Locks Quest review

You play the eponymous Lock, a young mechanic who's thrown into the middle of a war between the Kingdom Forces and an invading army of Clockwork robots. You quickly learn the ways of the "archineers", skillful mechanics who can build structures and weaponry in an instant. After the Clockworks enter your village, looking for "Source" (a mysterious energy that powers both the Clockwork army and Kingdom Forces), you must set-up your defences and hope that they're not breached before the robots run out of energy.Battles last days, and each day is broken down into two phases: build and battle. During the build phase, you have limited time and Source to build all manner of defensive units, such as walls, turrets, and traps. When the time runs out, the battle phase will begin, and wave upon wave of enemies will attempt to destroy your walls and capture the Source Well. You aren't completely helpless, however, and Lock has some offensive capabilities. He can attack the Clockworks with a variety of moves, or spend his time furiously running between the battlements, repairing the damage that the Clockworks have created.Lock's Quest starts off at a nice, gentle pace, with simple enemies attacking on one front. Although each battle only lasts for a series of days, the Clockworks attack with more force each day, and on the final day a boss will appear. This means that the game gradually gets more and more frantic as it progresses. The Clockwork Army will grow in numbers, and different classes of soldiers will appear. You may be able to cope with the standard minions knocking at your door, but when they're joined by archers and magicians, who can attack from long distance, flying and burrowing Clockworks, who attack from above and below, and rampaging grunts with rocket boosters and sledgehammers, the task becomes that much harder.It's as if the game is intent on making you crumple in a heap of humiliation, begging for mercy. Soon you will have multiple Source wells to defend, Clockworks attacking from every direction, and the enemies will evolve to counter your defences. Traps, for example, are extremely useful; you can set them down to freeze, dissolve, or destroy your enemy. Just as you soon as you gain a few more varieties, however, the flying Clockworks appear on the scene, and conveniently have the ability to destroy them. The time limit when setting the defences adds pressure, and you have little time to survey the map and make proper preparations. The game doesn't let up, and just as you've survived one onslaught, the action switches to a different location, and there's another battlement to defend.What's most impressive about Lock's Quest is that fact that it keeps you coming back, hungry for more punishment. Each map is unique, and the objectives of the battles change just enough to keep each one fresh. Whilst defending the Source Well (or some other object) is the prime objective, on some days you will be asked to go on the offensive and destroy Clockwork commanding officers, or rescue hostages scattered around the map. This does act as a very welcome distraction to the chaos of repairing walls and weapons, and means that you never really know what is coming next. You can upgrade Lock's attacks, making them more powerful, and activating each one makes use of the touch screen in a different way. The different enemies and defensive units are introduced at a nice pace, and progressing through Lock's Quest is immensely satisfying.What stops Lock's Quest being a great game is its story. The campaign itself is lengthy, but is almost ruined by the dull tale of Lock's transition from naive villager to the Kingdom's saviour. There's nothing new, and it's really quite predictable. It would appear that little thought has gone into anything bar the action, and this is apparent when you can spend time exploring parts of the land. You can speak to the locals, but there's not much point, as all they will talk about is how they're scared of the Clockworks, or what the weather is like. They won't give you any good advice, or items to help you in your quest, and the only side quest come in the form of a "Defend Your Castle" clone, where you have to man a turret and fire canon balls at approaching soldiers. Whilst this is well-executed, it would have been nice to have a little more depth.Little things begin to grate, like the occasional inaccuracy of the controls, or the isometric viewpoint which can hinder the placement of your ramparts. The frantic nature of the battles means you start to look with hate-filled eyes at your worthless AI allies who are all too quick to take the credit for weathering the storm and keeping the Source Well safe. The reality is that you're on your own, and, if anything, they get in your way. Luckily the enemy AI is also lazy. Yes, they attack in many waves of increasing numbers, but they are predictable. They tend to attack the nearest destructible item (including yourself), and often leave the objective alone. This doesn't mean that they should be taken lightly, however, but as long as you're paying attention, you should be able to keep that Source safe.Alongside the single-player campaign, there's an entertaining multi-player mode that enables two people to build armies and defences and go to war. Whilst this is only local play, it does mean that Lock's Quest makes a more worthy addition to your DS collection. If you thrive under pressure, and are looking for an innovative strategy game that is as rewarding as it is challenging, then Gamestyle recommends you seek it out.