Legendary Wars game for iOS was a successful take on the tower defense genre. Monster Wars, its follow-up, introduces new units while remaining largely the same. Does Liv Games' new title live up to its legendary predecessor?

Monster Wars' missions are in the vein of the original and other tower defense games: gain resources, build units and defend a castle while attacking enemies.

"The campaign also brings back the side-scrolling 'hack n' slash' levels from the previous game (for better or worse). Each successful mission rewards players with coins to spend on units upgrades, with an occasional soulstone (premium currency that you can also purchase using IAP)," said Touch Arcade. There is also plenty of character customization, offering a sizeable amount of replay value to level up stats.

Monster Wars also introduces new mission types, for example guarding a specific ally or object - such as a cannon, which is also used to attack forces - while assaulting a castle. The side scrolling levels, with runner levels (think Canabalt) and objective-based missions, have been improved.

Away from the campaign, Monster Wars features survival modes which reward players with gems and soulstones to improve units. The game also offers more difficulties if players complete everything.

However, Monster Wars does push players towards microtransactions.

"I was a little disappointed that 'tier-upgrades,' (along with the ability to unlock some units) required as many soulstones as they do ... players will either have to shell out some cash or grind a bit in the endless levels in order to earn enough stones to see everything," Touch Arcade reported.

The game controls through buttons at the top of the screen, issuing orders, with units selected through tapping them on-screen. Monster Wars also supports the Retina display, ensuring top-class visuals on the iPhone.

Monster Wars ends up feeling a lot like its predecessor, which may put off some fans, but does introduce meaningful changes along with general polish.

"[W]hy mess with a good thing? While the game does feel like a re-skin at times, Monster Wars still does a great job taking the classic gameplay from Legendary and transplanting it in a new setting. Add in all the new content combined with deep character customization and there's no reason you shouldn't be checking out Monster Wars," Touch Arcade concluded.

Monster Wars is available on iOS for $0.99.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)