ArchMage Defense Review

ArchMage Defense is an Apple i-pod touch/i-phone game by Celestial Digital Entertainment. It is an interesting twist to the Defend Your Castle type game. You're an evil sorcerer hell bent on keeping your castle intact. You will be utilizing your magical arts as well as getting assistance from a skeletal archer. You'll have to defeat foot soldiers, archers, catapults, and more. Each enemy defeated is a soul that you can then use to strengthen your magic, learn new spells, repair your castle, or strengthen your castle. Do you think you have what it takes? We shall see...

The graphics are what you'd expect from a game like this on the device its on, with 2D character design, in a faux 3D world. The enemies are readily identifiable, and so after you've seen them a couple of times you'll know what it takes to take them down. The animations for the skeleton and your spells are well done. I am impressed by the way the lightning bolt actually follows the path you made with your finger. I do think that the death does get a bit old, as when you kill your enemy you basically get to see belly down of them with their intestines poking out, every time.

As for the sound and music of this game, here's my recommendation, mute the sounds, and use the add your own music feature. There isn't any music in the game and the sounds are going to drive you nuts after about 10 seconds of playing, especially when you start seeing wave after wave of enemies.

The controls respond relatively well in this game. You'll be drawing a line from the skull to your enemies for the lightning, you'll be tapping on your enemy to freeze them (that's if you have the spell), and you'll be drawing a circle to drop a fireball (that's if you have the spell). My only qualm is that sometimes it takes one or two circles before the fireball drops.

As far as I can tell with this game you're just trying to outlast the opposition. I'm not sure that there is an end to the game, but I have to say that that hasn't stopped me from repeatedly coming back to this game so that I can set a bunch of enemies on fire and then cut them to pieces with my lightning bolt. I do have a bit of advice, for me the freeze spell isn't really worth it, if an enemy gets hit by fire they slow down enough to allow you to reck havoc upon them. Also you're going to want to upgrade your mana, you can never have too much juice to use on your spells. It will replenish when souls make contact with the skull, but why sweat that part.

For the price, this is a game that I'd recommend to anyone out there who, after reading up to this part, thinks that they might like this game. I have to admit at first I thought this game was going to be one that I'd pick up once and then never come back to, but I'm happy to report I was wrong. This game gets an 8.7 out of 10.