14 DAY TRIAL // I have placed all the turrets that the map supports, which by itself is not enough to stop the incoming monsters. I might have overused the mine locations during the first 5 minutes of the run, which makes it very expensive to use these last-ditch defenses again.
I don't think there is enough time for the creatures to destroy the colony but my research lab is in pretty big danger. I might use my resources to place mines but I might be able to stop the current attack by clever use of my own powers.
A Vortex stops enemies in their tracks, allowing my turrets to focus their fire. I also place a Dying Star a little further up the path, getting ready to detonate it as soon as the bigger monsters are in range. Finally, I also have the power to stop time for a while, but I am keeping that in reserve for the moment.
Hope's End is developed and published by Explorers Guild Games. The game is in Early Access on Steam. The title offers a new take on some classic tower defense mechanics, with a focus on meta-progression and variety.
Players will become the Supreme Psion, a powerful psychic who is leading the defensive efforts of humanity’s last survivors. The world is in chaos, with monstrous mutated creatures on the prowl, ready to destroy infrastructure and kill survivors. Communications are down and the poetically named Hope’s End is the outpost that needs to endure.
To make sure of that, players will mix tower defense with the personal touch. The game features seven sets of psychic powers, with three available right away and four left to unlock. Each has a set of powers, ranging from the ability to freeze enemies to the ability to create a dying star and a last ditch option that wipes all enemies from the map.
But these cannot hold back the monsters on their own. Gamers need to put down a range of defensive buildings. Turrets fire at enemies in range and their price increases as more are called into being. Barriers influence the paths for the creatures, while mines can wipe groups out but each costs more than the last.
The idea is to protect five buildings from the constantly streaming enemies and reach as high a score as possible. Players will get DNA strands from defeated creatures, which allows them to research upgrades for their defenses. A separate set of improvements is linked to every class. My big issue right now is that many of these require a lot of runs to unlock.
Hope's End is a decent-looking tower defense experience. Zooming in too close reveals the lack of detail of both the creatures you are fighting and the player’s defensive emplacements. But gamers will spend their time zoomed out, moving quickly across the battlefield to identify threats and drops, so the presentation mostly works. The soundtrack is suitably orchestral, with a heroic tone, but needs to become more varied.
Conclusion
The game will be easy to understand for anyone who knows the basics of the genre while innovating on the margins of the experience. Both the No Hope and Some Hope tabs are interesting and should be expanded for the full version. Hope’s End is an example of how classic ideas can be tweaked to offer new experiences and I really want to see how the end product plays.
A preview key was provided by the publisher
