iOS Game Review: Bardbarian

You know Bardbarian is going to be a unique experience from the opening seconds when the main character pops a zit and urinates into a bucket during the intro to the game. The game follows Brad, a barbarian who is tired of defending his town from goblin invaders. Brad decides one day to turn his battle-axe into an"Axe-Loot" and use rock and roll music to inspire the townspeople to fight for themselves.

The official App Store description describes Bardbarian as an unique hybrid of arcade, RPG, tower defense and shoot-em-up games. The game doesn't really feature any RPG elements, unless you count upgrades and a Story mode, but it is a unique tower defense title.

You control Brad who strums his loot to collect music notes that can be used to summon units to defend the Town Crystal. The game is unique because instead of placing towers in a predetermined space, you move your towers around to fight oncoming waves of enemies. This is tricky because you have to dodge projectiles while also trying to stand still so you can play your loot to collect more music notes. The notes are important because Brad will not fight and they are the only way you can replace your fallen units. You can also use the notes to boost your team's abilities to take down enemies faster.

The game includes 12 unlockable characters and plenty of other fun upgrades like the Town Drunk, whose vomit slows down the goblins when they step in it. You can buy the Town Drunk and other helpful townspeople in the Upgrade Shop with gold you gather from fallen enemies. I suggest buying the Town Pet immediately because he will pick up the gold for you, and you won't have to risk getting hurt while trying to collect it yourself.

The controls are very simple, you just drag your finger to move Brad and his party around the screen to attack and avoid being hit. The units all feature a special ability and fire on their own as you get closer to your enemies. The game also features fun hand-drawn original artwork and a rock/metal soundtrack by Maximum Satan.

Bardbarian isn't going to give any popular tower defense titles such as Kingdom Rush a run for their money, but it also won't give your buyer's remorse. It is a fun and challenging game that offers an interesting spin on the defense genre.

Bardbarian is available for all IOS devices running iOS 4.3 or later. You can download it now for $0.99 from the App Store.