IDUN Review (PC, Linux, MacOS)

At this point in the gaming industry, you’ll find way too many RTS and tower defense games then you can possibly consume in one lifetime. Many of the titles on offer similar gameplay; some are even copy-paste versions of games you’ve played before. But IDUN dares to stand out from the crowd. For one, it merges RTS and tower defense into one game in the most seamless way possible. 

Furthermore, the gameplay itself is pretty unique, borrowing mechanics you may have seen before yet finding clever and creative ways to pique your interest. Admittedly, the one-person developer for this game may have a long way to go, especially on the voice-acting front. However, at present, there’s a lot to already awe over. Come along as we dive deeper into our IDUN review, exploring the story and gameplay you can expect when you do decide to boot the game up for yourself.

Intruder Alert

IDUN has a story-based campaign and a pretty compelling one at that. It kicks off with humanity landing on an unknown, remote planet to start afresh. They are presumably seeking refuge, hoping to build a new and better life. Fortunately, the planet they land on seems to have great tidings in store. It has bountiful resources they can mine to build new structures and develop a thriving economy. 

So, in no time at all, the humans in IDUN begin to mine resources. You’ll need to blast off the surface rock to reach valuable resources. This is done by choosing the weapon of your choice, whether turret, shotgun, or sniper. It takes a bit for the surface rock to blast open, and then you can proceed to stock up on resources. Thereafter, you can bring your rewards back to the base space station, where you spend the loot on building new structures, unlocking better gear, upgrading your technology, and so on. 

It’d all have been smooth sailing, except the remote planet you’ve made into your new home has hostile aliens looking to destroy you. And we’re not just talking about one or two foes but hordes of nasty creatures, relentless in their pursuit of blood. It soon becomes apparent that the inhabitants of IDUN aren’t too pleased that you’ve taken up space in their home. They’re so pissed off, in fact, they want all your people dead.

Survival for the Fittest

But here’s the catch. You can’t exactly abandon mining and resource gathering to deal with the swarms of enemies overwhelming your people. You need to keep mining constantly for the survival of the human race. This leaves you very little wiggly room to kick your feet up and leisurely explore planet IDUN. You always have to be on high alert, ensuring that your drills are protected at all times while your people fend off the attackers. 

And just to be clearer, the enemies you fight against swarm all around you in the thousands. No, really. You may be playing the game viewing a small section of the map, and yet your screen will flood with hundreds and thousands of hostile alien species, there’ll almost never be time to catch your breath. 

This is where the balance between RTS and tower defense gameplay comes in because you have to place your weapons and army units strategically on the map, aggressively attacking every enemy on sight but still ensuring that your mining expeditions are protected alongside your people.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

Well, IDUN is a single-player game, so you’ll only have yourself to blame for an unexpected “Game Over.” However, a guarantee of success can only come when you use all of the tools at your disposal. Firstly, you need to pick a Hero that will fend off the attackers on the battlefield. Thankfully, there is a nice selection of Heroes you can choose from, each with varying skills and personalities. 

In fact, each hero comes with distinct backstories, too, that often unfold during your story-based campaigns. Characters will often engage in dialogue that further reveals intriguing information about the planet. As you forge on, though, the story digs deeper into character development, infusing more complex themes from love to betrayal. 

Besides the story grasping your attention, you’ll also control several turrets, re-positioning them on the map as you see fit. A new stream of enemies will constantly spawn on an unexpected area of the map, which will only take milliseconds for you to respond with the right tactic. Perhaps it’s moving the turrets between a drill and the swarms of enemies. Or it might be adding more turrets to sufficiently take out the increased flood of enemies. 

Think on Your Feet

It’s an incredibly fast-paced game that pushes you to put a high level of thought into your next move while still considering that time is of the essence. In addition to hordes of enemies spawning at any time and at any place, your turrets also have no cooldowns. This gives you minimal time to think of your next strategy. 

Also, you could just as easily run out of weapons. Enemies could overwhelm you and take out your turrets. This is where having varied tools at your disposal comes in. Besides your chosen hero and turrets, you also have the option of choosing a meteor missile or sky gun. So, whenever the aliens overwhelm you, there’s the option of unleashing a massive AoE that clears out an entire field of foes. 

Overall, IDUN’s combat builds its foundation on the freedom of moving turrets to prime locations on the battlefield. It’s about optimizing the best placement in real-time strategy, using the varied environmental terrain to your advantage, and defending the mining drills that will determine whether you successfully complete a mission. 

Take Your Pick

Speaking of missions, IDUN does have varied types. There are escort missions, extraction shooter ones, raids, and more, with a rogue-lite gameplay element. Each time you dive back in for another go at mining more resources, you’re met with a different procedurally generated map. The terrain, enemy placement, and overall structure of missions are random, ensuring you never know what to expect and continuously enjoy a refreshing playthrough. 

Furthermore, you can always raise the stakes and play with a higher difficulty. For instance, you can go a level higher from medium to hard difficulty, and in addition to enemies spawning from the North, South, West, or East, they also spawn from underground. As always, the standard difficulty settings apply, like mowing down more enemies with higher resistance to damage. It’s definitely more intense to beat the missions on a higher difficulty, which is where upgrades come in handy.

Using the mined resources, you can unlock new weapons and upgrades. You can unlock more special weapons, from meteor missiles to sky guns. You can also transform your turrets from long-range to higher-damage short-range shotguns. Heroes, too, can unlock new abilities that make them sturdier and more powerful. 

Thumbs Down

But perhaps the disappointing aspect of IDUN is the lackluster voice acting. The heroes sound so bland and uninteresting, suggesting that their voices may have been AI-manufactured. It’s frustrating as IDUN could have been just fine with textual storytelling, and even all the more frustrating that every other aspect of the game is perfect.

Besides the hugely satisfying combat and compelling story, the graphics and soundtrack are a joy. Environments are incredibly detailed, with an alluring aesthetic that brings the game’s world to life. You have varied biomes from lush jungles that make enemies harder to spot to open areas that are easier to align your shots. 

Meanwhile, the soundtrack is a blast, switching from mellow during the calmer missions and building to more frenetic beats at the peak of combat. The same goes for the sound effects, which are quite punchy during intense battles and accompanied by the screeching sounds of the aliens. Both the visuals and the sound are so inviting, that you almost forget how terrible the voice acting is. Hopefully, though, the developer finds a workaround to ensure that the voice acting is just as exciting as the rest of the game. 

Verdict

IDUN is a blast to experience; that’s hardly debateable. Its combat, especially, is a thrilling work of art that nabs your attention through to your last mission. You’re constantly on your toes, strategizing your next move in mere milliseconds and reaping the fruits of your skills in no time at all. Thanks to the procedurally generated maps, you’re often taken to an unexpected area that feels new and refreshing to beat. 

Moreover, you can always play different missions and upgrade your weapons to up the ante on your foes. Even on the hard difficulty, you may stand a chance of victory if you use the tools at your disposal to their maximum power and effect. The only worry is the bland voice acting that could possibly pluck you out of an otherwise addicting experience. Well, at least if you’re keen on discovering the twists and turns of the compelling story and how it ties to the complex ideas of humanity taking over space.