Beach Invasion 1944 is a First-Person Shooter slash Tower Defense developed and published by AIx2 Games. The game was released on December 3rd, 2022 for Microsoft Windows via Steam.
As the name implies, the game is set on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. Rather than playing as the Americans or British, however, the game has you play as the German Forces defending the beaches. To defend the beach, the game provides you with a number of stationary weapons emplacements, various types of landmines, and the option to call in artillery support. As you collect points from clearing enemy landing waves, you can use said points to unlock more emplacements, repair them, or plant landmines to block an enemy advance. In order to clear a wave, the player must eliminate a certain number of enemies on the map, with the quota becoming higher as the level gets higher. Being an Endless Game, the game will only end when all of your emplacements are destroyed, resulting in a Defeat.
In 2023, a sequel was announced, set during the War in Asia and the Pacific, called Beach Invasion 1945 - Pacific.
Beach Invasion 1944 contains examples of:
- Anti-Air: Aside from serving as an effective weapon against infantry, boats, and vehicles, the Flak 88 can also take down American planes in a single hit, provided that you can Lead the Target.
- Anti-Armor:
- Some American infantrymen are armed with bazookas, which can deal significant damage to fixed emplacements.
- Armor-piercing rounds can tear through any armor or cover, allowing for German gun emplacements to perform a One-Hit Kill on even the toughest of Allied units.
- Anti-Infantry: Practically all of the weapon emplacements used by the player are designed to take down enemy infantry first and foremost, from mounted machine guns, to anti-personnel mines, and even fixed artillery and tank guns. Of particular note is the MG42 machine gun, which can shred through entire squads of American troops in a few bursts.
- Anti-Vehicle: The Flak 88 and Panzerturm are capable of destroying both light and armored vehicles in one to three hits. In addition, the player can also plant anti-tank mines onto the beach, which can prevent these same vehicles from moving further inland and finishing off your positions.
- Arrow Cam: On occasion, getting a really good kill will zoom the player to the enemy, showing their death or destruction in fine, gory, detail.
- Awesome Personnel Carrier: The American M3 Half-Track, which, true to its purpose, carries a dozen American troops onto the beach, allowing them to get off and make a run for the nearest emplacement. While capable of resisting small arms fire, it is not bulletproof, allowing your mounted machine guns to eventually take them down.
- Battle in the Rain: On occasion, a heavy rainstorm will break out on the beach, forcing you to look and aim carefully in the distance for incoming ships and planes.
- Booby Trap: Anti-Vehicle and Anti-Infantry mines can be planted on the beach, preventing both enemy soldiers and vehicles from moving further inland. In addition, barrels of fuel can also be placed near beach obstacles, which can kill several nearby enemies when hit.
- Bottomless Magazines: Played straight for the MG 08, which only has to be cooled down from overheating every few bursts. Every other weapon has to be reloaded often, but their ammunition reserves are virtually unlimited.
- Break Out the Museum Piece: The MG08, originally being a weapon from World War I, is the default starting weapon. While less capable than the MG42, it is still a very capable machine gun in its own right, being able to tear apart squads of enemies and lightly-armored vehicles as good as its successor.
- Deadly Gas: Poison gas is available as a power-up for your weapons. When fired, both small arms and shells will produce clouds of fumes that will kill any enemy standing in or near them within seconds, allowing for area denial of covered areas of the beach for a precious few seconds.
- Death from Above: Both the Allies and Axis have weapons that can rain death from above.
- For the Americans, they have air support in the form of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, which can inflict devastating damage on any unfortunate German gun emplacements in their way. In addition, P-51 Mustang fighters are also called in, and will strafe any German gun emplacement that they see.
- For the Germans, they have access to artillery barrages, which can take down entire waves of American infantry and vehicles already on the beach.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Any vehicle taken out will explode, which is a Justified Trope given that they're all carrying highly volatile ammunition and fuel, which does explode when exposed to fire.
- Endless Game: The only way that the game ends is when all of your emplacements have been destroyed by the Allied Forces, resulting in a defeat.
- Explosive Barrel: One of several Booby Traps that can be placed in and around the landing beach are barrels that explode when shot at, which can kill several enemies nearby.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: American flamethrower operators and Sherman flamethrower tanks are among the many enemy types faced in the game, armed with man-portable and built-in flamethrowers, respectively. The latter in particular are capable of destroying German gun emplacements in a few bursts from their flamethrower, making them priority targets.
- Hold the Line: Your objective as the Germans is to repel the Allied invasion force for as long as possible, repelling them wave by wave.
- Holiday Mode: The Holiday DLC, which is essentially a Silliness Switch that gives a Christmas theme to the various enemies, the main menu, and even changing the air raid siren to a jingle bell sound.
- It's Raining Men: Among the many enemy types are American paratroopers, who drop from C-47 transport aircraft and parachute down onto the beaches.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Any unfortunate enemy soldier hit by an explosive round of any kind will have bits of their arms or legs, or worse, their whole body, torn to shreds.
- Man on Fire: Any infantryman hit by incendiary ammunition will burn to death.
- Mook Mobile: The Americans have several types.
- The first is the Willys MB Jeep, which is manned by two soldiers and armed with an M2 Browning heavy machine gun.
- The M3 Halftrack, on the other hand, carries a dozen soldiers to be deployed further inland, and is also armed with an M2 Browning. Compared to the jeep, it can take more damage from small arms fire, but isn't bulletproof and can be taken down in a few machine gun bursts.
- The M8 Greyhound reconnaissance vehicle, armed with a 37mm gun, is virtually bulletproof compared to its peers, but is vulnerable to anti-tank mines, Panzerturms, and Flak 88 fire.
- The M4 Sherman tank, armed with either a 75mm tank gun or flamethrower, is, like the Greyhound Immune to Bullets, but is again vulnerable to anti-tank mines, Panzerturms, and Flak 88 fire. Compared to the Greyhound, it is slower, but can take more damage.
- More Dakka: The MG08 and MG42, in contrast to the other weapon emplacements, can deliver thousands of rounds into enemy formations and vehicles. The latter in particular fires much faster, and is overall a better weapon capable of annihilating entire squads of enemies in a few bursts.
- No Campaign for the Wicked: Inverted Trope. Rather than play as the Allies by default, the game has you play as the Germans, with the Americans being the main opposition to shoot at.
- Red Alert: Air-raid sirens will blare when enemy fighters and bombers are flying overhead.
- Shout-Out: The entire game is one to Saving Private Ryan, with the MG42's viewpoint essentially being one long, extended, version of the famous Omaha Beach landing sequence from the start of the film.
- Storming the Beaches: The entire premise of the game has you play as the Germans defending a landing beach in France on D-Day against a massive American air, naval, and ground invasion force.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Enemy aircraft, tanks, vehicles, and boats can all explode from getting hit by fire from the German emplacements.
- Tank Goodness: M4 Sherman tanks, armed with either a 75mm tank gun or flamethrower, are part of the Allied invasion force. And they are very much capable of taking down German gun emplacements in a few hits from either their main gun or from their flamethrower.
- Villain Protagonist: The game has you play as the German Forces fighting an overwhelming Allied invasion force on D-Day, June 6th 1944.
