I find Tower Defense games to be enjoyable as they offer something different what we are accustomed to. And to be able to play them on the go is another plus, and Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault is a really good example of how this genre should be. In AoE:PA you start out in the quaint city of Kimberley which you must protect. Of top importance is the city’s core, which must be protected at all times from enemy attacks. The city is comprised of four rings, or zones, where you can place different offensive and defensive units. You can also place buildings for people to live, and having more people means getting more funds. Each unit can also be upgraded by using crystals found on enemies, along with a price in gold.
Your units will attack automatically whenever enemies are within range ,however, AoE:PA throws a little bit of strategy your way with a few mechanics. The first is unit merging where. if you manage to line up two or more units of the same type (you rotate a zone with either the left analog stick or shoulder buttons), they will merge together and form a larger, more powerful version. Eventually with enemies approaching from all sides, the choice becomes either merging units for more powerful attacks, or rotating various zones to ensure that you’re covering the widest area possible. And in some of the later assaults, the amount of enemies attacking from all sides is really high, so you really need to strategically allocate all of you units to control enemy advances.
Graphically the game looks good and I like the designs of the enemies and how the city looks.If I compare it to the home console versions, then of course those look way better, but in the PS Vita screen while there are some blocky textures they aren’t game breaking, so for me they are acceptable. The interface through which you perform, and purchase upgrades is interesting since it gives the sense of a high tech world hub. The transition into a battle is seamless, though things will get repetitive as characters say the same lines, whether you’re entering battle number 5 or number 25 (as expected from a tower defense game). Now regarding the music and sounds, I think they are well done and the music goes well with the assaults and gives the adrenaline rush needed when things are becoming hectic. The game is not fully voiced, so you get the typical”Commander” “Everyone” voice sounds. I don’t see a problem with that, and they don’t take away from the experience. One key feature that AoE:PA offers is the cross save with the other versions(PS3 and PS4) so that way you can battle on the go, and continue where you left off on your big screen. While it doesn’t offer cross buy, the way I see it is that you get the game on two platforms for the price of one full priced game($60.00 anyone).
Bottom Line Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault is a great entry game for the tower defense genre. It offers a unique combat style, it has interesting characters and story, if you have experience with tower defense games you will see that is easy to get into and it does not overstay its welcome. On the other hand if you haven’t played a tower defense game, you will like that is welcoming to newcomers, and you will find yourself grinding for hours to get your city to tip top shape. I can definitely recommend this game to anyone, it is the tower defense game you didn’t know you needed.