Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break - ACE Team's insane tower defense racing review

The vast landscape of indies continues to evolve and to offer players many titles with which they can freely vent their creativity, and among these we can find Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break, an arcade game tower defense racing, competitive and action-packed that stands out considerably from the crowd. What we are facing is the third installment of the famous series of Rock of Ages, which has become famous over the years mainly thanks to the graphic style and allabsurd and grotesque humor, which recalls that of Monthy Python, the celebrated group of British comedians who revolutionized the very concept of comic production. And it is precisely this kind of humor, tied perfectly with the bizarre style of ACE Team, which made the tower defense racing game series famous. At this point the question arises, will the third chapter be able to maintain the same level as the previous ones?

Roll between myths and legends

The story of the bizarre title opens with the events ofOdyssey, and more precisely of the first meeting of Ulysses and his companions with the Cyclops Polyphemus. The only way to be able to escape from its clutches will be to destroy the rock that closes the cave in which they are stuck, but what will be the best way to do it? And it is precisely in this way that the title introduces the bizarre gameplay to the players, showing how the only way to be able to break free from the cave is to build huge spheres by tying a group of sheep between them and roll them against the huge boulder, trying to avoid obstacles e move as fast as possible. Finally free from the captivity of the Cyclops, Ulysses dies crushed by a boulder thrown by Polyphemus, passing the command to Elpenor, the real protagonist of the game. Elpenor and his men, however, will be transported to a vast ocean by a curse cast by Poseidon, father of Polyphemus, where they will be forced to relive and face some of the most famous and well-known historical events.

Obviously all of this is told in one way bizarre and funny, thanks to the skilful use of 2D graphics with a classic iconographic style, characterized by funny and particular animations. From this moment on, the hand passes completely to the player, who will have a large number of game modes to deal with, in both single player and multiplayer mode. The developers have decided to make some changes to the previous titles, including within Rock of Ages 3 different game modes to compete with, including the obstacle course, time trial, avalanche and many others. To be able to advance in the vast ocean, in fact, players will have to collect a predetermined number of stars, with which they can then be levels unlocked and later historical settings. To be able to unlock these stars you will need to face a large number of levels and meet some requirements, such as for example the minimum time to travel a certain path in the case of levels purely related to the modality racing.

 

Rewrite history between boulders and stars

La Obstacle course it is certainly one of the most classic game modes within the title, and will basically consist of one challenge between two players, which purpose will be to reach the finish line with your own boulder before the other player. In most of the available game modes players will have the option to choose the type of "sphere" with which to face the opponent based on the path. These types of balls will come progressively unlocked throughout history and will have specific characteristics including strength, speed, weight ed acceleration. The modality too Try in time it is decidedly classic, and consists in trying to reach the finish line before a set time, thus avoiding to blow up our boulder in the air. Study the path it will be necessary in this type of mode, also because being able to reach the finish line as soon as possible can earn a large number of stars.

The mode Humpty Dumpy is certainly one of the most complicated and interesting in the game, and instead of choosing which type of sphere to use to overcome the course, players will be forced to use a egg. Faster than the classic boulder, the egg will not always be easy to control and, due to its fragility, it could break at any moment. In the mode AvalancheInstead, players must be able to defend their base from numerous enemy attacks, placing a vast number of obstacles and weapons on the game path with which to block enemy boulders in full tower defense style. Same thing goes for the mode War, which will be the main one of the entire title, in which the players, however, will have to be able to simultaneously manage the defense of one's own base and the attack of that of the opponent. Finally we have the mode Skeeball, in which it will not be necessary to reach the finish line first, but it will be enough to destroy more obstacles and accumulate more points than the opponent to have the victory in your pocket.

This vast number of game modes is further enhanced by thelevel editor, which will allow players to express all their imagination by creating wonderful game paths. The editor is in fact one of the most interesting and fun modes of the entire title, as well as being one of the most cured from the point of view of details and playability. Having the ability to try player-created levels and create and upload your own online inevitably increases the longevity of the game, which in the long run can be stale. Unlike the previous chapters the story unfortunately seems to be much less cared for, and although he manages to let out a few laughs due to his comic nature, he always remains very marginal, to the point of seeming almost optional. At the same time, the technical sector presents a vast number of problems, some of which can make the gaming experience really frustrating.

Lo graphic style used, or in any case in a general way the entire artistic sector, was well done and manages to connect perfectly to the comic and joking approach of the title. The sound compartment, which includes the reinterpretation in a rock key of some classic songs, perfectly accompanies the exquisite animations, created recalling a classic artistic style. At the same time the graphical interface presents some annoying problems and Nintendo Switch, both in portable and docked mode, you can notice a sort of fairly consistent blur in the gaming sessions. THE commands are quite fluid and they have no particular problems, just as there are no problems with sudden frame drops. However, it remains to be noted that the title could have been optimized in a better way, also considering the fact that the genre could perfectly adapt to the functionality of Nintendo Switch.

But it is above all in the part of the title linked to the construction, or at least to the tower defense, that some of the main flaws come to the surface, showing a game system unintuitive and in the long run too frustrating. One of the many main game modes, in fact, involves attacking the enemy castle with our rocks but, at the same time, defending ours which will suffer the same fate. In this case, also thanks to the controls and features of the game really unclear, it is easy to find yourself in stalemate and have to repeat the same level several times. The title offers a large number of obstacles to be placed in your path to block opponents, but their functionality is never explained, preventing players from placing them in the most strategic points and, basically, limiting the design to a minimum.

This, in addition to other small bugs that can be easily found in the course of games, makes the system uncomfortable and far too slow. Furthermore, despite the title being completely localized, the game interface further limits the playability especially in this mode, also due to the subtitles too small and at times illegible that cover some fundamental icons for advancing the level. Even the controls, not always fluid enough, limit the players in some game modes, especially those related to racing games. It is very simple, in fact, to get stuck due to frequent bugs in the commands, which limit our movements or even those of the enemy AI.

Make or Break?

In conclusion Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break  is a title that presents some rather obvious problems, but with which players can easily spend a few hours of play due to the large number of game modes introduced in this new chapter. Thanks above all to the comedy of the title, which is also inevitably reflected in the graphics and bizarre gameplay, the third chapter of Rock of Ages proves once again that it can entertain the public thanks to the particularity that distinguishes it from others. The wonderful sound sector is perfectly combined with his bizarre and zany humorous style, making the experience truly satisfying from this point of view. The full Spanish localization also makes the gaming experience accessible to everyone.