GUNS UP! 1.0

Tower Defense games are much like strategy games - you have to manage your resources and position your units appropriately  to maximize their effectiveness. However, these mechanics are incredibly simplified and dumbed down. However, what happens if you mix it with their more complex brother? GUNS UP! is a good look at it.

To install GUNS UP!, make sure you have Steam installed. Once that's done, go to this link to install the game.

The main gimmick of this game is that it is a real time strategy game with a ton of tower defense mechanics, in which you have to build a base and defend it using a variety of troops. This leads it to play like an RTS when you're on offense and a tower defense game when you're on defense. If this sounds like a lot, don't worry. There's a fantastic tutorial that gets you started and teaches you how to handle a variety of situations.

As for multiplayer, that's also surprisingly unique. The battles are not played in real-time. You instead watch replays of your opponent's attacks and respond and adjust accordingly. This can be a tad anticlimactic as it plays down the "real time" portion of RTS significantly, but all the strategizing is still there.

Overall, GUNS UP! might be a bit too simple for hardcore strategy fans, but it is definitely accessible enough on a wide enough spectrum that anybody can pick it up and play. On top of that, the cross-platform multiplayer will ensure this game always has a playerbase.