Rumor: According to the latest issue of trade magazine MCV, Nintendo EAD’s 3DS action-adventure game The Rolling Western will be be released on the European eShop next Thursday.
Preview
The best way to describe Dillon’s Rolling Western is a “tower-defense” game with the 3D exploration of the Zelda overworld.
The overall objective for Dillon is to defend 10 different villages over a span of three days each. The first half of each day is used for
In detail: from morning until nightfall it’s your duty to gather as many resources as you can find in the large 3D plain, just outside the village. Fortunately, since Dillon is an armadillo, he can quickly traverse the world by rolling. Now controlling the rolling is actually handled pretty uniquely. Though you’ll steer yourself with the Circle Pad, you start your roll by sliding the stylus downward on the touchscreen, as if you were tugging on a toy’s pull-string. This will get you going, though you’ll have to recharge your roll every few seconds using the same method, or else Dillon will run out of steam.
As you roll around the landscape, you’ll want to gather whatever resources you can by smashing into rocks and plants, exposing precious collectibles. You might also stumble upon the occasional cave which contains a high quantity of valuables. Each cave is also like a mini-puzzle, as you figure out the best way to bounce Dillon off the rocks inside without pausing, building a combo, thus earning even more goodies. You’ll even come across the occasional treasure chest, which Dillon opens almost exactly like Link.
As nightfall nearly falls you rush back to the village to sell your resources for cash which you will use to upgrade your tower defense stationed around the outskirts of the town. However, you have to choose carefully how you upgrade these towers, as each weapon features different attack ranges and radii, which affects their usefulness.
Hopefully you’re prepared by nightfall, as the enemies won’t wait if you’re not. After emerging from the ground, they immediately make way for the village. The tower defenses, of course, do what all tower defense do. They knock off as many of the enemies as they can. But, usually they’ll need your help to finish off the job. You can easily spot on the map whenever stragglers have survived and can make your way over to kill them off yourself. If you manage to clear the field, you’ll remove that enemy’s presence from the overworld.
Tower Defense games are super popular, especially among online casual game fans, and Zelda games are popular with Nintendo fans. So, is mixing the two genres a successful partnership? By the looks of it, yes. Nintendo has crafted a unique and appealing world and combination of genres. Check out this weird and engaging game when it releases – hopefully, next week!
