Defend the Rook Review | TheXboxHub

The rook is maybe one of the precious chess items outdoors of the royal household, so you may perceive why its safety is likely to be of significance. Regardless of using a rook and a recreation board although, Defend the Rook truly has little or no to do with chess. It’s strategic, certain, however the focus is on turn-based fight that includes a bunch of heroes which is infused with tower protection and roguelike parts. 

Must you put all of your efforts in to Defend the Rook, or is it about as interesting as a stalemate?

The Queen senses an invasion of her land is on the horizon and hires the highly effective Magister to help in defending it. This Magister character can manipulate the battlefield by organising troops and putting contraptions upon it, with the only function of defeating anybody who dares to put siege to the Queen’s area. You’re going to turn into that Magister in a bid to outlive lengthy sufficient to save lots of the day and Defend the Rook.

The story itself teeters on the sting of being pointless, for there isn’t an terrible lot to it apart from the opening gambit. There are some pre-battle conflabs and a twist of types, however nothing too gripping to be trustworthy. The voice appearing doesn’t do the narrative any favours both, with a really dreary efficiency for the Queen that will bore you to tears. However, it’s a precursor for the motion forward and provides the upcoming proceedings a function.

Each marketing campaign run by lays down a gauntlet of 5 areas to outlive towards the hordes inside. Each space consists of withstanding 5 waves of enemies, together with a boss encounter within the last wave. Battle is resolved on a 9×9 tiled recreation board, the place turns alternate between your troops and the enemy horde. At your disposal are battle items representing the mighty Rook, a Rogue, a Sorceress, and a Warrior. It additionally supplies a small assortment of spells, contraptions and towers, with the latter fulfilling a lot of the standards wanted for the presence of tower protection. 

Throughout your flip it’s straightforward to navigate by the models utilizing the bumpers and entry the extra tools or spells on the press of a single button. The one draw back is that choosing the tiles you want to transfer to or place issues on is a bit finicky, principally because the board is about at an angle. The whole lot else is spot on within the controls division although.

As soon as the battle will get underway, you realise technique is a key facet as you meticulously manoeuvre the models into advantageous positions and launch assaults to skinny the horde forward of the enemy’s flip. Having the ability to erect just a few towers permits further firepower to assist out the heroes, whereas traps, decoys and such can purchase a little bit of time when outnumbered. Regardless of solely having the three heroes available, it maintains a aggressive steadiness that’s by no means overly tough but robust sufficient to make you assume.

The number of enemies inside every space is nice as they’re all related to the theme of the land. Within the mountains there are orcs and goblins, however fungi creatures are discovered within the mushroom glade and there are vampires within the graveyard. Higher but although, the bosses all convey totally different strengths and weaknesses to the desk. A selected favorite is Rathur who’s fairly elusive and whips out heavy artillery to maintain your group on their toes.

As for the character items in your facet, they every have totally different stats with reference to well being, armor, energy, vary, and motion. Fortuitously, the Rook is an actual injury sponge and possesses loads of well being; in spite of everything, ought to the Rook meet its demise, it’s recreation over – the remaining are indispensable. Via conquering a wave, a alternative of three loot upgrades are provided to boost the hero models. 

That’s how the troops get stronger, however I have to say it looks like pot luck as as to whether the loot upgrades are going to be of any assist. These sorts of upgrades are available frequent, uncommon, and epic kinds, offering the likes of everlasting stat will increase, cool results that set off after doing a selected motion, and short-term boosts. They solely final for that exact run, which is smart, however the randomness of upgrades provided can actually hinder or assist your possibilities of succeeding. 

A number of the attainable combos are deadly, with the Rogue attacking twice, the Warrior retaliating to hits, and the Sorceress damaging everybody on the battlefield. However, you might get boosts for not attacking, diminished motion in change for energy, and extra actions at the price of energy. The latter concoction sucks, however hey, you simply must take care of no matter you’re given.

Different enhancements may be bought with gold and XP earned from claiming victory in an space. Nevertheless, till you attain the final upgrades in your social gathering members, towers or contraptions, there are only a few distinction makers. None of it carries over, sadly, however there are gems awarded after your tried runs. These completely unlock new alternate heroes and contraptions in addition to introducing a greater vary of loot choices and improved spells. Spend them correctly and also you’ll get nearer to reaching the ultimate space of the marketing campaign.

Ending a full run is immensely satisfying, nevertheless the aftermath is sure to be underwhelming for some. You see, the longevity comes from doing it yet again with modifiers in place for every ascension stage tried. For instance, the primary ascension reduces therapeutic, whereas the second makes waves seem sooner, and the third causes enemy augmentation. Having ten ascensions is nice, however not probably the most inventive solution to keep away from the gameplay getting stale. 

Finally, Defend the Rook manages to create a fairly good tactical affair that’s obtained neat loot, an easy-to-grasp setup and a shed load of cool enemies to defeat. Although it’s gratifying for just a few playthroughs till success is achieved, the chance to check out unlocked heroes and contraptions doesn’t add sufficient selection within the common gameplay to hook you in for the lengthy haul. 

Come, have some enjoyable and Defend the Rook for some time, however don’t anticipate it to offer tons of longevity.

Defend the Rook is offered to buy on the Xbox Retailer