(It has come to out attention that 'few days' should read 'few months', 9th of April, 2011 to be precise. We apologize for the error, however its turnaround for the iOS version is still impressive!)

In what I hope is a continuing trend for the iOS platform, Anomaly Warzone Earth by Bit Studios comes to us mere days after its release on the PC. Developers have toyed with the idea of flipping tower-defense games on their head, placing you against a gauntlet of immovable destructive structures, but the combination of tactical awareness and split-second decisions takes the genre to a whole new level.

You play the role of a military commander with the job of directing a squad of vehicles through a war-torn country that is now host to an invading alien army. At its core the strategy is simple - move through the level, blowing up towers as you see them and make it to the exit while fulfilling objectives. This is made harder by tower placements taking advantage of their strengths (such as a laser that will fry anything that tries to take it head-on), meaning you'll need to direct your units around to flank the tower to survive.

Choosing which path to take is as simple as activating an overhead tactical mode that shows all of your objectives, notable pickups and locations and the route you're currently traveling in. Each intersection can be tapped to move the squad in a new direction and in many cases an entire level can be pre-planned in advance of commencing the mission in order to focus on the action.

This will work to your advantage as you'll need to deploy power-ups in the form of repairs, smoke-screens, decoys and air-strikes to push through fortified enemy positions. Different vehicles are unlocked as you progress through the storyline, with each one providing specific benefits including powerful tower-destroying weaponry and even a vehicle that can cough up additional power-ups to make life easier.

Although there's no real comparison between the visuals in the iOS and PC releases of Anomaly, the game is still drop-dead gorgeous with the usual modern war-zone feel being painted over with brightly highlighted units that help you to make tactical decisions on the fly.

Once you're done with the campaign you can tackle all the missions again with additional challenges to test your mettle, giving the game some longevity. The lack of replayability doesn't work against the game as it can feel repetitive by the end, meaning it never feels like it overstays its welcome.

If you're a strategy fan, be it of the TD or RTS variety, you owe it to yourself to check out Anomaly Warzone Earth.