11 bit studios finally unleashes Anomaly 2 today. The story continues from the award winning Anomaly Warzone Earth, a RTS game where Earth is invaded in 2018 by alien machines.The game, although criticized by GamesBeat for being hard to control, has had a lot of success due to its unique style of game play often referred to as “tower offense” or “reverse tower defense”.
In the first Anomaly, players would control a convoy that was sent to investigate the wreckage created by downed alien spaceships which were causing anomalies. They were also tasked with getting rid of any threats that may appear within the sphere of these anomalies. Players couldn’t directly navigate the convoys themselves, but instead had to rely on setting paths and the control of a foot soldier entitled Commander.
In Anomaly 2, the planet is now almost completely overrun with aliens, and humans will have to do everything they can in order to defend their remaining numbers. According to 11 bit studios:
“Since the war, the roles have been reversed: now our species seems to be the Anomaly on a machine-controlled planet”.
Many of the original elements were retained – such as tactical planning and the command of the foot soldier Yukon – but it boasts a lot of new additions. In particular the developers are pushing a new multiplayer experience, which they say is unique to the game called Tower Defense vs Tower Offense. Now, you can choose to become an enemy of the human race and destroy their kind, or continue in your fight for survival.
The sequel also adds the ability to morph your troops using war mechs (which will affect specific combat situations), a new single player campaign, and upgraded graphics which Polygon’s Samit Sarkar has described as “…gorgeous, colorful…” Your experience as a player will also be more individualized as they have included alternative endings hinging on how you tackle enemies.
The game will be available for PC, Mac and Linux and as of right now is on sale for six days only for $13.49 (originally $14.99).
