Unstoppable Gorg Review

Tower defence with a twist… and a turn and a spin! Martians from Mars! Sirens from Jupiter! Mechanoids from the very sun itself! Has planet Earth ever been under such terrible threat? Can the planet and the human race survive such an onslaught? Only by playing Futuremark Games Studio’s retro-styled Unstoppable Gorg can you guide humanity to victory over the alien invaders!

Playing as the heroic Captain Adam, you are tasked with setting up defensive satellites around key installations such as mining asteroids, the moon, and, of course, Earth. Satellites are placed in three or more defensive rings that surround your base, firing at incoming UFOs on their convoluted paths to the target. So far, a pretty normal tower defence game.

To spice things up, Gorg contains one major twist rarely seen in tower defence games – satellite rings can be rotated freely, moving satellites around without speed restrictions. This gives the player the ability to slowly rotate a satellite along with an invader to keep it under constant attack, or swing a defenceless satellite out of harms way at any time. It’s a simple yet clever addition that could have added greatly to the gameplay.

Unfortunately it’s clear that most levels have been designed with this ability in mind, and often failure is inevitable without frequent satellite movement. Combined with the very limited and arbitrary locations in which satellites can be placed, it risks turning Gorg into less of a tower defence game and more of a problem-solving and memory one. As new paths for invaders appear during each mission, you’ll often find there is no way to complete the level with your current set up and will often have to restart.

By forcing rotation of satellite rings, this unique gameplay mechanic feels like less of a magnificent ability and more of a chore. Those looking for a serious challenge will likely enjoy it, but the casual gamer is going to be put off quite quickly. To say Gorg is difficult would be an understatement. Even medium difficulty is challenging and will see the average player restarting frequently. Whilst not a game for the easily frustrated, its easiest difficulty allows players to pass most missions without trouble.

Cut-scenes between missions are brilliantly done in grainy black and white retro 50s style, cleverly evoking the very worst of B-grade sci-fi movies. Hordes of plastic toy UFOs hover over the White House, dangling precariously from clearly visible strings. Evil robotic villains wearing trash-can helmets deliver threatening monologues while Finnish burlesque star Lou Lou D’Vil plays a sultry siren attempting to seduce the heroic Captain with her dastardly hypnotic powers.

Strangely, Captain Adam himself is the only element in the game that’s woefully out of place, appearing as a bored-looking, reasonably young chap in desperate need of a shave. For a game so reliant on strong retro style and 50s stereotypes, it is quite jarring to see anything but the expected middle-aged, clean-shaven, square-jawed hero such an era would demand.

Gorg is still a highly entertaining game that provides a surprisingly high level of challenge. Its greatest strength lies in its brilliant retro styling, and the continual interesting satellite and alien unlocks that come with each completed level. It’s not a normal tower defence game however, and traditionalists may find it frustrating. For those looking for a challenge combined with style however, Unstoppable Gorg may be just the game to invade your computer.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.