Okugi Studios have released the first official trailer for their upcoming tower defense game, Shad’O, one that offers a first glimpse of gameplay and the surrounding story.

As we revealed not so long ago, Okugi Studios’ next game is an interesting take on the tower defense genre. Shad’O takes place inside nine year old Williams mind as a dark fog attempts to engulf him, luckily there are some light spirits around to help fight back.

So this debut trailer for Shad’O essentially gives us the first look inside a young boys mind, right?

(Puts on best David Attenborough voice) Here, we see…the first ever glimpse…into…a young boys mind. Notice…the conflict of dark and light.

On one side exists a dark, fog-like substance…perhaps representing the first signs of pubescent lusts…and the other remains the playful mannequins of childhood innocence, as we see…using bright light as a weapon.

My gosh that first voice sounds like Daniel from Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Doesn’t it?! Let’s compare by listening to his voice here.

(Moments later)

Oh maybe not then. Unless someone’s got a tight hold on his balls in the trailer for Shad’O. Well you never know what developers put voice actors through these days I suppose.

More information on Shad’O can be found over on the game’s official website. Shad’O will be released on PC in a few months time.

Okugi Studios have released the first batch of screenshots and information for their upcoming light and dark tower defense game, Shad’O and there’s something strikingly different about it all.

A favorite genre for many indie developers to work in, tower defense is getting called overused and many entries unoriginal as of late. However, a quick look at Shad’O and it’s clear to see that this game actually has something quite different going on than other recent efforts.

For a start, Shad’O follows a young, nine year old boy called William who somehow finds himself lost in his own mind. A dark fog of forgetfulness surrounds him but luckily he is assisted by his luminous companions who help him remember what happened. There will be bossfights as well as the shadows to fight your way through, tying the story together in what seems to be a very promising title. We hope that Okugi can deliver once again like they did with their first title, Twist ‘n’ Catch, our review here.

We all like something to gawp at so prepare yourselves for just that. You can see in the shots below that the idea of Shad’O, as you would mostly expect, is that you control the light side and defend and attack against the shadows creatures, slowly carving your way through the fog.

Shad’O will be released on Windows PC’s in early 2012, more information can be found on the game’s official website.

Colt: 8
Boy this is fun. Tower Defense with some rad inclusions, like a user controlled camera and first-person mode. Even though a single tower, and a player with steady aim, can handle the first few waves solo, when the difficulty ramps up FP is a lifesaver. Awesome animation, inventive towers, great sound effects, a staggering number of user-made and downloadable content; Widget exceeded my first thought of another entry in a tired genre. Woohoo.

Ben: 7
Widget TD is a standard tower defense game, save for one brilliant innovation: any of the units placed on the map can be commandeered and completely controlled by the player, often giving the unit augmented abilities. The enemies and units are pretty standard in their variety (the enemies have different speeds and HP, the units have different ranges and a couple of debuffs), but the unit-piloting hook is game-changing, and a lot of extra innovation is necessary. Both the visuals and the audio are completely unimpressive, though.

Peter: 7
WidgetTD is a simple tower defense game with one map that’s playable in the demo. Like any other tower defense game you build and upgrade defensive structures and hope they’re enough to keep wave after wave of attackers under control. The only mechanic WidgetTD adds to the mix is the ability to take control of any one tower. This brings up a first person cockpit view, and you can aim for the enemies you want. For some towers, this isn’t much use, but from the cockpit, your basic gun tower can hit anything on the map. The difficulty seems a bit out of whack though; creeps’ hit points ramp up far faster than you can upgrade your towers. Otherwise it’s a strong entry for the genre.

Andrew: 6
WidgetTD is a surprisingly difficult tower defense game that in most ways blends into the gigantic pack of me-too tower defense games that have flooded the market in the past few years. However, Widget stands out by allowing you to get into the turrets and fire them manually. While the strategic benefit of doing this is debatable, this polygonal strategy game earns points for originality, and yet loses points for unoriginality. One innovation is not enough when you’re competing in a genre of games so incredibly identical. It’s certainly not bad, but this is mostly stuff you’ve already seen before.

Click on the Screenshot to download the free demo!

Caspian: 10
Stroke of genius. I got completely hooked playing it. The pacing is perfect, the arrival of new things piques the interest constantly, and it expired on me right at the point that I was so hooked that I have to buy the game now. It is taking a monumental effort of will to keep my credit card locked away because otherwise I won’t get any work done for several days.

This flawlessly presented gem abounds with a daft sense of humour, excellent playability, and great variation. There are all sorts of minigames and brilliant little touches. Go on, try it. I defy you not to love this game.

Mike: 10
Popcap is damn good at creating an addictive game and they demonstrate that once again with Plants vs. Zombies. Just writing the game’s title makes me want to boot up the demo and play some more. I guess I would describe the game as a simplified Tower-Defense Game. You grow different plants that will protect you from crazed zombies. There is a decent amount of strategy in the game, the concept itself is hilarious, and the game is completely addicting. What more could you ask for?

Sam: 9
Plants vs. Zombies is basically tower defense with lots of polish and a novel theme. You place plants that shoot, eat, or blow up attacking zombies, keeping them from reaching your house. The difficulty ramps up nicely, and even if you’ve never seen a tower defense game before, you’ll pick it up quickly. It might be a little easy for people who have played this type of game before, but there’s still enough tension and variety to keep it exciting, and plenty of incentives to keep you playing. You earn new plants after the completion of levels, and you can collect coins used to purchase new plant cards. Having to choose which plants you’ll be able to use in a level is a nice touch of strategy, and helps add some more depth. The resource collection, “sun” tokens that you have to collect as they fall from the sky or spawn from special plants, keeps you on your toes and gives you something to do while waiting for the next wave of undead. There are also different game modes, including one where you bowl down zombies with walnuts that were especially fun and a nice break from the usual. Like most PopCap games, this is highly addictive, and I wanted more when the trial ended. I’m not sure I would pay $20 for it, but it’s the best tower defense game I’ve played, and the demo is certainly worth a download.

Kayla: 10
This game is bound to be a favorite among casual gamers (and perhaps even those who dub themselves as ‘hardcore’). Plants vs. Zombies provides a wide array of plants to choose from (around 45, I believe), plenty of feral zombies to slaughter with peashooters, a hilariously crazy neighbor and five different levels in which you must protect your yard from the zombie invasion. Strategy varies depending on the type of zombie and the level presented: for example, in the first level you collect sun in order to plant new foliage in your yard to help protect your house, but the next level is during the night. Since collecting sun is nigh impossible, so you have to utilize the vicious spores of special mushrooms and get what sun you can from sunflowers. A later level houses a pool in your backyard, forcing you to erect lily pads in the water so the plants can stay afloat.

My intent was to sit down just to play the game for a few minutes before skipping off to something else, and an hour and a half later I was still setting up potato bombs to keep the zombies at bay. The game is wonderfully addictive, the songs are catchy, and the graphics are original…what more can you ask for? I suggest everyone at least try it out.

Average: 9.75!