

Some more variety in the voice work would be nice. The music and voice acting too are top-notch, but much like the early Warcraft games, there are some catch-cries you’ll hear a million times over during each play-through. There’s a playful tone throughout, which is unlike the grim-faced classics of Blizzard, and indicates this game doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are also randomised world events that pop up during each adventure, from dodging falling trees to stumbling across sleeping ogres, all brought to life with some entertaining writing (including some cheeky Easter eggs to be found, such as getting Rick Rolled in one of the taverns). Thankfully, it's not necessary to play the previous games to understand the plot, but it’s there for fans nonetheless. The combat view zooms in and takes place on a classic hex-grid, with obstructions like trees, logs, houses, and rivers dotting the battlefield.Ĭut scenes play out as hand-drawn comic strips and tell the story of orc invasions of the Kingdom which, while doing the job, feel arbitrary to the gameplay. I love the little details in the map, which offer branching pathways through each adventure, allowing players some level of control over how they tackle things (but no backtracking, sadly). There are two main views: the map view and the combat view.

It’s clear this developer wears its Warcraft-era Blizzard influence on its sleeve, as the animated heroes and lush battlegrounds certainly channel the mid-nineties Orcs vs Humans vibe. So what about the game itself? Well, as with all Ironhide titles, the first thing that jumps out is the vivid, hand-drawn art style. That’s not to say there won’t be any paid DLC in the future, which would be nice, but time will tell.

#Kingdom rush free
Thankfully, Legends of Kingdom Rush is free from micro-transactions so far. They have certainly tried not to alienate fans with predatory IAP strategies, and most micro-transactions are for cosmetics or, at worst, for speeding up certain gameplay elements. While many of their games have implemented in-app purchases (IAP), they can mostly be enjoyed without spending beyond the initial price of admission. Source: SteamĪs a mobile-first developer, Ironhide is certainly no stranger to micro-transactions.
#Kingdom rush Offline
There’s an Iron Marines sequel in the works, too: Iron Marines Invasion, which looks to offer more of the same offline single-player RTS goodness. Regrettably, though, the game was never released with any multiplayer component, which certainly held back its potential for growth. Also received positively, it demonstrated that the touchscreen could be a viable platform for the RTS genre. They branched out in 2017 with Iron Marines, a new IP with a futuristic setting and a real-time strategy (RTS) approach. Their first major game, Kingdom Rush, was released in 2011 and (along with its many sequels) is one of the biggest tower defence games of all time. Uruguay-based indie studio Ironhide is well known for their polished tower defence and RTS games on mobile and Steam. I was lucky to spend some time with the game and came away impressed. It's finally making its way to Steam in July 2022 after a long period of exclusivity on Apple Arcade. Legends of Kingdom Rushis a turn-based-strategy RPG hybrid with rogue-lite elements that channels the Fire Emblem and Advance Wars games of yesteryear.
