Day Zero Review – WGB

Typically it’s straightforward to neglect that I’m speculated to evaluation video games. Because the trade drives itself straight off a cliff like a drunk driver listening to a defective GPS, and the summer season drought kicks in, leaving us bereft of video games, I’ve been so busy writing information that evaluation work has fallen by the wayside.

However right here we’re, again within the saddle. Properly, in a drone, anyway.

Iron Guard: Day Zero is a tower-defence technique recreation, a style I solely often dabble in however nonetheless deeply get pleasure from. It’s basically a rebuilt flat-screen adaptation of the unique Iron Guard VR, designed each as a extra accessible PS5 model and as a gateway into Xlab Digital’s VR-born tower-defence sequence. It isn’t actually Iron Guard 3, neither is it a straight untouched port. It’s the authentic VR recreation dragged out of the headset, scrubbed up, taught the right way to use a DualSense, and despatched into the broader PS5 world to see if anybody outdoors the VR bubble is paying consideration. It’s a bit of….er, complicated, actually.

Accessible On: PS5
Reviewed On: PS5
Developed By: Xlab Digital
Printed By: Xlab Digital

Evaluation code supplied by the writer.

Iron Guard: Day Zero’s plot is pretty easy. Your ship has crash-landed on a planet inhabited solely by terraformers. For some motive, the planet seems to have been deserted. There are buildings, roads, and a whole community of infrastructure, however no people utilizing any of it. No one’s milling about questioning the place the closest Starbucks is, or complaining loudly that this nook’s McDonald’s isn’t fairly nearly as good as the opposite nook’s McDonald’s.

Naturally, you rapidly uncover that the robots on this planet have gone batshit loopy and would very very like to kill you. Your objective is to outlive 30 marketing campaign ranges through tower defence, which largely means constructing no matter you may, wherever you’re allowed to, so as to maintain off the onslaught.

Story-wise, it’s all very forgettable. The sport does its finest, however the voice performing isn’t actually as much as snuff, typically leaving characters sounding flat and monotone. That isn’t helped by the writing, which is equally flat and monotone. There’s not a lot I can say about it with out sounding like an asshole: it’s forgettable. It does nearly sufficient to justify why you’re caught on this planet capturing robots, and that’s about it.

There are a few moments the sport appears to view as twists, however they’re about as stunning as being informed a big company doesn’t really care about your particular person happiness. Past that, there’s actually not a lot else to say concerning the story.

Nearly each degree in Iron Guard: Day Zero follows the very same template: defend your base. I imply, it is a tower-defense recreation, in spite of everything.

Meaning you’re given a number of routes main towards your base, all peppered with constructing plots the place you may deploy numerous turrets and defences to deal with the onslaught of enemy drones and terraformers charging at you want metallic overlords who need to introduce your cranium to the idea of AI straight.

Very like the true world, although, you want constructing permission earlier than you may simply slap issues down, and even then, you may’t simply put them wherever you bloody please. Turrets can solely be positioned on set factors, so success comes from determining which defences to construct, the place to construct them, and in what order. And to fund all these fancy units, it is advisable scale back the incoming waves to little greater than scrap steel.

The important thing to holding again the enemy onslaught is mixing your turrets correctly. Electrical turrets are nice for taking down shields and, most significantly, slowing enemies down. The usual cannon turret is normally finest for coping with massive numbers of small, quick enemies, however as soon as upgraded so it will probably additionally dish out some fairly hefty harm. Rocket turrets are the one issues able to dealing with flying enemies, so spreading them round liberally could be very helpful. The laser turret is mighty and highly effective, however takes an age to reload, as if somebody has to expire to the store and purchase a contemporary pack of batteries each two seconds. The flamethrower, in the meantime, is finest used for dealing long-term harm, which suggests it normally works finest close to the beginning of your defences the place it has time to actually take impact.

Iron Guard: Day Zero’s one actual twist on the tower defence style is that you simply management a drone within the sky utilizing the 2 analogue sticks. With this drone, you fly across the battlefield, level at constructing plots, convey up a radial menu to resolve what to assemble, and voilà, turrets are constructed. You possibly can improve them utilizing the identical methodology, and it’s also possible to construct useful resource extractors, which we’ll come again to later.

Extra importantly, although, you’re able to involving your self within the fight straight. Your drone has a reasonably puny little laser gun that can be utilized to bombard the enemy drones and terraformers. It does an annoyingly small quantity of injury, and but, regardless of that, you may really make an inexpensive distinction within the combat. You’ll typically end up flying between the totally different lanes, attempting to determine the place your additional firepower may be wanted most. A secondary charge-up assault will also be helpful for coping with shielded enemies.

A couple of upgrades afterward do make your drone really feel extra highly effective, however at no level does it really feel fairly helpful sufficient, which is weirdly at odds with the truth that you actually could make a distinction when utilizing it. You possibly can level at one enemy and maintain down the set off till the warmth meter fills up and your gun stops firing, but nonetheless really feel such as you’ve barely made a dent in its well being bar. It’s an odd distinction, however there now we have it.

Flying enemies don’t assault your base straight, however they do assault your drone, disabling your gun and particular skills. These skills are most likely essentially the most helpful issues your drone has: a chemical weapon that may be deployed on the battlefield to deal important space harm over time, and an airstrike designed to blow the shit out of the whole lot unfortunate sufficient to be on the street beneath it. Each are efficient, each are on timers, and each may be upgraded.

Some ranges additionally characteristic blockers on the routes. As an alternative of getting straight roads main on to your base, these maps are extra sophisticated and let you spend a small quantity of the sources earned from killing robots to lift blocker gates at set factors. These redirect enemy routes, normally letting you make the trail longer and drive attackers previous extra defensive factors.

I like this aspect. It’s an fascinating strategic twist, even when I’m positive different tower defence video games have achieved comparable issues earlier than. Making an attempt to determine how finest to fuck with enemy routes typically feels extra strategically fascinating than deploying turrets, which may grow to be pretty normal after just a few rounds when you get the hold of what to mix and the place to position them. Step by step determining the right way to ship a batch of enemy models three additional kilometres round your metropolis earlier than they ever attain your base is satisfying.

Talking of gameplay twists, Iron Guard: Day Zero does often attempt to throw in one thing to spice issues up. For instance, one very late mission sees you defending allied buggies as they attempt to make it again to base. It’s an fascinating recreation kind, though admittedly this specific degree makes use of the thought a bit of clumsily in a manner that may really feel unfair at occasions. I finally muddled via, but it surely’s not one of the best showcase for the mechanic.

Different ranges allow you to play for so long as you want as a result of your objective is solely to amass a sure amount of money moderately than survive a set variety of waves. Others change the target so that you simply’re defending till a progress bar reaches 100%. Often, these are extra like stat modifications or UI modifications than significant shake-ups. You’re nonetheless defending towards waves and ready for one thing to complete; it’s simply that as a substitute of counting down 12 waves, you’re watching a bar replenish.

Nonetheless, it’s good that the sport no less than tries. Throughout the 30 marketing campaign ranges, although, it does really feel like there was room for just a few extra fascinating concepts to be added into the combo moderately than leaning so closely on simple tower defence.

Throughout the marketing campaign, you’re awarded factors on the finish of every mission to spend on upgrades. These are largely normal fare. Turrets may be improved so as to purchase newer, extra superior variations of them mid-level, alongside passive buffs that make every yet another efficient. Likewise, you may unlock issues like the flexibility on your base to slowly restore itself, upgrades on your airstrike and corrosive weapon, enhancements to useful resource mining, and some different bits and items.

There’s sufficient selection right here to make you’re feeling like you will have some small quantity of management over your most well-liked playstyle and the route of your defences, however in the end not a lot. A couple of upgrades really feel helpful, a pair really feel pretty pointless, and most sit comfortably within the center as quietly useful however unexciting additions.

In different phrases, the improve system is okay. It exists. It provides you one thing to spend factors on between missions, but it surely doesn’t add a lot character or depth to the expertise.

There are just a few different tough edges value mentioning, too. Even on the simplest problem setting, a few ranges caught me off guard with sudden problem spikes. Often, this simply meant replaying the mission a few times to determine the proper turret placement or route technique, so it was extra annoying than disastrous, but it surely does make the marketing campaign really feel a bit of uneven in locations.

The issue Iron Guard: Day Zero faces is that with out the VR gimmick, there isn’t a complete lot else left.

It’s not that the sport is incompetent or outright unhealthy. It isn’t. It’s a superbly practical tower defence recreation. However and not using a headset strapped to my face and sweat pouring down my brow, what am I actually left with? Principally, a bog-standard tower defence title that struggles to seek out something memorable to name its personal.

The drone you personally management does set it aside a bit of, letting you fly across the battlefield, construct and improve turrets, and contribute on to the combat. However it doesn’t set the sport aside sufficient. Nor does the story do a lot to make issues extra fascinating. What stays is a well-known number of turrets, acquainted enemy waves, acquainted improve paths, and acquainted tower defence issues which were solved a whole bunch of occasions earlier than by different video games.

That leaves Day Zero in a clumsy place. It’s not unhealthy sufficient to be apparently unhealthy, nor distinctive sufficient to be genuinely thrilling. It’s merely okay. A reliable, playable, largely forgettable tower defence recreation that most likely made much more sense when its acquainted concepts had been being skilled from inside a VR headset.