Anomaly Warzone Earth HD is nice looking, if a bit monochromatic. The graphics work well (and without lag) because the perspective is forced, so there's not a lot of heavy lifting required from the game's 3D engine. We liked the design, very futuristic to match the latter part of the 21st century that serves as the setting for the game. As you crawl through a war-torn city, you can always swipe to view ahead of you or behind you, making the static camera more manageable. There are really only two views of the action during the game. One is live action, while the other is a tactical map used for planning your route. More on this later. These both show you the same territory, but the map usually includes some overlays that relate to your mission objectives. The in-game action includes a good voice track that updates you on the critical status of your vehicles, celebrates your wins, and tips you off to what upcoming challenges await. The other sounds are strictly of battle, whizzing missiles, exploding shells, and the sound of friendly jets blowing past with item drops for you. It's a microcosm of war, but well-crafted and effective..

We've heard the term "Reverse Tower Defense" knocked around in reference to games like Anomaly Warzone Earth HD. It's not a bad description, considering the static placement of enemy units and the planned route of your forces. We would probably just throw Anomaly Warzone Earth HD into the RTS bucket and be done with it, since that's essentially what you're up to here. It's RTS with constraints, no doubt. You do not have the flexibility to replan your attack once the battle commences, and enemies don't move. Come to think of it, there's almost an aspect of turn-based strategy here, since you basically have one biiiig turn in which to attack enemy forces. Planning the route is a critical step, but there is some skill and timing involved once you launch the attack. The game gives you several items that can't overcome poor planning, but can help achieve a higher score and ease your transition through each level. There is also the choice of what units you'll use to attack, and in what order they'll roll out. There's even a basic upgrade/purchase option you can leverage mid-level, assuming you plan your route around collecting additional resources. At the end of the day, none of these extras can really take the place of a sound plan, one that exploits enemy weakness and makes the most of your strengths.

Yes, it's hard. The lowest setting (of three) will still test your skill, but it is at least generous with items and enemy levels. There's a checkpoint system, and if your route is poorly planned, you have the chance to replan it from a checkpoint. The other reason to start from a checkpoint is if you happened to use the wrong item, or ended up too slow on the trigger finger. Some option to earn points for vehicle purchase/upgrade after killing enemies would have been nice, and we also noticed that it wasn't obvious enough how to dial down the difficulty. You have to completely back out of a level, rather than choose the "restart level" option, in order to reset the difficulty. Mastering the strategy behind Anomaly Warzone Earth HD is made even more difficult as the complexity of each level increases, and you have to constantly decide between a strong offense or a partial offense/defense approach. Like any classic strategy game, Anomaly Warzone Earth HD doesn't pull punches, but it seems well balanced enough if you choose the difficulty setting appropriate for your abilities.

The swiping mentioned earlier is about as complicated as controls in Anomaly Warzone Earth HD get. There are times when you'll tap to claim items dropped by your friendly supply planes, or to access the menu that shows your route. You can purchase or upgrade units during the game, but only after you collect resources. Planning your route around resources can lead you into dangerous situations, so it's that classic trade-off we mentioned earlier. All the in-game menus are intuitive, and you're never left wondering what to do next. The whole thing moves on rails anyway, so camera control and keeping track of the battle action is taken out of your hands.

Whether you like Tower Defense in forward or reverse, there's a common thread of strategic gameplay between Anomaly Warzone Earth HD and that genre. Fans of any RTS should also find a lot to like here. For a game on this platform, at this price, there's probably an appropriate amount of gameplay. To bubble up beyond a niche audience, Anomaly Warzone Earth HD would have to add in more nuanced missions, and something other than score to compel us to play again and again. That said, this is still a great time-waster for core gamers.