Rock 'N' Roll Defense

Despite being one of the hottest trends of the last decade, I somehow missed out on the tower defense craze. I was so busy playing everything else that I've managed to review only two games from the popular genre -- Creature Defense and Plants vs. Zombies. While certainly entertaining, neither intrigued me enough to want to dig any deeper. But then I saw Rock 'N' Roll Defense, a title that immediately conjured up images of drugged-out musicians getting with groupies and trashing hotel rooms. If anything can save the tower defense, it's the power of rock 'n roll!

At least, that was my hope. I figured that maybe the music theme might bring some fresh ideas to the played-out genre. Sadly, I was wrong. While the soundtrack may be heavier and the setting unique, Rock 'N' Roll Defense plays out exactly like every other tower defense game. It's short and simple, offering only the barest of essentials. That may be enough for you, but it sure left me disappointed in their set.

Instead of the traditional tower, you are tasked with protecting the band from being overrun by rabid fans. You eliminate the threat by posting a series of speakers around a windy path. Each enemy drops a certain amount of money, allowing you to not only place more speakers, but also upgrade the ones you have. If you can survive a few waves of increasingly aggressive enemies, then you'll save the day and move on to the next city.

Although the developers promise robust support down the road, Rock 'N' Roll Defense is launching with a paltry amount of stages and speakers to choose from. I was surprised to see only four different speakers to place, with one of them being all but useless. Beyond the usual strength and range, there isn't much difference between your armaments, which leads to a sense of repetition from one stage to the next.

The slight changes to the layouts simply aren't enough to keep each level new and fresh. Much like the backgrounds and speaker selection, the enemy variety is equally limited. There's nothing interesting about seeing hundreds of the same types of characters, especially when they feel so disconnected from the theme. Perhaps a brief story would have helped explain each villain, but there's nothing like that here. We're left to concoct our own backstory as we attempt to stay awake through the monotonous puzzles.

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For a game based on the rich history of rock 'n roll, I found the soundtrack to be decidedly lacking. The songs are short and repeat far too often, a theme we keep coming back to. Understandably, we're treated to a selection of songs from tiny indie bands looking for exposure. While I'm all for the effort, I wouldn't pay to see them live. The problem is that they often don't fit the tone of the game. In fact, there were times when I wished they just would have created dumb chiptunes versions of classic rock songs, not unlike Rock 'N' Racing.

Even as somebody who hasn't played hundreds of hours of the popular genre, it didn't take long for me to grow bored with Rock 'N' Roll Defense. Despite having a great theme to build off of, this game does little more than squander its potential. This is the typical tower defense formula with a musical facelift, which just doesn't cut it in 2016. This is another typical clone that plays it safe, and that's certainly not very rock 'n roll.