Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault Review (PS4)

I don’t get very excited for strategy and tower defence games and Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault is no exception but it did a lot to keep drawing me in for more.

 

Aegis of Earth follows you, the Manager, stationed in the quiet town of Kimberly as you work with the colourful team to prevent any assaults from the fearsome enemies known as the Protonovus who have been ravaging the world. Kimberly rarely gets any trouble which has lead to it being understaffed but now that you’ve arrived as Manager and the number of attacks are increasing, you work to stave off daily attacks and prove to headquarters that you deserve more manpower and employees to help you with the new onslaughts. With Kimberly becoming quickly well-known with more citizens wishing to move in, it’s not long before Kimberly finds itself growing to become one of the biggest cities.

 

The story plods along nicely but it’s the lively characters and their interactions that really made me want to experience more of the story – you know, past the gameplay. The characters may fit more than a few tropes but they’re abundantly loveable, have great chemistry and provide some great light-hearted laughs. Assistant Manager Towa is desperate to find a boyfriend but due to her work schedule she can hardly find the time to fit seeing in anybody outside of work, Lovelock is energetic, raring to go and willing to do all he can to serve Kimberly, Tarkov is boastful but has doubts about his own abilities and Monaley is the motherly figure of the group. Aegis of Earth has a robust cast with fantastic characters that you get to learn more about as the game progresses.

 

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The gameplay is addictive and has some unique gameplay mechanics. Kimberly can turn its entire city into a weapon when enemies attack as they come from all angles, and you can rotate separate levels of the city which are armed with various weapons to point them to wherever the threat is coming from, or you can install ‘last resort’ weaponry that attacks if an enemy manages to breach your defences. This way of playing makes it more accessible for someone like me who isn’t too fond of strategy and tower defence games generally, but I found plenty of enjoyment here. Weapons can transform together as long as they’re the same, so if you have two or more missiles and line them up together via their different levels, they’ll combine to create a stronger missile until you rotate one out. It’s creative and will keep you on your toes with its frenetic missions, and Aegis of Earth really surprised me with how fun it is. It can become repetitive and it’s far from the most challenging game around, but it kept my attention and it would make for great on-the-go Vita title.

 

When you’re not in battle, you’ll be building Kimberly (or other cities) and fortifying your defences. As you play through the game you get access to blueprints to create new weaponry that you buy with gems and such that you earn in battle or, if you perform well, you get given a money bonus from headquarters. You use resources to build weapons and defences in empty slots of land in your city, and you can upgrade these as well as build housing for people to live in – you’ll want to ensure that these are protected and upgraded so that there are no casualties during battle.

 

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Aegis of Earth isn’t pushing the PS4 to its limit but the anime visuals, the colourful tones of the cities and the way they rotate is satisfying and pleasant to see. I personally enjoyed the character portraits enough to buy a couple of avatars on the PlayStation Network store, and they’re given a few different poses and facial expressions to switch between during conversations. There are more environments to change the scenery a little as you progress through the game, keeping repetition at bay. The game is played from an isometric angle and so you won’t see oodles of detail on the buildings and weaponry, but this isn’t a complaint as they more than do the job.

 

The official soundtrack isn’t particularly memorable and doesn’t have much of a presence in the game, but the voice-acting is superb although a lot of the dialogue is read rather than spoken. The voice-acting is as cheerful and charismatic, fitting the cast perfectly. There will be a few voice-actors and actresses that you’ll likely recognise, especially with such a large cast that requires great talent to bring them to life.

 

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Aegis of Earth is an exciting game with unique gameplay elements, a charming cast with excellent voice-acting and some brilliant character design make Aegis of Earth a game that deserves more credit than it’s likely going to get. It’s one of the only games so far this year that has taken me by surprise, and having the option to play it on the big screen or on the go ensures that I’ll be returning to it. If Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault sounds interesting to you then I recommend getting it, or if you fancy something a little different.

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