I play more games than I write about, and one game that I enjoyed last year but that never made it onto the site is Utopia Must Fall. Honestly, I’m not quite sure how this one slipped through the net, but after playing the game again this week following its latest update, I have resolved to tell you folks about this wicked little tower defence hybrid.
What is Utopia Must Fall?
Developed by Pixeljam, Utopia Must Fall is a streamlined tower defence arcade shooter with vector-inspired art, pumping beats, a roguelite twist, and a serious attitude problem.
The attitude problem comes in the form of an unending wave of alien machines. These celestial bastards are wire framed and eager to smash down upon the city you’re defending, and in true roguelite fashion, over the course of a run you must upgrade your weapons and defences in order to repel the invaders. I mean that sounds simple enough, right?
Of course it’s not that simple, or we wouldn’t be here, would we!?!
Utopia Must Fall is a super challenging game, and not only does it want you to learn its nuances, but it also insists on you getting good. This is achieved by throwing punishing wave after punishing wave at the player, and my first few attempts were over pretty quickly.
Utopia Must Level Up
After you clear each wave, you’re invited to buy upgrades. It’s here where you can start to develop your strategies and experiment with some of the game’s more interesting toys.
For my money – and let’s be real, this is the case in pretty much every video game ever made – attacks where you chain lightning between enemies are super satisfying to behold. Much like when you try an old favourite at a new restaurant to see how it measures up, I can rarely resist an invitation to power up some tesla coils – and this is definitely the case in Utopia, too.
Not only can you zap your enemies, but you’ll quickly discover a whole suite a different tactical options which you can use to construct your build for the run ahead. Whether you want to stockpile nukes, power-up your AA guns, or invest in better shields, you’ve always got a few options to choose from.
The new Steam Deck update
I had tried playing Utopia Must Fall on the Deck before this upgrade, and I’m really glad that Pixeljam made the changes. This is now a great fit for Valve’s handheld, and the quick-fire run times are also good for on-the-go gaming. I can see this doing well on mobile.
As well as the ol’ green tick, the new update offers additional gameplay improvements, including better hit detection. However, it sounds like the next big Early Access update will be much more focused on gameplay, with “new weapons, new enemies and some big surprises” on the way.
I genuinely can’t wait to see what’s next for Utopia Must Fall, and if you like the sound of what you’ve just read, I suggest you head over to Steam PC (Mac, Win) and check it out for yourself.
