“They told us it would play 15 times a day”, Elefantopia’s Fraser McCormick told me.
Little did he know that the ad for his game, McDROID, would play many, many more times a day than fifteen. Maybe 50. Maybe 200. A lot. But it was enough to draw me in.
When I say that McDROID is about robots, mutants, tower defense, and strawberries, most people are going to scratch their heads: how are all these things even related? Well they’re in McDROID, for starters.
The Story
Taking the role of an quadrupedal robot illegally harvesting strawberries on an alien world, you must fight off mutants bent on destroying your harvesting operation, as well as actually harvesting the strawberries themselves. And you have to deal with the planet’s strawberry-DRM. Yes, you heard right: strawberry-DRM.
(Just when you thought the digital rights management couldn’t get any more ridiculous).
The Game Play
Fighting off the mutants requires a balance of turret placement and repair, as enemies can and will destroy your lovingly built turrets. Alongside normal tower defense fare of missile launchers, laser guns, and buff turrets, McDROID mixes up the genre by also allowing you to have your own minions, place temporary explosives, and act as a turret yourself.
The inclusion of multiplayer modes and gamepad support, as well as the beautiful cell-shaded graphics and responsive controls shows just how truly polished this game is — a feat considering McDROID is Elefantopia’s first game.
Good News! It’s Available Now
All these components, alongside a rocking country-music soundtrack, makes this game the most fun I played at PAX: over the course of three days I must have visited the booth at least 7 times.
McDROID can be purchased in open beta, or downloaded as a demo , so please, do yourself a favor and check it out. I’d bet a few pounds of strawberries you won’t regret it.
