Whatever it is that 5th Cell is doing, it's doing it right. As a fully independent developer, the company behind Drawn to Life is out to deliver a fresh take on gaming, based purely on interesting designs and concepts that are held together with solid hooks based on their platform. Don't ask IGN how a company like THQ – usually responsible for licensed products only, with very little original content throughout – has pushed itself to deliver a more aggressive, original take on game publishing, but it's working so far.
Known for last year's quirky "design your own hero" platformer Drawn to Life, 5th Cell has again teamed up with THQ to deliver a vibrant and loveable original experience again on DS, this time out to prove that the company has more in the tank than just kid-friendly, sadbox experiences. The latest product brewing from this newly-formed company, Construction Combat: Lock's Quest, brings the same art style and beautiful pixel art back to DS, this time taking elements from real-time strategy, role playing, puzzle, simulation, and adventure games.
Videogamer writes: "Lock's Quest, the 5th Cell (Drawn to Life) developed DS strategy title, is as good a tower defence game as you're going to get on a handheld. Everything you could possibly want from the increasingly popular genre - waves of enemies and structure building - you'll find here, wrapped in a sugar-coated, almost anime art design that's sure to appeal to hardcore and more casual players alike.
As the wonderfully self-explanatory title suggests, you play as Lock, an orphan who dreams of one day becoming an Archineer (a combination of an architect and an engineer). His small seaside village is invaded by a Clockwork Army, similar in design to the Golden Army in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy 2, and his sister Emi is kidnapped. Lock finds himself caught up in a war between the Kingdom Forces and the Clockwork Army, led by the evil Lord Agony. It's all over Source, the world's natural resource and a dead-ringer for oil. It's even accessed via Source Wells, which, by the way, you'll spend a lot of time protecting in the many missions Lock needs to complete as he works his way up the Archineer food chain and hunts down his sister."
PALGN writes: "When thinking about naming one of the largest third-party success stories on the Nintendo DS, one particular game comes to mind, and that's Drawn to Life. Combining innovative usage of the stylus, fun gameplay and a quirky yet cool art direction, Drawn to Life is to this day one of the few games that manages to bridge the gap between young and old, allowing everybody to show off their creative side to great effect. The game was so successful, in fact, that developer 5TH Cell were able to expand their team and get all hands on deck for their next project, the Nintendo DS exclusive Lock's Quest.
Lock's Quest, at its core, is all about Tower Defense. For those who aren't quite sure what that means, check out our feature, or read this brief explanation: Tower Defense games are all about setting up turrets, walls and other obstacles to prevent attacking enemies from successfully reaching or destroying a specific objective on the map. Stop them from doing so, and you're doing a pretty good job. The game has been designed specifically for the DS, which means that you'll be using the stylus for your every action; moving your character is as simple as dragging your stylus around the screen or pointing where you want your character to move, akin to the movement in say, Phantom Hourglass. As well as moving your character this way, you'll be able to navigate the entire map using the D-pad to control the camera, which gives you the opportunity to strategically scope out your environment and become aware of your surroundings without physically having to move your character there."
Jeremiah Slaczka is the Creative Director of developer 5th Cell, and also the creator of the quirky yet fairly innovative Drawn to Life, which achieved a modest amount of critical acclaim. His latest creation is Construction Combat: Lock's Quest, a game that could incorporate the intricate design philosophy (that may not ultimately have been fully realized) of Drawn to Life while adding a frantic real-time strategy component as well. Indeed, the curious mixture of intuitive castle-building and speedy touch-to-attack battles seemed uniquely compelling and especially suited to the DS' control scheme. But what really sold the game was the fact that it includes a zoomed-out tactical map similar to the one found in Supreme Commander, except that instead of Xs and Os, you get cute little anime-style icons of the units.
