The makers of Drawn to Life bring us one unique DS strategy game

If it's one thing the DS doesn't have a shortage of, it's good strategy games. And yet, it's hard to really classify THQ and 5th Cell's Lock's Quest as a bonefied strategy game. Sure, it's a mission-based affair with varying types of units, set objectives and broken up by long-winded dialogue, but how come I can freely move my lead character around the map like I would in an action game? But then who cares if Lock's Quest doesn't have a definitive genre? I'm having far too much fun playing the thing.

The unofficial classification for a game such as Lock's Quest is tower-defense. In it, you build massive walls lined with turrets and traps in order to fend off hordes of robotic soldiers known as Clockworks. The goal is usually to protect a critical resource or position vital to your army or shield fellow soldiers. The Clockworks will routinely attempt to break through your defenses by smashing through barriers and destroying turrets you've set up. It's your job to repair the damage and prevent enemy forces from advancing.

Each mission alternates between building and battle phases. During the building phase, you're given a limited time to fortify your defenses, including lining enemy entrance points with walls to halt the enemy's progress, mounting turrets to destroy them and laying traps to slow or incapacitate them. Every built structure consumes Source, which is earned from felled Clockworks and is obviously consumed more with bigger and stronger defenses. The battle phase has you running around making repairs to structures quicker than the enemy can damage them. Battles take place in real time and can quickly get intense, with sometimes dozens of moving targets to keep track of at once.

Lock's Quest starts to blur the line between RTS and action game when Lock is required to abandon his post and take the fight to the enemy. Certain situations will call for our disturbing Naruto look-alike to venture outside the relative safety of his confines and engage in hand-to-hand combat. In addition to wailing on the enemy, Lock learns a variety of special attacks mapped to stylus movements, as well as "housecleaning" Super Abilities that can be activated as soon as the red ring in the upper-left corner of the screen turns green. As much as some people may wish to indefinitely remain inside the protective shell of their walls while simply keeping on top of the damage, special missions and boss battles will often force you to get your hands dirty.