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Lock's Quest ds Game Reviews
Lock's Quest
Critic Score
Metascore: 81 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

From the creators of Drawn to Life, a diabolical mechanical army devastates a kingdom as village after village fall under their wrath. A young, brave hero, Lock, is the kingdom's last hope to survive the oncoming invasion. As a newly trained Archineer, Lock must utilize his skills to build customized towers, traps, walls, weapons, and other defenses in order to preserve the precious source artifacts. Two modes of play: Building Mode & Battle Mode. Build and battle in 100 different areas with varying terrains. Challenge friends and battle against other kingdoms via multi-card play. Innovative game play that is completely stylus driven. [THQ]

PUBLISHER: THQ
DEVELOPER: 5th Cell
GENRE(S): Real-Time Strategy
PLAYERS: 2
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: September 8, 2008

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91
1UP
Lock's Quest succeeds as both a love letter to, and an evolution of, the tower-defense genre.
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91
HellBored
Lock’s Quest is a hugely entertaining twist on the traditional tower defence game that will keep you glued to your handheld for hours on end.
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90
GameZone
A unique game that’s perfectly suited to the DS.
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90
Worth Playing
Locks' Quest is the sort of game for which the DS was made. It's quick and easy to pick up and play, makes great use of the touch-screen, and is just an overall delightful game.
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90
GamerNode
Lock's Quest proves that it doesn't take a big name or big studio to make a must-buy title which will be a benchmark for years to come.
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90
Destructoid
Lock's Quest is everything a portable strategy game should be. Its battles are exciting little bursts of bite-sized panic attacks, lasting only minutes at a time, but feeling much longer. Despite a few niggles, the stylus controls work pretty damn well, helped by the clean and simple methods of control used. It's just a really, really, really good portable game.
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88
GamingTrend
The amount of thought put into Lock's Quest and the amount of effort and detail in every corner is astounding.
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87
3DJuegos
Lock´s Quest is another marvellous example of the originality and creativity of a group of programmers. It´s a game that mixes RPG, strategy and action with simple ways and it´s very addictive. The way to prepare the battles is a wise move, with many options for the players. It is without a doubt one of the best strategy games for Nintendo DS.
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86
IGN
Lock's Quest is by far one of the most original, inspired, and entertaining experiences we've had on DS this year.
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85
Da Gameboyz
Lock's Quest for the Nintendo DS combines the right amount of story and battle driven gameplay to satisfy most gamers.
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85
Meristation
If you think that 5th Cell was a company with only one great idea (Drawn to Life), you’re wrong. Lock’s Quest is deep, funny, intelligent, complex, and is full of details that make the game awesome and highly recommendable. Its most important feature is the mix of two genres, RPG and strategy, in a way never seen before in a portable game. Also, the game is very funny and has a nice storyline, so don’t doubt: get it.
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83
Console Gameworld
Despite some control issues, Lock's Quest may just be the sleeper hit of the year. Definitely worth checking out if you own a DS.
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83
Nintendojo
New abilities or turrets help mix up the gameplay and provide gamers with refreshing approaches to each invasion. The visuals feel alive, with great animation and style.
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82
Cheat Code Central
Lock's Quest is certainly one of the better DS games to hit the platform this year. If you're a fan of past DS strategy titles - LostMagic or Revenant Wings, for example - picking up Lock's Quest is a no-brainer.
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80
Thunderbolt
Some practical design choices, along with a host of inspired gameplay ideas, make this a title well worth checking out. There are a ton of missions and a local multiplayer option for when the single-player journey comes to an end.
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80
GameDaily
One of the best DS games of 2008. Combining the addictive, strategic fun of Tower Defense with an excellent tale spanning over 20 hours, brilliant animation and easy to learn controls, it should secure its place in the hearts of gamers everywhere.
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80
GameSpot
Lock's Quest's intuitive build mode and frantic, engaging battles are great for an action strategy game on the go.
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80
Games Radar (in-house)
But Lock’s Quest is just too damn fast-paced for the fussy controls to get annoying enough to really kill the fun.
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80
GameSpy
Lock's Quest provides a familiar experience that at the same time feels so distinct and unique that you'd be hard pressed to find something similar to it on the DS.
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80
VideoGamer
The art design is unique, the story akin to one of Square Enix's RPG DS titles and it's a great game to play for short bursts of time, perhaps on a regular commute, because the battles themselves don't take too much time to complete.
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80
Modojo
Overall, Lock's Quest is immensely entertaining.
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80
LEVEL (Czech Republic)
Finally – new and original strategy game for Nintendo DS. Sweet visuals, nice story and controls make Lock’s Quest truly addictive. [Dec 2008]
80
Cubed3
Despite a rather cutesy (albeit gorgeous) exterior, Lock's Quest offers a surprisingly deep real-time strategy experience.
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76
NGamer UK
Lock's Quest is definitely a slow burner and takes a while to get going. Invest your time, however, and you'll be rewarded with a solid and competent strategy game. [Dec 2008, p.67]
75
Gaming Age
It's a fun little title, and while it might not hold your attention thru the entire main story, it's definitely worth checking out regardless.
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70
Eurogamer
It probably won't finish on many best-of-the-year lists, but if our experience is anything to go by then Lock's Quest will live long in any DS cartridge slot.
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70
Nintendo Power
Fun but flawed, Lock's Quest takes real-time strategy into character-based adventure territory with stylus-controlled precision. [Nov 2008, p.102]
70
NintendoWorldReport
The truly sad part is that Lock's Quest is just a few design tweaks away from being a fantastic game. All the ingredients are here, but the overzealous chefs at 5th Cell screwed up the recipe.
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70
Pocket Gamer UK
Hugely ambitious and quietly innovative - only a few rough edges stop this short of potential all-time classic status.
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70
Level7.nu
Plan, build, fight and repair. Those are the four fundamental parts of Lock's Quest, an unexpectedly demanding game for the DS. It's surprisingly addictive, but due to some parts of the game not being blessed with the coat of finish they need we can't bless this game with a higher grade.
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70
Total Video Games
In fact, it's easy to see general casual gamers get into Lock's Quest, with its accessible learning curve and 'brain training' wall-building strategy.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steve S. gave it a9:
This is an absolute gem of a game that took me completely by surprise. Great melding of RPG story line with RTS play and base building mechanics. The graphics are extremely good for the DS, and the manga like cut scenes are top notch. A couple of bugs in the game stop me from giving this top marks, but it should be played by anyone with a DS.

Aladdin B. gave it a10:
So much fun! Superb graphics, music and gameplay. Perfect fusion of various game mechanics.

Nick D. gave it a10:
Awesome game love the build and battle, tutorial is a little long.

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