KMGR of "Kill All Bugs!"

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Kill all Bugs! is an adaptation of the "tower defense" genre where you are tasked to defend the cities from giant mutant insects by building various defense towers (gun, laser wall, stun, napalm, missile, generator) of varying costs. The game play is classic, but the variation is pretty good.

The game gives you 21 missions rather than infinite number of levels, though there's also the survival mode, where you last as long as you can against wave after wave of bugs. The game ratchets up the difficulty by giving you special bugs like those that can go through forests, go through mountains, and so on, different speed, different hit points... more in numbers... And every once in a while you get a special level where you have to last long enough until the bombers arrive to bomb all the bugs to oblivion. You get "upgrades" as well... if you put in certain combinations of towers, called "fortifications" in the game, you get special bonuses, and those are important later on when you're limited to certain combinations or limited budget.


The graphics aren't the best, but they are functional. The AI isn't really an issue in this game. The fun part is if you leave the bugs a way through, they will NOT attack your defenses. But if you DO block their path, they will go THROUGH your defenses in "rampage mode". Thus, the way to play is to channel them along this long kill "tunnel". And that is a lot of fun to design. As expected, your build budget depends on your kills. If you can kill a lot of bugs, air force bombardment is available to help you take out a LOT of bugs at once, great for those instances where you got too many of them to handle.

Each mission's success is rated in terms of stars, "gold" being best, as in # of casualties the cities have taken. If 100% of population survive, you get gold star. Greater than 75% survive, you get silver star. If more than 50% of population survive, you get bronze star. Any less and you get NO star. If all population was killed, you've been overrun, and you get to start over.

What's really special in this game is you can "activate" some of the special turrets, such as "power" and "stun" for special powers. Power will supercharge the touching turrets, giving them extra firepower. And stun turrets can actually stop nearby bugs for 5 seconds, which can be very useful in those special timed scenarios, such as clumping them together so those turrets with splash damage can get to work.. The main problem is they must be activated manually, so you have to plan a bit ahead of time.

All in all, Kill All Bugs! is a fun little "tower defense" variant that is worth at least some short play and diversion. Those 21 missions and survival mode will keep you busy for a while.

Overall rating: 8.0 out of 10
Pros: easy to pickup, not too many level of turret upgrades and such to confuse
Cons: still not too much originality there, once you finish the 21 missions not much left
Verdict: worth your gaming dollars for quite a few hours

Here's some hints and tips:

* Use those stun turret's special abilities! In fact, you will need them to survive Mission 17, where you're tasked to hold the bugs on this SINGLE island for 5 minutes! Firepower cannot solve this mission. You have to stun, stun, and stun!

* In fact, spread the stun turrets along the "kill road", esp. when combined into those L-shaped fortifications. Those not only improve firepower, they also give you the stun ability. However, don't concentrate TOO much, as you need to intersperse flame turrets among them, esp. inside corners and along the straight sections.

* concentrate splash-damage weapons, such as flame and missile turrets, so they can target a single area that can be "stopped" by stun turret. This way, they can do damage to multiple units, instead of one at a time. Back them up with missile turrets which also do splash damage.

* watch out for end-runs by special waterborne bugs or those that go through mountains or forests, esp. levels 5-15. Use laser turrets (no pair needed) to block them in. Remember, bugs cannot go diagonally, so if you block off the sides the bugs got nowhere to go. Of course, it is probably better off to block them with weapon towers, but if you're short on budget then a simple block will do.

* I've found laser towers to be not that useful, even the slow-burn fortification, except as artificial terrain. Stun towers are more effective, have the "hold" capability, doesn't require pair to work, but cost a lot more.

* Use the terrain to help you corral the bugs into your kill road. MOST of the bugs will stick to your plan except a few that will go across water, forest, or mountain. Use single laser tower to block them in, as mentioned before.

* Try to position turrets so they can engage a target multiple times, once coming, and once again going. This would often require you to position the "kill road" along the "coastline" of the island, then let them make a U-turn, then you can engage them AGAIN with the same turrets.

* Surival mode must: use the air force! You have bombers on call, so use them! Esp. at later stages! Every time the meter fills, use it! If you don't, you're wasting firepower!

* Personal survivor record: 19:34 on HARD. Yes, HARD mode.