The Last Friend is a cross between a tower defence game and a side scrolling brawler. You play as Alpha, a bearded redhead who is travelling across a post-apocalyptic wasteland in a caravan, saving dogs. Those dogs repay the favour, as they man all the turrets and defences. Together, man and dog battle the evil bandits that are capturing the worlds furry friends.
The core tower defence mechanics are fairly simple. Before going into a level, you pick five dogs from the ever expanding roster. These will be one of a few different types, either tower defence style, or skill based. The tower defence style act as you might expect. The dogs either provide projectiles, generate income, walls, and a range of other effects.
Each map is split up into three lanes, in which enemies will attack in constant waves. Placing defences costs scrap, which can be gained from defeating enemies. In addition to defeating enemies with towers, there is the brawling side of it. The main character, Alpha, can utilise a range of attacks to defeat oncoming bandits, akin to the beat ’em ups of old. Basic attacks, strong attacks and specials all make an appearance, with the combat providing a nice crunchy response on every attack.
This is where the skill based dogs come in. They can augment Alpha in various ways, either by giving him extra health, adding effects to his attacks, giving him extra speed, a whole range of different things. As the game goes on and you collect more and more dogs, the strategy comes more in selecting the right loadout for each battle, rather than the actual placement on the map.
In addition, there are some other kinds of levels. There are some which act more as a traditional side scrolling beat ’em up, so these only require the skill based dogs. There are a few which are just one big battle with a boss. It’s a good idea and it mixes up the journey to keep things fresh. And of course, you can upgrade the dogs and the caravan as the game goes on. Accessible via special areas in the world map, a nice old lady will take all your dog treats, and use them to upgrade their abilities. How sweet.
The graphics are quite nice. They are cartoony, and they remind me a little of the style from anime studio Trigger, having no clear outlines and being lots of solid colours. It gives the game a more whimsical atmosphere, and keeps the narrative light.
The Last Friend currently costs £11.19 on Steam, and I think that’s a good deal. It’s a tight, polished tower defence brawler, and of course anything that features dogs so heavily is going to get extra marks. If you’re interested in this genre, I fully recommend this one.
You can purchase The Last Friend on Steam here.
