IDUN – Frontline Survival Review for Steam

Developed by IDUN Interactive/Published by Surefire Games

9/10 (10/10 if the story pans out)

IDUN – Frontline Survival is a hybrid real-time strategy (RTS), tower defense (TD), and rogue-lite smushed together to offer gamers an addictive experience.

Up front, I don’t have much experience with the tower defense genre, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started out asking questions about IDUN, which quickly turned to screaming for 3:00 minutes straight while wave after wave of Ulks threw themselves at me. Addiction to adrenaline is real because as soon as I completed the mission and caught my breath, I wanted more.

IDUN – Frontline Survival Story

I don’t know if there even is one! That’s only a little hyperbolic.

I, of course, do see there is a story about a group of miners on the planet Idun, and that the local aliens (called vermin) are attacking, and that then a supercharged cyborg mindread lady from the government shows up. But so far, the game’s story has fully taken a back seat as I’ve dived (dove, doven?) headfirst into the battle mechanics. And that is where we are going to spend our time today.

Gameplay

IDUN blends real-time strategy and tower defense mechanics to force players to adopt, adapt, and improve their defenses, resource management, and in-the-moment tactics.

The game is not a true tower defense in the set-it-and-forget-it sense. Rather, it is a passionate, heavy metal shred song written in honor of the genre. Unlike traditional TD titles where base-building is the primary focus, in IDUN, the player must decide between prioritizing defense or attack, while adapting to randomized battlefields and managing a limited amount of resources effectively.

The planet of Idun is broken up into hexagons, with each little six-sided shape representing a battlefield. There are various terrains on Idun, including snow, desert, jungle, and wasteland. Each map is procedurally generated every time players enter a battlefield. Maps introduce new terrain layouts, resource placements, and enemy entry points, meaning no two battles are ever quite the same, and what worked before may never work again. This layer of unpredictability means that every engagement, even the repeated failures, feels fresh and challenging.

Before every engagement, players choose from a limited number of resource cards (I call them cards; they look like cards). This usually includes one character hero card, one type of gun card, and one form of aerial support card.

These resource cards are limited (except for Ham and the Sky Gun; you’ll never run out of those). Players must craft other character hero cards, like Q or Clay, along with other types of weapons if they want to try different strategies. The problem is that the game is stingy! And the same rewards that are used to craft battle resources are also the ones players will need to upgrade said resources. This means there is a constant tension between choosing to invest in in-the-moment firepower or long-term improvement. More than that, the game is stingy!!!!

Each hexagon has three levels of difficulty, Easy, Medium, and Hard. Playing at different levels will nab players a different amount of rewards. BUT! If you play on Medium for one battle and then play the same hexagon again on Hard, you will ONLY GET the leftover rewards.

Here’s what that means:

On Easy, players will get a reward of 125 Fuel, 1 Energy Cycle, and 50 Turkey Jerky.

On Medium, players will get an extra 100 Fuel and a Howitzer.

On Hard, players will get an extra extra 100 fuel.

Suppose you play the hexagon on Medium and succeed. In that case, you get the Easy + Medium rewards = 225 Fuel + 1 Energy Cycle + 50 Turkey Jerky + 1 Howitzer.

If you go back and replay that same hexagon on Hard, you ONLY GET the 100 Fuel that was the leftover Hard reward!!!…!!!! *cries in real-time-strategy*

You do not get to go back and recollect the Easy and Medium Rewards, you only get the reward you missed on the easier level. And if you beat a level on Hard, that’s it. No more rewards or resources can be gained from that hexagon. The devs have effectively leashed players’ ability to level up. This is made scarier by the fact that hexagons themselves also fluctuate from Easy to Hard. Players can play a level 3.06 hexagon on Hard difficulty, and feel like a pro, but then play a level 11.61 hexagon on Easy and wind up in tears. Without thoughtful upgrade allocation, and with no ability to grind, players could find themselves in a failure cycle.

Each hexagon has different objectives; some are straightforward, like surviving for a few minutes. Some are bananas, like dragging a nuke to an enemy base while being attacked on all sides. This last objective type is a real brain buster because you need four hands. One to use the mouse to control defenses, one to control the direction keys, one to manage aerial support, and one to clutch your pearls.

Supposedly, the game could get easier as players navigate the Research Tree. Players can upgrade everything and research new weapons, but, as mentioned, the Research Tree runs on the rewards players get from battlefields, which are limited in supply.

These are all the things a player has control over, but there is another mechanic that can turn the tide of battle that players have no control over at all. These are the golden orbs that fall from the sky carrying extra weapons, upgrades, and hope.

The whole reason the characters are on this planet is to mine a resource called epli (espli?). This resource can be gathered from drilling, which is what we’re there for, and from killing the alien hoards (it’s almost as if there is some kind of Avartar-esque connection between the creature and the planets, and maybe the vermin are just trying to defend their home from human invaders, but who knows, I haven’t been moving the story forward). As players gather espli (epli?), they will fill a status bar. Once this bar is full, an orb will fall from the sky, giving players three random choices to apply to the battle. The farther into the game you get, the more variety there is in the orb choices, but they fall into a couple of categories:

• weapons/extra character hero
• armor upgrades
• aerial support
• drilling upgrades

The orbs and the player’s choice within the orbs can completely change the course of the battlefield.

I figured out that I actually wanted to play more hexagons on Easy, to begin with, so I had the space to explore what the different orb choices could do in a battle and try out different strategies. Trust me, I do not recommend experimenting with orbs on a Hard Hexagon on Hard Difficulty.

Sound Design

I just need to take a moment and appreciate the soundtrack. Whoever picked the music is a true edge-lord. Because what I really need during a panic attack is fast-paced metal music getting louder and louder, with a drumbeat that’s pounding in time with my screaming. Whoever you are, I salute you, and I will be sending you the bill for my heart medication.

I want to note that many of the less enthusiastic reviews for IDUNhave to do with the dialogue/ AI voice-generating software used in the game. I have to gripe about the use of AI even as I recognize that it makes development more accessible for indie studios. I can forgive it if, once the developers get their feet under them, they can share the love and hire other hoomans for art and acting. So, I won’t dock points for that, but I’m keeping a side-eye on IDUN Interactive’s future releases. For those who don’t like the dialogue, I think the developers knew it would be too much for some because they intentionally included an option to turn off all voice dialogue. Like they knew what they were doing with the dad jokes and ’80s action quips. So far, I have had zero problems with the dialogue. Then again, I like my video games like I like my pizza, extra cheesy and burning my mouth.

Overall

9/10 (10/10 if the story is as good as the mechanics)

A solid, well-designed strategy game with fun mechanics and huge potential for future growth from developer patches and updates. Highly recommend for fans of the RTS and Tower Defense genres who are looking for a twist.

This game is a sleeper on Steam right now, sitting at only 350+ Mostly Positive reviews which doesn’t do justice to the dynamic gameplay, strategic mechanics, and commitment to post-launch improvements the developers have been releasing.

IDUN: Frontline Survival is available on PC via Steam for $14.99.

For more information, visit X and Bluesky, join the community on Discord and search #IDUNGame across social media.

Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones