The tower-defense genre is pretty tired these days. Developer 11-bit Studios has a simple-yet-elegant solution to refresh the genre--reverse it. Instead of defending points, your job is to attack and destroy certain alien targets and help liberate Earth.

Anomaly Warzone Earth takes place in a future version of Earth where there's been an alien invasion. Humanity's Earth-defense forces are striking back at the insectoid buggers, and it's your job to lead them.

There's a tactical view where you see your troops as they advance along paths towards the enemy positions. You can deploy power-ups like healing, smokescreens, and weapons drops from this conventional 3D view. But from here you can also pause the game and buy replacement squads at anytime. You'll be able to purchase more advanced troops (and upgrade the armor you already have) by defeating enemies and collecting resources.

You'll also be able to set the routes your troops will take, so you're not just throwing them into a meat grinder. Certain enemy structures can only attack you from certain angles, and figuring out how and where to deploy your advancing troops is critical.