Backflip Studios Hails to the King with Army of Darkness Defense

It’s been 30 years since the release of the first cult classic Evil Dead movie. Of the films, one of the best known was the third (released in 1992), Army of Darkness, and in honor of the film, Colorado-based mobile developer Backflip Studios has recently launched a new iPhone and iPad title, Army of Darkness Defense. Released May 12th, the game has already reached #10 on both of the top paid iOS lists. The app happened after MGM Studios approached Backflip with a catalogue of IP they were interested in taking to mobile devices. Army of Darkness was the film that resonated with the company's employees. In the game, the movie's protagonist Ash Williams has been whisked back in time to the medieval days of knights, squires, and apparently, the undead. Without getting too much into the film, Army of Darkness Defense puts players into the ending climax of the movie in which Ash, Lord Arthur, Duke Henry the Red, and a rag tag group of soldiers and peasants must defend the Necronomicon from the hordes of the dead. "We felt the pivotal scene in the movie where Ash, the protagonist, defends Arthur's fortress from the Deadites (living dead), screamed to be made into a castle defense game," Backflip's chief executive Julian Farrior told us. Described as “tug-of-war” type of strategy game, the app works similarly to a past profiled game, Avatar of War: The Dark Lord, as well as old casual web game, Epic War. That said, where these games were decidedly passive, Army of Darkness Defense squeaks in a small bit of action-based play. That said, it’s not terribly much, but the style of the game and classic nature of the movie makes the app decidedly addictive. On sale for $0.99 on iPhone and $2.99 on iPad, the game is one that can easily expand from a few minutes of play to several hours. In the game, on one end of the fairly sizable map is a breached gate. Waves of varying types of undead enemies will steadily stream in and march towards the a book of magic the player must protect called the Necromicon. Should they reach it and destroy the gates protecting it, or should the player-controlled Ash die, the user will lose. In order to defend the Necronomicon, players will have to build up there forces using steel that is passively generated by the keep’s blacksmith (killed enemies will also often drop extra steel and coin). Like the undead, friendly units will attack anything in their path. Also, like the previously noted game examples, each unit varies in strength, in terms of health, speed, damage, and range, and as such will cost more steel the better they are. Players have their standard gamete of swordsman and archers, but Army of Darkness also boasts unique hero units from the movie as well (such as Lord Arthur). Exceedingly powerful, these units are costly. In order to pay for them, users must spend steel to upgrade their blacksmith's workplace as well. What this does, is create a strategic choice between upgrading and purchasing units, and since the waves of undead become significantly more threatening as each wave progresses, making a poor choice can often be very costly. What makes the waves even more challenging is that at certain times in the wave, a “horde” will approach containing far more undead than normal. If a strategy has not been devised by that time, the chances of failure increase dramatically. In order to mitigate some of the danger, Backflip incorporates a bit of action game play. Players can actually control the movement of Ash themselves. A strong unit in his own right, Ash can attack, automatically, at range with his shotgun or melee (once upgraded) with his signature chainsaw hand. In addition to this, players will be granted half-a-dozen spells that Ash can periodically activate. Unfortunately, only two can be chosen at the start of each level, but host a lot of the style that makes Evil Dead what it is. From blasting one’s “boomstick” to saying the secret words of “Clatto Verrata... @$@%^$” players can slay large portions of the horde or summon allies to fight by them respectively (or sometimes summon a nice necktie). Other abilities include a catapult, arrow volleys and so on. In addition to this, players can also upgrade their castle to have passive defenses as well as improve each of their units. Upgrades happen before the start of every level. This is where players spend coins earned from prior levels. At more difficult levels, players may need extra financial help in order to stave off the damned. To help with this, players can purchase extra gold in-app in quantities ranging from 5,000 to 500,000 at the cost of $0.99 to $24.99 respectively. Up until these levels (e.g. wave 50+), the challenge is not too bad. The game is not terribly difficult, and failure doesn’t occur often. That said, there is just enough challenge for the game to be fun. Moreover, the inclusion of Ash’s one-liners, sound clips from the movie, the ability to blow off the heads and limbs of skeletons, and even swarms of those Ash pygmies adds a great deal of fun. Overall, there really are no complaints to be had with Army of Darkness Defense. Yes, it is a simple game with a core concept that's been done before. With a unique style, nostalgia and some jokes peppered in here and there, it’s a strategy game that is more about plain fun than the challenges contained in the app. Army of Darkness Defense is one of the better new games in the App Store right now, and comes highly recommended.

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Backflip Studios Hails to the King with Army of Darkness Defense

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack