Dungeon Keeper (iOS)

"They finally ported Dungeon Keeper to iOS," I thought excitedly (alright I was probably talking to myself ~_^)... sadly it was only a dream.

While EA did a great job of bringing the atmosphere of the old classic onto a new platform, they left little of the gameplay... ~_~

The original PC version of Dungeon Keeper was a great hybrid RTS. Its mobile counterpart is a freemium game.

The mobile version simplifies dungeon management (not necessarily a negative thing) down to mostly grinding for the resources required to improve and unlock more buildings. Players progress very slowly unless they spend money to bypass the timers.

Compared to other freemium games Dungeon Keeper employs a decent battle system. Players can attack other dungeons or defend their own in the campaign missions, event raids, and indirect PvP battles (vs another player's AI-controlled defenses). Combat consists of dropping your automated minions into the dungeon and casting spells to support them in the attack or defense of the current dungeon. This simplified combat system is enjoyable, but any minions deployed are lost and must be summoned again.

Patient players who like freemium style games or keep them around as five minute time killers won't go wrong in giving Dungeon Keeper a shot (it's on my iPad and I check it daily). However, Dungeon Keeper fans looking for a mobile version of the original game are going to be disappointed.

Summary:

• + great art
• + decent battle system
• • simple dungeon management
• - very slow grind
• - felt like a bait and switch