steam—Age of Defense: Prehistory, where you get to try out three full-on missions, including a boss fight.
Though tower defence games have been at the top of my list alongside point and click adventures, racing, and beat ’em ups, Age of Defense: Prehistory was a slight challenge to understand. Sure, it has all the hallmarks of the genre, and if you are familiar with the Kingdom Rush series, it should be a doddle. However, the lack of dialogue with caveman animatics had me overthinking things, and it was initially confusing.
Waves of monsters will attempt to infiltrate your village, and you’ll have to defend it using a diverse range of towers. These towers are constructed of spear-chucking, boulder-wielding, spell-casting Neanderthals, each with unique special skills. Coin drops don’t apply; rather, meat will drop, easily redeemable for another tower.
There are skills, too, and in this case, you can place on-the-fly destructible barricades and spike traps in the way of approaching enemies, accumulating more with time and kills. The waves are long in Age of Defense: Prehistory (as well as the base game), so this isn’t a case of placing things willy-nilly and hoping for the best.
There’s plenty of longevity to be had in Age of Defense, especially for those seeking perfect runs. After the initial hiccup in caveman translation, this game could be an excellent alternative to the upcoming Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance. Stay tuned for a full review later this week.
