Throw a Boulder at them! – Rock of Ages 2

ACE Team is back for some quirky Weirdness with Rock of Ages 2, a hybrid Tower-Defence/Boulder rolling game that is… well.. just weird. So strange that it’s hard to properly describe the game beyond the premise of roll a ball and break a gate. This is also an instance where weird does equal good, as the game is addictive, challenging and most of all, just fun.

Taking mechanics that made the original great, Rock of Ages 2 amplify it with new units, new maps, new art-styles and time periods, a stronger multiplayer and some crazy over-the-top boss battles.

In the Story-Mode for Rock of Ages 2, players take on the role of Atlas, who accidentally dropped the world from his shoulders and separated the continents. While trying to hide from Zeus on Earth, he steals Sisyphus’ boulder and begins to run amuck.

At least that’s what we can get from the story-mode, which is a confusing mess of small cut-out cutscenes that shows the various famous art pieces that you’ll go up against. They’re fun little in-between that serve as a fun cut-away to the opponent you’re up against, but doesn’t really do much to deliver a story. Not that the game really needed one anyways.

Rock of Ages 2 gameplay is simple yet challenging at the same time. The goal is to defeat your opponent by throwing a boulder at their gates until it breaks. To do that you will have to traverse a obstacles course consisting of traps, walls, cliffs and more, all designed to slow you down and do damage to your boulder. The more damage and less speed your boulder picks up, the less damage you’ll do to their gates.

With both armies sending out boulders to throw at each other, players will have to build their defences, they can do this with various traps and walls. This gives an interesting take on tower-defence as players try their best to slow-down or destroy each others balls.

Of course there are different type of boulders you can throw at your opponents that can change-up how the game is played. Boulders like the Gunpowder Boulder can explode on contact blasting away at obstacles, while the cubed “Block of Ages” provides a slower approach but hits like a tank, while Tar boulders affects your opponents ability to place defences over areas where the boulder rolled over. Choosing your arsenal of defensive units and boulders is the key to winning a match.

One of the big enhancements to the game is definitely found in its multiplayer, with local and online modes available, up to 4 players can team up for a 2v2 War matches or free-for-all Obstacle Course races. While we were only able to test a 1v1 War match locally, which played great, we can only imagine what sort of chaos 4 player co-operative wars would be. We’ll update the review when we have more time with the game online.

Despite that the game is challenging to master, Rock of Ages 2 is just a great time and the new 4 player modes makes it a great party game for everyone. While weird may be a great selling point for most people, I can only say to give this game a chance and let ACE Team’s trademark quirkiness win you over.