Fortified Review (PC)

Many different tower defense games have inundated the market in recent years, but among the flurry of titles released by various independent developers, very few have taken any risks or added different mechanics on top of the already established tower defense ones.

Those that did, such as the Anomaly or Orcs Must Die franchises, have managed to create loyal followings and spawned various sequels. Fortified, coming from Clapfoot, hopes to follow in their footsteps, bringing forth a smart mix of tower defense, third-person shooting, and strategy elements.

Throw in the 1950s aesthetic, the support for up to four players via its cooperative mode, not to mention a great visual style, and Fortified seems like a sure winner.

Does it manage to make a lasting impression or should the aliens abduct it for eternity? Let’s find out.

Story

Fortified’s story campaign embraces the golden age of comic book tropes, featuring four classic characters, ranging from a no-nonsense space cowboy to a glamorous rocket scientist, an ambitious secret agent, and a powerful Captain from the Army. They must all work together, in the cooperative mode, or alone, when playing solo, to rescue the world from the invading aliens.

The character design, as well as the plot, goes all in on the old-school factor. Each protagonist has his or her own backstory, but you shouldn’t expect any serious development throughout the campaign.

Super action in Fortified

Gameplay and multiplayer

Fortified’s gameplay is quite similar to that of Orcs Must Die. There are waves of foes that can be stopped by placing traps and guns, as well as by firing your actual weapons at them while moving through the level in a third-person view.

The traps and weapons do enough to make Fortified more than just a retro-themed variation of Orcs Must Die while the alien enemies are sufficiently varied to keep things fresh and challenging. Much like the game made by Robot Entertainment, here you can place traps on the ground as well as on walls while turrets and other such things can only be placed on the ground.

Every stage kicks off with a period in which you can examine the current enemy spawn points, as well as their path towards your rocket, which must be protected at all costs. You can spend currency on your traps and turrets while choosing from different weapons and effects from the loadout.

You can also plant objects during an actual wave, but most of the times, things get really hectic, and you’ll just try to survive and keep enemies in your planned kill zones. Stages are pretty well designed and quite varied, ramping up the challenge throughout the campaign.

Those who prefer to prove their resilience can jump into the Invasion mode, which is more or less an endless variation on the regular gameplay, with increasingly tougher waves of foes barreling down towards your rocket.

The four playable characters are pretty different in terms of guns and abilities, ranging from the cowboy’s shotgun to the scientist’s grenade launcher. Killing foes fills up your special meter, which can be activated to give yourself infinite ammo, super speed, flight, and other such abilities, depending on the character.

Unfortunately, the progression system is separate for each protagonist, meaning you’ll have to grind through the levels up to four times so that you can upgrade each character.

Of course, while playing alone can be pretty fun, Fortified gets much better when you have a friend or three along for the ride. The cooperative mode is only available online, and at least right now, there aren’t that many open games hosted by other players.

Unleash hell in Fortified

Visuals and sound

Fortified uses a cartoonish visual style that perfectly matches the 1950s comic book theme and is reminiscent of Team Fortress 2. The colors are sharp and vibrant, and the character design is relatively polished, albeit a bit more detail wouldn’t have hurt. Visual effects and animations are also pretty good.

The soundtrack doesn’t stand out all that much, but the different lines of the main characters can be quite funny, even if they're not that commonly mentioned.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion