Guardians of Holme Review (PC)

A ton of orcs and other assorted monsters are pouring through the two open portals, although it is hard to get specifics about them as they perish about three seconds max after they enter my extensive trap gauntlet. I put two guard posts close to my crystal, making sure I have time to react if any demons get closer. But those might have been misused resources given how this level is going.

I use my arrow power to deal with a group and then activate the next wave option to get a bonus. My trap setup is strong, but I could use some extra backups. I rejoice when a harvest trap slides into the list of options at the bottom of my screen because it will extract resources as long as enemies die within its range. I find a good place for it and then add a squeezing trap nearby for good measure.

Nothing much happens until the final wave hits. Exactly one fast enemy manages to get past the gauntlet, and I need to use the arrows to eliminate it. The boss shows up, with a lot of hit points to spare, but he isn’t better than his minions at surviving the combination of acid, spikes, and arrows that hit him. My victory should deliver some strong new traps to use on the next map.

Guardians of Holme is developed by MossTech Studio and published by indienova. I played it using Steam on the PC. The game takes classic tower defense mechanics but is centered around traps and risk and reward concepts.

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The game’s setting isn’t very original. A Demon King sought to destroy the world but was foiled by a legendary hero who banished him to the edge of the world. Time passed and the narrative of this feat was slowly lost, with demons reappearing, growing in power, and launching an attack on the Royal City, to bring back their leader by breaking the final seal holding him back.

Gamers take on the role of an artisan from Holme, who needs to organize citizens and create traps to stop the advancing evil. The game’s writing is mostly informative, describing trap capabilities or situations that players have to engage in. The various monsters also talk when they attack and die, something referencing well-known fantasy universes.

And die they will, in great numbers, if players master the trap-centered tower defense mechanics of Guardians of Holme. For each combat scenario, players will get an idea of the opponents they’ll face and a randomized layout. Then it’s time to deploy some initial traps, covering the enemy’s route as well as possible. They shoot arrows at demons, some crush them, others drive spikes into their bodies, a few deploy loyal troops, and others boost nearby traps. Gamers also have access to character-specific special abilities, on a timer, to deploy when the situation gets difficult.

There are traps, mostly the ones that shoot a projectile at enemies, that need to be placed on a wall, taking up precious space. Others need a piece of floor to attach to and creating a sequence that can weaken and deal a lot of damage is important. Guards aren’t very powerful combatants but force creatures to fight them.

As the game progresses, the complexity level increases. New types of creatures come in through the games and that leads to shifts in strategy. Players unlock new traps and upgrade the ones they have collected. The number of incoming waves increases. While moving from battle to battle, gamers will also use gold to shop, respond to events, and, eventually, fight capable bosses.

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Eventually, enough enemies will break through player trap layers and will destroy the crystal. This is where the rogue-lite elements kick in. Players keep traps and can use gems to unlock extra content, including extra heroes to add variety. Then it’s time to start over, make new choices, and find new combos to deal with larger numbers of tougher opponents.

Guardians of Holme tweaks the tower-defense formula by offering players the option to call in an enemy wave early and by offering extra difficulty options before a level starts. Tango with these options to get extra rewards but big groups of opponents can quickly overwhelm even the best-planned trap gauntlet.

Between getting new traps, upgrading them, and capturing relics from bosses, there’s plenty to discover and test. But, as with many other titles in the genre, laying traps and battling monsters can become repetitive. There are levels where, even at the highest speed, it takes too long to move through waves that clearly pose no threat to the player’s base. It doesn’t help that the narrative isn’t that interesting. The overland map has limited choices and events aren’t exciting.

Guardians of Holme doesn’t have an impressive presentation, but it has some style. This is a fairly standard fantasy world, filled with gray environments and suitably demonic enemies. The interface is good, giving players all the details about enemy waves and trap selection that they need. But the game needed more personality, especially for the very drab world map.

The soundtrack is surprisingly good, driven by a piano-heavy progressive track with strong earworm potential. Sound effects for combat and map movement aren’t as strong. This becomes a podcast game as soon as players get bored of the good music tracks.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion