Doughlings: Invasion shows what a talented developer can achieve with the right mindset and tools. Not only does this game bring back a much loved classic, but like Doughlings: Arcade, it revitalizes the dated concept through the use of implementing fresh mechanics, heaps of variation, and a solid all-round pace. Sure, the audio is still very hit and miss, but in the midst of how fun the game is, this is easy to forgive.
Team Hero Concept, who’ve made a grand opening with their first game Doughlings: Arcade, was humble enough to give pre-release review keys for us to try out their latest game Doughlings: Invasion, where they give an encore with the Arcade’s sequel and we wanted to write our thoughts on the game. We've seen no difference between XBOX and PC whatsoever, only change for us was the controllers but they felt quite right. Although like we said before, some players might prefer keyboard/mouse. Dr. Morpheus founds a cure for its people that were outraging in their city in the first game. After he saves all the douglings, Morpheus begins to investigate the meteor that caused all the berserk on the planet and realizes, its a weapon of mass destruction. Invading space ships fills the sky and Morpheus arms itself against aliens to protect his kind. This is where the sequel kicks-in. The most interesting part is, even if the story continues itself, the genre of the game is different. Rather than a brick-breaker, this time, it’s a “Space Invaders” style arcade-shooter. The character selection mechanics are still the same, you can not choose anyone, except Morpheus, but will encounter with DNA’s of different characters in every stage, they are like a temporary buff which will give you different powers and you can upgrade their skills to grow your arsenal against the invading aliens. Unlike the first game, we’ve found the sequel quite harder. Rather than going all out, you need to be careful with your actions and save your lives if you want to beat the full game. Every move and decision you take is important. Especially if you want to upgrade your skills, you can not miss the escaping queens that will give you elixirs every time you shoot one. It may look like these games are being addressed to the kids because of laughing faces, colorful characters, and funny sound effects. But with lots of pop-culture references and strategy-based gameplay mechanics, we think it suits adult players the best. Overall, Doughlings: Invasion was an amazing experience with kickin’ soundtracks, great gameplay with a lot of replay value, and funny pop-culture references, it’s a great way to spend time on the couch, chair or on your way to go. We definitely recommend this game for the old school gamers out there.
I'm deeply saddened that I didn't enjoy Doughlings: Invasion nearly as much as its prequel, but it just may be a game that you would want to play. It's a good game, it simply wasn't vibing with me for various reasons. Hero Concept is a fantastic developer that creates quality games, and if you want to give Doughlings: Invasion a go, I would recommend you go ahead and try it out.
I've tried the game on my friends XBOX as well, so Im dropping my first review here with a lil bit of change;
I was lookin' for a game for my Switch and I've seen this indie game in recent releases couple days ago. The retro freak I am, as soon as I've seen the title "invasion" I got hyped and wanted to check it's details, gameplay pics and videos. As soon as I realized I was right, I Insta-buyed the game. I was expecting a simple space invaders but boy I was wrong! This game has amazing depth and requires a lot of strategy to play! I mean it, don't let it's cute and friendly graphic design fool you, this game is hella hard! Lot's of different type of enemies to stand against and unforgiving bosses you gotta think twice before you move. Not to mention game has 2 more harder difficulty settings. Even standart was challenging for me first but I'm now trying to play Hard mode and man, Im getting my back kicked... The game has an ability/character mechanic that helps you use different shots and special abilities and those characters are some familiar faces! It really shows that the dev team put a lot of heart and love to this game, you can see it with all the pop-culture references and cameos. Overall it's an amazing experience, those who love retro games should definitely try it out! I also realized this is a sequel, so I will be checking the first game as well and share my thoughts! After I finish this hard mode... Go ahead and try the Doughlings: Invasion out, you wont be disappointed!
I've been playing the game for 3 weeks now. It's quite addicting, has a lot of unique mechanics never seen in any other invader/arcade before. With a pretty challenging experience even in the Normal mode, it makes you want to play more and better everytime you game over. You build a muscle memory and after that, it's just grinding for hours. Amazing soundtracks, lots of cute cameos and references, makes the game even more enjoyable. Switch version just released yesterday and I bought it on there as well, so that I can experience the game portably. I'll be writing the same review with a little bit of change in the switch page and share my thoughts ~ If you want to have some quality time and kill your stress... Well, it may also make you feel stressed. But overcoming difficulties after getting better feels really good! Definitely recommend this game for everyone, especially old school gamers.
While I have been a **** for everything Space Invaders since forever, except for a few smaller scale mobile releases there hadn't been an edition with enough meat in its bones since 2008's Get Even. This summer's Doughlings: Invasion really got my juices flowing for the first time since maybe the Chicken Invaders series.
The controls are pretty smooth and the level design gives you enough room to experiment along the learning curve. Then the super creative enemies start appearing and it becomes wonderfully challenging. There is a new DNA based upgrade in each level and the super powerful "Show Off" attacks of pretty much every single one of them are incredibly satisfying (especially the Cyclops one in the second level when it's fully upgraded). The RPG style upgrade system kept me motivated to play with strategy and technique so that I could get the juicy upgrades. The later levels get legitimately challenging with the super intense enemies and the upgrades are the difference between living on the edge vs dancing all over the place with your awesome super powers.
Where this game shines the brightest are the boss battles. The designs were seriously inventive. The strategies you need to develop and master for each of the 5 bosses have almost nothing to do with each other. Furthermore, the same strategies might not even work at higher difficulty levels and you will not to come up with novel techniques. I first played through the normal mode and was victorious once I optimized the power up strategy. Then I played the hard mode and crawled to the end. Then came the insane mode and the final triumph there seriously meant something. I wouldn't have expected it to be so but with all the Doughlings: Invasion skills I developed I was able to finish the normal and the hard modes with only "25 cents" eventually. I don't imagine we'd see that one done on the insane mode unless someone takes this game to the AGDQ.
In summary I highly recommend this game. Casually you can get 10-15 hours from this game. I personally spent about 35 hours on the way to killing it in every category and going full completionist. Considering the price point it is great bang for your buck to get a sweet timeless Space Invaders workout in 2019. Ten thumbs up :-)
Doughlings: Invasion trades in the Blockbusting, for an Alien Invasion. Just as fun as it's predecessor, this time though Your targets shoot back! Putting a new twist on the classic Space Invader game play, giving you new tools as the Doughlings you get to play. Following the trend of it's spirit game, Douglings Invasion gradually picks up in pace and difficulty as you progress through the levels. Feeling like a mixture of modern puzzle games, and Classic arcades, this game can be a delight for nearly any age. Simple to learn, tough to master you'll be blasting away lines of evil invaders for hours. Things in this land have calmed down since Dr Morpheous saved the Doughlings from a meteor in Douglings Arcade, and that's where the story picks back up. The game takes on some replayability, as you have to unlock higher difficulty levels as you guide Dr Morpheuos quite sizable world you're defending. Save for a few of the oddities added by the Doughlings, this game plays just like it's spiritual predecessor. The whimsical music and sounds are fitting, and add to the fun. Arcade Classic fans, Grab this one up for a twist on an old Favorite.
SummaryAnother tribute paid to yet another arcade classic from the Hero Concept team. Doughlings: Invasion promises a fun gaming experience to gamers of all ages with the innovations it brings to the shooting genre.