TurretGirls Preview

The reason that I’m not a fan of tower defence as a genre is because you place down some defences and then wait. TurretGirls isn’t quite in that genre, but it’s closer than the Steam user tag of “on-rails shooter”.

You’re a member of the Planetary Alien Neutralization & Tactical Strike Unit, and you’re up against alien hordes, which are attacking The Superweapon! Your turret is attached below the main cannon, and above the generators, which are gathering energy to power it. Since I could only play 10 in-game days’ worth of the game, I can’t tell you what happens once The Superweapon has been fully charged, but presumably, it’s going to defeat the aliens forever!

The build that I played only took about half an hour to complete, but it showed things off well and it has some replay value. Each day lasts about 30 seconds and begins with you climbing onto your turret as waves of enemies ceaselessly approach the generators situated below. Once the day is over, assuming you and the generators survive, you receive a stipend and the opportunity to purchase one of three upgrades.

Upgrades are mostly for the turret, such as adding missiles or improving the damage, but also, if your character receives any damage, you can buy her new clothes. No, I don’t mean buy new outfits — you unlock those by completing runs either successfully or not — I mean you can repair her damaged clothes because they represent her hitpoints. Once she’s naked, your turret is destroyed — but don’t worry, all of the “rude” bits are covered by your choice of modesty barrier, such as flowers. Not that you’d see her nude for long, as I said, you fail upon her complete disrobing.

Yes, a main draw to TurretGirls is the anime woman with her jiggle physics and quick-tear protective clothing. Each day begins with her saying a quick word of moral support, then straddling the turret right in front of you. Her default outfit is a miniskirt, shirt, and jacket, but you can change it as you unlock more options. While her modesty is pretty concealed when you’re shooting at closer ground targets, the more you angle away from The Superweapon, the closer to her rear the camera will get.

It’s unclear whether or not there will be additional girls for the turrets — there are multiple turret weapon types after all — so there might be more variety in the game’s future. But for now, I hope blondes are your thing.

For the full game, I’m hoping for some story (it was absent from what I played), more characters, and less tanky enemies capable of destroying a generator in one attack. But for now, I thought TurretGirls was fun to run through a bunch of times, discovering the different weapons and slapping flying enemies out of the air when they got too close. If the bullet heaven genre has taught me anything, sticking with a simple concept can be a winner, and I think this could be one.