Crystal Defenders R2 review

R2 is a tougher game to play than R1, which is hardly surprising as it’s little more than a continuation of exactly the same game. While a new set of character classes is introduced, they’re basically the ones from R1 with new skins and new names.

Each level sees you facing increasingly tough waves of enemies. The first wave is weedy and easily dispatched, which is a good thing as you’ll only have enough gil (in-game currency) to buy a few units. You earn more gil by offing enemies, which you then spend on more units to face the next, tougher wave. Alternatively, and depending on your strategy, you can spend your cash on upgrading your existing units, improving their damage-dishing, range and speed. It’s best to do both.

Initially it doesn’t really matter what class of unit you employ in the fieldas they’ll all do the job for you. However, you’ll soon encounter beasts that are resistant or impervious to specific types of attack. If you’ve got a bunch of mages and no soldiers, for example, you’llbein a pickle if the wave of enemies is magic-resistant. Likewise, some enemies are flying creatures, so you’ll need archers or mages to take them down. And sometimes the enemies have combinations of resistance, making it even trickier (this is mainly a feature of R2).

Further complicating matters in R2 are waves of enemies coming from two different directions. Then you’ll really need to put your general’s hat on. Thankfully, the game can be paused mid-attack and you can spend cash on hastily building new units to plug your breached lines. Providing you haven’t spent it all in baulked preparation. And, sadly, it’s all ruined by the issue of money. Make it 800 points for both and we’d be happy.

Jul 9, 2009