THEM Corporation is a game studio that is based in Korea. It won’t be long, and their game, The Onion Knights, will be available to play on Android/iOS. The game is slated for release at the end of July. We have been fortunate enough to play this well-polished and enjoyable castle defense game.
[UPDATE: Wednesday, October 14th, 7:17 AM, PST] We were fortunate enough to get in on the beta to try out The Onion Knights, and found it to be an enjoyable game. The game is now out of beta and available to download. If you enjoy games similar to CastleStorm, then you may want to check out The Onion Knights. It has great characters, challenging game play and pretty good graphics. The game is free to play and does have optional in-app purchases. The link to download the game can be found at the end of this article.
The Onion Knights is a blend of the popular games Field Runners (Subatomic Studios) and CastleStorm (Zen Studios). Whereas Fieldrunners is a tower defense game, and CastleStorm is a castle defense game, The Onion Knights reminds me a little of both. Both of those games are extremely well done and have great characters, weapons, tools and power-ups. Thus, The Onion Knights feels more like a hybrid game, in that there is the castle defense element, but there are also heroes that you use in the game as part of your strategy, to help rid yourself of the enemies that come in waves, much like they do in Fieldrunners.
“The Onion Knights features twitch game play similar to those found in Metal Slug or other action side scrollers, while maintaining the familiar strategic complexity of a tower defense game. Players must dodge incoming projectiles and dive for essential power-ups, while also managing a team of heroes and base cannon that rains havoc on the enemy.” – THEM Corporation
You manage a cannon blaster on the right side of your screen, as well as multiple heroes. You move the cannon up and down to defeat enemies that are parachuting in, as well as running rapidly across the screen in waves. The enemy also has different heroes and lasers that shoot across the screen at you too. The screens get chaotic pretty quickly, but the action is mesmerizing to watch unfold. Managing your different heroes and their timed power-ups take a good game plan and strategy to defeat the onslaught of enemies. Each level also has a goal for you to complete. It could vary from using all of your heroes, or obtaining a certain combo while defeating your enemies.
Based on what we have played, it looks like The Onion Knights will be free to play. However, in the time that we have had to play it, it looks as if the game is balanced pretty well. Based on your success in completing the levels, you are given coins. Coins can be used to upgrade your hero and/or buy different power-ups, like a herd of pigs that run across the screen to trample the enemy. You have the opportunity to obtain three stars in each level. When you do get three stars, you are given a choice of three cards to pick, which will have either a coin bonus or gem bonus.
The game is integrated with Google Game Play Services and has over fifty achievements for you to obtain. THEM Corporation is still ironing out a few of the game play elements, as they head down the stretch, for the release of the game at the end of this month. From what we have played, they are really far along. If you enjoy this genre of game play, you should check out The Onion Knights when it releases. Once we have more information about a set release date and/or pricing, we will update this article.
