Fortix 2

Developer: Nemesys Games
Steam Release: May 2011
Hours Played: 3.4
Similar To: Cubixx HD  / Fortix / Lightfish / Pretty Girls Panic!
Rating: 4/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
Like Lightfish that followed, Fortix develops the Qix formula where you run around with an avatar drawing shapes. You must ensure that the sum total of these shapes fills a certan percentage of the screen to successfully end the level. Like its prequel this is set back in the medieval days of chivalry, knights, deadly dragons and ogres. You start by looking top-down onto the battleground in plan-view format. You control a little man who leaves a line behind him as he strides out off the beaten track. This line leaves you vulnerable to attack but if you draw a solid shape without getting hit by a hostile then your shape is filled with a brighter and more colourful version of what was there before. Fill a large portion of the screen with this bright colour and you get a glorious fanfare and a final score.


BALANCE & PACE
Of course, drawing those shapes is not that easy as your incomplete line is constantly bombarded by cannon fire and your character threatened by flying dragons as you go about your business. You'll need to particularly watch out for the skeletal variety that's able to sniff you out! At the bottom of the map there is an indicator showing: time taken, a level indicator, score, lives left and turrets to destroy. You can also surround power-ups that stop the enemy attacks, cause a cease-fire, speeds you up or that allows you to fire off a cannon of your own! Personally, I enjoyed my time in Fortix 2 very much. Easy mode is a breeze which teaches you the game well and I'm looking forward to tackling Normal and Hard; Impossible not so much.

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
Fortix 2 has received a huge lick of paint since its prequel and in contrast to the dreary and mushy appearance of the first game, this sequel is a lot brighter and more colourful. It still retains its grand, medieval theme with the presence of parchments and castles along with the sound of swishing swords as you swish through the solid menus but gone is the gloriously uplifting fanfare on successfully completing a level. Sure, there is still a rousing fanfare but I miss the original one. Nevertheless, the menus are a great improvement with stats being displayed clearly within a very appealing and crisp art-style. The colour scheme is aesthetically pleasing and the well-chosen fonts also fit in with the character of the game. 
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Cicking Profile lets you choose to play at easy, normal, hard or impossible difficulty and a percentage (for completion) is shown next to each. Via the High-Score path, you have an excellent leaderboard that, for each difficulty, shows you a score and a world rank for each of the three main areas in the game. These are Greemland (green area of the map), Oarkland (dark blue) and Dwarkland (brown). In addition you have high scores for the Classic version which takes place in Artalon and features 15 levels. Finally, in the main campaign, you have a map screen split into 18 provinces showing some 30 levels indicated by towers. Complete the levels within the province and the province brightens up; lose zero lives and you're awarded a nice crown. Throw in 26 well-presented achievement awards and you have a completionists wet-dream!   
 

CONCLUSION

Despite its old-school gameplay Fortix 2 shines for its slick design and excellent presentation. It is a welcoming and user-friendly game that constantly entices us to have one more try. Now although it has one of the best high-score charts around, it is still a shame that they have an ongoing issue with the leaderboard feature. To fix this you'll need to right click on Fortix 2 in the Steam library, then go to properties > betas > opt in (via the drop box) > then enter the password: fortix. To this day, developers have still not fixed this in the game. Still, with Fortix and Fortix 2 being available at less than £2 I can thoroughly recommend both games with a positive swish and a resounding flourish!