The GU iOS Game of the Week -- iBomber Defense Pacific

The game play environment presents as an overhead (God's Eye) view in which the various targets that the enemy will be attacking are prominently placed, with grids that mark the locations where the player can place their defensive gun emplacements clearly marker. As you progress through each wave, the enemy units that you defeat add specific amounts of money to your operating budget, which you can then use during or after each wave to add additional weapon nests to the battle on your side -- and saving up sufficient funds to add the more powerful weapons that are presently unlocked and available often results in a much better tactical situation than simply placing the weaker and lighter weapons as quickly as you can.

Placement of defenses in the game is naturally accomplished using the touch and drag action that the iPad was built for, and the defenses include a wide variety of weapon types, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The following list (with descriptions) includes the major weapons with which the gamer builds their strategic position against the attacking enemy:

-- Machine Gun: A light weapon, low cost, with high rate of fire. Highly effective against fast or weaker enemy units and particularly against lightly armored enemy units such as troops, transport vehicles, and lightly-armored vehicles.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Ground and Air (Machine Gun will now target both ground and air units), or (2) Double Power (Machine Gun will do double-damage to enemy units that are on fire).

-- Cannon: A heavy weapon with a low rate of fire, the Cannon is particularly effective against armored ground units. This unit is much less effective than the Machine Gun as a defense against troops, but is very effective when used against vehicles of all types.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Incendiary (Cannon will be loaded with incendiary rounds. These do the same damage but also have a chance of setting the enemy unit on fire), or (2) Splash Damage (Cannons will now fire shells that do slightly less damage but over a greater area).

-- Bomb: A special weapon that allows you to call in Bomb Drops from aircraft on the selected target.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Incendiary (Bombs are replaced with incendiary devices. These do the same damage but also set the enemy units on fire), or (2) Faster Recharge (The Bomb Towers will now recharge the bombs much faster).

-- Flamer: A special weapon that slows and damages enemy units briefly, which allows other turrets to do additional damage to any enemy units that have been set on fire by the Flamer.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Slow Enemy Units (the Flamer will now use fuel that burns much hotter, slowing the enemy units further), or (2) Longer Burn (the Flamer will now use sticky fuel, burning enemy units for a longer period of time).

-- Comms: Radar and Comms increase battle effectiveness when placed next to existing turrets, increasing their range. The deployment of Radar and Comms also unlocks the ability to collect Interest on the funds in account.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Increase Range (Increase the Comms area of effect), or (2) Higher Interest (Comms will now grant more interest at the end of each wave).

-- Rocket: A Heavy Weapon with slow indirect fire. Most effective against armored ground units.

The first two upgrades to improve the effectiveness of this weapon, while the final (4th) upgrade slot, which is called the Specialization Upgrade, allows you to select the special capabilities of the weapon as either (1) Incendiary (Rockets now carry incendiary warheads. These do the same damage but have a chance to set the enemy units on fire), or (2) Faster Rockets (Rockets now fly faster and are quicker to reload).