Dwerve Review

Like most people, I was once obsessed with mobile phone gaming. Tower defence games were my go-to as I love strategy and destruction. When I saw Dwerve and its hybrid RPG, fantasy, and tower defence gameplay, I couldn’t resist. Developer Half Human Games has done a great job with its storytelling and pixelated visuals. Furthermore, the action is nicely balanced and it tested me throughout.

This level of challenging action could put some people off. However, I liked the layers of cruelty and the incredibly rewarding moments. What’s more, the new tools, weapons, puzzles, and pillars of doom were great to witness. Yet, there is a sense of repetition and this drags it down a little.

Dwerve = one dwarf and a whole host of trouble.

The titular hero has his work cut out for him. Though he is smart and inquisitive, he’s not a natural fighter. Consequently, when an evil Witch-Queen called Vandra unleashes her troll army, things quickly turn south. With the help of the ancient warsmiths, Dwerve masters deadly tools to kill every troll, goblin, and monster.

The story is a little far-fetched, but I liked the fantasy edge. Moreover, you may only place limited towers and weapons to protect yourself. Power crystals are the key resource. Each tower requires 1 or 2 power crystals to energise them. Accordingly, when you have 6 in your possession, you must pick wisely. A giant axe, crossbow, spikes, oil, mortar, and more are at your disposal. However, you may only arm yourself with 4 and you must be wise before you enter each battle.

The axe is powerful but slow and the crossbow keeps monsters at bay. Yet, shields and armour deflect each bolt and this allows the monsters to advance. Consequently, you must consider a healthy blend of tools and study each battlefield if you wish to survive and win.

Don’t cry when it goes wrong.

Planning is essential and getting things wrong happens all too often. However, death isn’t a problem as checkpoints are easy to come by. Alongside this, the controls are relatively simple and a handy grid layout makes it easy to place each weapon.

Where Dwerve falls down, though, is the pixelated imagery and the dull colour palette. It is often tough to pick a route or work out the path of your foes. This causes confusion and anger and many gamers will quit far too early as a consequence.

An angry soundtrack matches the sinister and dark visuals. The loud sound effects were pretty annoying, but they added energy to the relatively linear gameplay.

Dwerve is fun but not memorable.

Dwerve does a great job of peppering the gameplay with its wonderful story. However, the action is somewhat repetitive and the colour palette is a bit too grim for my liking. Though I found it to be fun, it wasn’t memorable. Despite this, you should pick up a copy from the Xbox store!