{"id":86422,"date":"2019-03-04T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/hell_warders"},"modified":"2019-03-04T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T22:00:00","slug":"review-hell-warders-a-hellish-experience-that-really-needs-to-be-played-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/03\/04\/review-hell-warders-a-hellish-experience-that-really-needs-to-be-played-with-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Hell Warders &#8211; A Hellish Experience That Really Needs To Be Played With Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/999fac65339ea\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/999fac65339ea\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95280\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95280\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>While the Tower Defence genre might not be quite as big as it once was, there\u2019s still room for more additions if a developer can bring something new and innovative to the mix. Or, at the very least, do the job competently enough to represent its compatriots on Nintendo Switch. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/hell_warders\"><strong>Hell Warders<\/strong><\/a>, from Hong Kong-based developer Anti-Gravity Game Studios, certainly doesn\u2019t tick the former box thanks to some clunky controls and a general lack of originality, <em>but<\/em> it does offer an entertaining way to kill waves of mindless enemies with friends.<\/p>\n<p>Following a similar template to the likes of <strong>Orcs Must Die!<\/strong> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/pixeljunk_monsters_2\"><strong>Pixeljunk Monsters 2<\/strong><\/a>, you\u2019ll play one of three Gothic-styled heroes as they attempt to stem \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 the hordes of hell from taking over a suitably fantasy-themed world. Your goal couldn\u2019t be simpler: erect a series of defences in a series of small arenas and vanquish systematic waves. Most Tower Defence games tend to rely on a top-down view as you monitor your units, but Hell Warders drops you into the middle of the action, <em>a la<\/em> a third-person shooter.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95285\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95285\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>In-between waves you can choose to place units at certain points in the map by flitting between them, or upgrading them to make them more effective (and increase their chances of surviving). The more enemies you kill, the more glowing orbs you can collect and upgrade your AI-controlled units when that wave is finally slain. You start off with just a handful of lance-wielding knights, but the further you progress the more types you\u2019ll unlock. Archers are your classic long-range griefers, while sorcerers are ideal for slowing enemies down, making them easier to dispatch.<\/p>\n<p>Each arena has a different layout, and the real strategy comes not so much in what you do when a wave is initiated \u2013 chaos tends to be the main theme when hell is quite literally unleashed \u2013 but how you prep beforehand. If you\u2019re willing to stick with it, Hell Warders offers a lot of reward for the tacticians who learn which corners suit which units, and how placing a certain type in a certain locale makes them most effective. Considering lost units take all the upgrades invested with them to the grave, that placement really makes a difference.<\/p>\n<p>Most arenas have multiple points of entry for your demonic foes, so each wave is often a matter of jumping between multiple funnel points as hordes of demons in various nightmarish forms trundle towards a floating blue crystal that represents your base. You need to keep said glowing abstraction intact, and the better shape it\u2019s in when the final wave is destroyed, the better your score (and your rewards) at the end of a match. It\u2019s your classic Tower Defence set-up, just with you mindlessly mashing the attack button.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95281\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95281\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The thing is, if you\u2019re going to base your game around an action setup, you <em>really<\/em> need to make sure those mechanics hold up to constant use \u2013 and Hell Warders&#8217; really don\u2019t. Whichever character you settle for, you really are just relying on your basic attack and a handful of special moves. Whether you\u2019re playing as a knight who didn\u2019t get the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/dark_souls_remastered\"><strong>Dark Souls<\/strong><\/a> gig, a burly and bearded heavy who may or may not have accidentally wandered in from an audition for <strong>The Elder Scrolls Online<\/strong> or a gun-toting dandy (who presumably gets all of his attire from a tailor in <strong>Bloodborne<\/strong>\u2019s Yharnam), there\u2019s very little strategy or nuance to be found when you\u2019re actually in the thick of it.<\/p>\n<p>Enemies come in various shapes and sizes, but most tend to just rush your base so it\u2019s more a case of rushing in to smash them or hanging back to pick them off with ranged fire, depending on your choice of character. A handful of types do actually require actual thought to dispatch them, such as dark sorcerers that deal heavy damage and healers that buff their fellow demons as they surge forwards, but most are just variations on a monstrous theme. There are some quirks to certain maps \u2013 such as grates that periodically set alight and burn anything running across it (including you) \u2013 but most are just corridors and stairways that lead to your base.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95282\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/95282\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Hell Warders Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Despite the odd mix of tactical prep and completely chaotic wave control, Hell Warders simply isn\u2019t built for solo play. You can play the entire game in single-player, but the whole thing is clearly designed for multiple players and it\u2019s near impossible to stem flows of enemies on your own. Thankfully, you can play locally or head online and batter the denizens of hell with some company; with friends or randoms at your side, Hell Warders can be quite fun, mainly because with four players it\u2019s quite easy to overstock on orbs and max out every unit at your disposal. It\u2019s odd that with an extra month of development, Anti-Gravity still didn\u2019t address the vast differences in difficulty between either of its modes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Hell Warders isn\u2019t the prettiest of games you\u2019ll play on Nintendo Switch \u2013 even in docked mode its visuals really struggle to shake off that last-gen sheen \u2013 but look past its unoriginal Gothic aesthetic and there\u2019s a competent (if uninspiring) Tower Defence game to be had. If you\u2019re planning to tackle this alone, it\u2019s best avoided, but if you want to hook up with the admittedly small number of people playing online, the occupants of hell certainly won\u2019t slay themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Tower Defence genre might not be quite as big as it once was, there\u2019s still room for more additions if a developer can bring something new and innovative to the mix. Or, at the very least, do the job competently enough to represent its compatriots on Nintendo Switch. Hell Warders, from Hong Kong-based [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}