Snipedown, Flash-based Action Shooter

Snipedown is a flash animation action shooter created by Newgrounds.com user Johannes Wolf (pureth). This sniper-inspired creation was submitted to Newgrounds.com on January 29, 2010 and won a Daily 3rd Place award on January 30, 2010.

Game Background

An army is advancing on your base. Shoot them down with your sniper rifle to protect your base.

Gameplay

At the bottom-right corner of the screen, you will see your base's green health bar, set at a value of 1000. Whenever the base takes damage, this bar will decrease in size and value. However, the health bar also regenerates over time.

To the left of the health bar, you can see the value of your experience points. Destroying enemy units, which includes vehicles and foot soldiers, will increase the get you more experience points. The experience points that you gain in-game can be used to exchange for upgrades.

The upgrades section of the game can be accessed by clicking on the bottom-left hand button aptly named Upgrade. The upgrade section can be accessed anytime during the game. It is in the upgrade section that you can upgrade your sniper rifle. Other upgrades include:
-increasing damage done by extra tools
-increasing the length of time that your tools are active
-reducing recharge time between tool use
-increasing repair ability of your base
-increasing base's defenses
-increasing firepower of your sniper rifle
-increasing accuracy of your sniper rifle

In the upgrades section of the game, you can also purchase turrets which are placed on the battlefield on the right side of the screen. There are six different turrets to choose from. Each turret is specialized in destroying certain types of enemies.

Other items that you can use to help you complete the game are located at the bottom-center of the screen. These include: mortar strikes, artillery strikes, air strikes, and a big bomb.

The enemy will come in waves. The enemy can be foot soldiers or even tanks, so use your items carefully, upgrade accordingly, and aim well.

Game Review

Snipedown puts together elements of tower defense gameplay and action shooter gameplay. With the addition of multiple upgrades and varying enemies, Snipedown can keep players playing for a long while. However, the game does get repetitive, and the sound effects can get quite tiresome. A music track would help the game out a bit. Also, even though it combines multiple styles of gameplay, the overall game concept is nothing new and scores low on the creativity meter.

Snipedown scores an 8/10 for good amount of entertainment value.