While real-time strategy (RTS) has become a popular genre over the years, it’s often hard to find games that manage to balance the gameplay in a way that makes the user interface approachable and doesn’t feel like you’re doing cubicle work. Games like Command & Conquer and Dune pioneered RTS gaming and we’ve seen thousands of variations on those themes at this point. However, what kind of RTS you like is certainly dependent on a variety of factors including plot, immersion, and control optimization.
Cannon Brawl from Turtle Sandbox and publisher Blitworks tries to stand out among the RTS genre here by fusing another genre into the tactical strategy mix. In Cannon Brawl, gameplay is entirely on a 2D map. Those of you who have been playing games for a while might recognize the style of playfield design here, a fusion of Lemmings and Worms shifted to a more militarized RTS format. Environments are destructible and you’ll have to learn quickly which units are most effective in which situations if you want to survive the enemy onslaught.
Speaking of the enemy, it’s your uncle. What Cannon Brawl really doesn’t have going for it is the plot, with a thin storyline about a king whose brother is trying to depose him. Your job is to defend him and fight back against your evil uncle. There’s really not much more story than that either. Instead, there’s just bits of hokey dialogue, a bunch of filler that sets up each battle, and then combat. That’s probably for the best as the combat in Cannon Brawl is noticeably more compelling than the story and you quickly find yourself not giving a thought to the characters at all.
As you might have surmised by now, combat is the meat and potatoes of Cannon Brawl. Get rolling, blast your way through the enemy, and move on to the next stage. There are 20 stages in single player alone here. Initially, you’ll only have access to a few units and as you play, you slowly learn how to use each effectively. To build units you’ll need money and to get money, you’ll need to mine for gold or gems. Build mining units, rake in the cash, then you’re off to the races building cannon turrets, bomb machines, shields, lasers, and lots more! You’ll need balloons to keep control of your areas, allowing you to build in them as well, and the enemies aren’t kind to your units.
As you play, you’ll slowly mine more and more gold and gems, allowing you to buy fancier and fancier offensive weapons such as turrets. Upgrade a turret several times and it shoots massive bullets all the way across the screen, handily mapped out for you with arrows. This in turn allows you to blast through the enemy defenses quickly. While you’re at it, upgraded shields add layers upon layers of defensive perimeter, but you likely won’t need to worry about that. Keep in mind that these are short levels too, making the gameplay fast and furious. Often times RTS games drag as you slowly build and wait to be attacked or explore enemy territory but here the entire combat area is already onscreen and the enemy is coming at you full force fairly quickly. There’s no waiting around, just build and attack!
There are a number of pilots for your zeppelin as well. Each pilot offers various strengths such as additional attacks, healing skills, or accelerated cooldowns. With 5 or 6 pilots to choose from there are a lot of options, but only the most complex battles will require careful pilot selections. There are plenty of weapons to choose from as well and having to choose a handful can be much more daunting than pilot selection. Weapons matter and depending on which level and enemy you’re facing, the wrong weapon selection can absolutely cripple you.
The thing about Cannon Brawl is that while it’s a fun and well-designed RTS, it’s also not all that difficult. Most of the battles, including boss battles, are simply not that challenging if you have any strategic experience and veteran players will find themselves wondering if the AI is glitching. During this review, almost every battle was completed in a single try with little to no effort and only minimal tactical planning. That’s not to say the game isn’t good, but the AI is definitely lacking compared to similar games. There’s no way things should be this much of a walk in the park on default difficulty.
Single player mode also includes a handful of puzzle levels for you to try your hand at. Challenges such as defeating an enemy in less than three shots with ample defenses and other sneaky goals both serve as a break from the faster paced combat of the main levels and additional practice in advanced tactics that will serve you well both in single player and multiplayer. That’s right, Cannon Brawl has multiple modes that you’ll want to check out. In addition to cutting your teeth on the campaign mode, you’ll also be able to play with your friends in both online and local co-op. This is where the strategies you’ve learned become a lot more challenging, exploiting your competitor’s weaknesses and hoping they don’t spam a clever attack or three until your castle is suddenly in ruins! This is a game that feels like it’s designed for couch co-op, sitting around with a two liter of Mountain Dew and a bunch of Doritos, yelling at your buddies and blasting their bases to smithereens.
But you might have also noticed by now that the game looks more than a little dated. Partly that’s due to the fact that it’s a small indie game and partly it’s because Cannon Brawl is a decade old! This is a game that was originally released on the PC wayyyyy back in 2013 and other than optimization for new consoles, hasn’t really gotten any significant upgrades. Not that it really needs them since the UI is fairly straightforward and the game controls well, but the visuals at least could probably use a facelift.
Cannon Brawl is cartoonish and colorful, but not necessarily in the best ways. While the graphic design isn’t bad, per se, it’s also somewhat rough. The character art is cheesy and the backgrounds aren’t particularly detailed. Everything looks clean and crisp on the XSX, but at the same time, the game more closely resembles a phone game in visual design than it does a console or PC release. Honestly, it was a surprise to find out that Cannon Brawl has never been released on mobile since it feels particularly well-suited to that format. While this isn’t a top tier game visually, it does at least make up for it’s shortcomings with gameplay.
That also goes for the sound and music in the game. The tracks are powerful triumphant, medieval kingdom sorts of music, the kind of thing that makes your chest swell on your way to die for your king. Well, maybe not, but they’re loud and brassy and fun and the music is generally quite good if more than a bit in your face. The sound effects are passable but other than explosions, they fade well into the background, overpowered by a noticeably high number of trumpets. It’s not a bad sounding game, but you’re definitely not going to be wandering about humming after playing.
All in all, Cannon Brawl is definitely dated in a few areas but also has a lot going for it in terms of fun factor. The levels are short and don’t drag on, there are decent strategy elements, and there’s a variety of weaponry and zeppelin pilots to change things up based on your combat preferences. If you have buddies that like to play, even better because you won’t be fighting for server slots and you’re going to have a good time! Once you finish the game’s campaign, there’s even a nightmare mode that unlocks to challenge your speed and tactical skills all over again, and this one is definitely a challenge! For only $10 (and less when it’s on sale), this is a surprisingly fun game! But hey, don’t take our word for it, just go check it out!
This review is based on a digital copy of Cannon Brawl provided by the publisher. It was played on an Xbox Series X using a Sony 1080p TV. Cannon Brawl is also available for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and PC on Steam.