Tower defence games can be good time burners. The type of game you can pick up for an hour or so and have a bit of fun with. I used to love playing Orcs Must Die, setting traps and watching the hordes of Orcs come to their demise. Now I’ve had the opportunity to play McDroid which has just released on Xbox One, which puts you in control of a droid by the same name as you are tasked to defend each area from waves of enemies while needing to hone your multitasking abilities.
When booting up the game I was greeted my McDroid and I couldn’t shake thoughts on the look of the character. Now it might be just my own strange thoughts (more than likely) but it looks like the robot has been modelled after someone ‘presenting themselves’ on all fours. Seriously, look at the logo above and tell me it doesn’t look like an arse in the air. From that point I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind as I progressed with the game. Though it isn’t actually noticeable while playing along.
The actual premise of the game is all a bit odd. There is a planet which is home of the whale dental bleaching laser, and the planet is of course in trouble. You will find yourself planting stuff, shooting, collecting strawberries (yes strawberries) which is used as a fuel source and a way to pay for new weapons, and also repairing turrets and other bits and bobs as you go. But the ‘weird’ things don’t really matter when you actually get down to it. This is simply a defeat the waves of enemies affair before moving on to the next area.
I didn’t get the same enjoyment out of McDroid as I have done with other tower defence games in the past. I don’t think the weapons that are used are given enough effect or impact to make the player feel like they are doing any damage. There is no real reaction from the enemies either which disappointing. If I’m firing a laser off at something, I want to be able to see that it is actually having an effect, everything just feels a little bit bland.
It is nice for a game to try to introduce new layers to an already established genre, but by putting so much micro-management in the hands of the player in real time McDroid has become a bit of a muddled mess. By making the player deal with collecting resources, spawning, repairing, shooting and actually shooting all within fairly quick rounds, and not making any of them particularly gripping, as a player I felt like I was just going through boring and at times frustrating motions. And within a few levels it quickly becomes apparent that McDroid will be a game that will fall into the digital abyss.
**Thank you to XCN for providing a review copy of the game**