Fieldrunners 2 HD Review

Fieldrunners is one of my favorite games on any platform. I've played it on the iPhone, iPad, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3. It's no faint praise, then, when I say that Fieldrunners 2 is a fantastic iteration on an already stunningly good tower defense experience. My only complaint was that it was iPhone only. Not anymore!

Maybe it's just my old eyes, but the defining characteristic of Fieldrunners 2 HD is the actual size of the screen. The detail in each little character and onscreen object is thrillingly, well, detailed. Zooming in to watch the carnage never felt this good on the small screen, to say the least.

This iPad-centric version of the game does include five new towers to entice even those players, like myself, that have the iPhone version already. There's the Cannonball Tower, which knocks over a ton of Fieldrunners, the Zap Tower, which chains lightning to good effect, the Sonic Tower to blast baddies with sound, the Slow Link Tower to freeze and lazer the runners, and the Machine Gun Tower with powerful tracer bullets. Each tower costs coins to purchase and use, rather than needing to be unlocked with stars. This is a good thing.

Also good? That the coins are not part of some freemium scheme to get players to spend more money. This is a Premium game, with a premium price, one that I'm more than willing to play, though I would like to see a universal app available in the future.

I was a bit sad to not have my game from the iPhone version of Fieldrunners 2 come over to the iPad edition, but the iCloud system is actually part of the HD version, it's just not yet implemented on the iPhone side. The next update to Fieldrunners 2 will include that functionality, and you can use a third party computer app like iExplorer to move the save files manually.

Bottom line, all the great things we've had to say about Fieldrunners and Fieldrunners 2 are doubly relevant in this HD version. Fieldrunners 2 HD is a brilliant combination of action and strategy with a depth of gameplay that's hard to ignore. I find myself thinking of solutions to particularly difficult maps while I'm driving, or showering, or making dinner for the kids. When I went back into the game to remember some details for this review, I found myself getting pulled in again for "just one more round."

While the price is high by App Store standards, don't be fooled: for those who do not have the game, this is a must buy. For those who do, the new towers and the large screen make this a worthwhile purchase as well.