I hate bugs. My first instinct is to swat or smash the vermin not to take them into battle as heroic warriors. But Bug Heroes has won me over and I look forward to my daily battles with my feisty little buggers as I try to level them up and make them stronger in their never ending struggle to find food and protect their stash. I’m starting to grow a certain fondness for Foursaken Media’s brave little bugs, a fondness that’s aided by the fact that Bug Heroes has recently gone free with IAP for those who get hopelessly bitten by the bug.

Like Dungeon Defenders but much more streamlined, Bug Heroes seeks to combine several different genres into a cohesive whole - tower defense, dual-stick shooter and RPG. While most of your game time will be spent controlling your band of heroes via a familiar dual-stick as you search for food and fight off hoards of bugs, you’ll also get to build and upgrade towers on your food stash and strengthen your heroes attributes and weapons. This variety keeps you busy and adds depth especially since you get to control 3 distinct bug heroes with 15 unique upgrades and special abilities.

Tapping on your hero brings up a line-up of your motley crew which you can change to at any time. The initial game gives you a machine gun toting Ant, a tank-like Beetle and an assassin Spider. These three join forces to create a well-balanced crew each with their own strengths and weaknesses. As you progress through the adventure mode your heroes will have amusing conversations regarding new enemies and battle tactics that are helpful to your success. The IAP gives you access to 3 new heroes, a new level and new enemies for $0.99.

Tapping on your base allows you to replenish your heroes and build a tower defense for your stash. While you don’t get to place your towers you do get to upgrade them although one special ability of Ant and Termite lets you place turrets. The special abilities available to your heroes are awesome and must be tried even though they are costly. Your cash builds up quickly by killing bugs or fulfilling special missions that pop up like collecting coins or freeing slaves. On top of this you get to upgrade each hero in four different areas as you gain experience.

While all this fighting, feeding, building and upgrading seems complex, the beauty of Bug Heroes is how amazingly well-streamlined and easy everything is. Tapping on your hero or food stash stops the action and allows you to build, upgrade or equip at your leisure. It’s so simple and well-designed that nothing interferes with your battle tactics.

There’s a wide array of never ending enemies that require different strategies and lots of good looking 3D levels both in-door and out with changing light conditions throughout the day. Bug Heroes also contains a coliseum mode that’s a fun game in itself but you only control one hero without building towers. The only glitch I found in the game is that occasionally the movement stick would get stuck.

I could go on about the virtues of this game. Suffice to say, with its action, personality, great design and deep strategic content, Bug Heroes is one of the most enjoyable, addictive and innovative games of the year and takes dual-stick shooters to new heights.

goyami@comcast.net