Just like last year, the App Store was pumping out on the iPhone and Mac with countless new apps. In 2018, every Global Tech editor chooses another app as a favorite of the year. In our opinion, these are the best iOS and macOS apps of the year. Wouter concludes with Kingdom Rush Vengeance.
Kingdom Rush Vengeance: the best iOS game
Like co-Global Tech editor Erwin, I chose a game this year as my favorite ‘app’ of the year. No iOS apps have appeared in 2018 that I have decided to use; my home screen and a fixed group of applications have been unchanged for a while. A lot of cool iOS games have been released, and Kingdom Rush Vengeance was my favorite this year.
Now I am not a very fanatical iOS gamer, but I like to make time for the Kingdom Rush series. The tower defense genre is not very popular anymore, but fortunately, the Kingdom Rush series maintains this. The game principle has not changed very much, although Vengeance brings a nice twist. You now play like the bad guys and have to compete against the characters from the previous three Kingdom Rush games.
That does not have a huge impact on the gameplay, and that is not bad at all. You still work strategically to put the correct towers in the right places, thus preventing the enemies from reaching the end of the road. In the beginning, this is fairly simple, but it becomes quite a lot spicier. Kingdom Rush Vengeance is a challenging game and you never get bored by all the different towers, powers, and enemies.
As you complete levels, you get new heroes, you can upgrade all kinds of things and focus on the achievements. With the latter, you earn red diamonds, with which you can then buy all kinds of new tools to eliminate the enemies. Furthermore, the game looks very cool because of the cartoonish graphics style and different worlds.
Not a perfect game
Although Kingdom Rush Vengeance is the nicest iOS game of 2018 in my opinion, there is still something to criticize. For example, the game contains quite a lot of in-app purchases, while you already pay 5.49 euros to play. With those in-app purchases you get access to new heroes and towers, and although you do not need to finish the game, it is a bit of a shame that you have to pay extra for it. With a free game we had best understood those paid extras, but now it feels a bit redundant.
In addition, I would have liked that the levels were slightly shorter. In each level, you get a number of waves of enemies, which are actually too much. You start with four waves, but soon it will be 12 to 15.
That’s why it takes a long time before you finish a level (if you do not lose), and therefore Kingdom Rush Vengeance is not always suitable for short game sessions. Do you have a quarter of an hour to kill in the train, then it’s fine, but if you want to play something for five minutes you better start another game.
Yet I have had a lot of fun at Kingdom Rush Vengeance and I hope that fast new levels will be added with updates. With 5.49 euros the game is not cheap, but if you are looking for a fun mobile game, you should not miss it.