It took me around 4 months on and off, but I have finally completed the original campaign in Defense Grid: The Awakening, a tower defense game from Hidden Path Entertainment. In general, up until recently, I haven't really enjoyed any standalone tower defense games. Coming from playing TDs in Starcraft and Warcraft 3 (and being involved in the development of some of those Warcraft 3 maps), the standalone games I tried never seemed substantial enough. They were too short, too easy, too slow, too repetitive, or too unoriginal to succeed on their own or to warrant their price. Sure, some of the games were better than individual user-made maps, but those maps were free and plentiful. When you add in all the enjoyable free web-based tower defense games (Desktop TD, Gemcraft, Cursed Treasure, Protector, etc.), a standalone game has to overcome a substantial barrier to justify a price.
Defense Grid changed my mind by succeeding in almost every area. The original campaign includes 20 levels, all of which can be replayed with harder difficulty or special challenges. Additional maps have been added in DLC (some free, some not). In general I'm not a fan of selling maps, especially in a game where they could potentially be user-created, but the prices for the Defense Grid DLC aren't too bad. The Resurgence eight new maps in bundles of two, with each bundle selling for $1. Each map includes a standard "campaign" mode plus four additional challenge-type modes. On the other hand, the four map "Borderlands" DLC was released for free, as were two maps for the Potato Sack Portal 2 ARG.
An early level, with laser, inferno, and gun towers firing at enemies.
The amount of towers is a bit lower, but the 10 towers really cover all the basics. Guns are fast and weak, Cannons are slow and powerful, Lasers deal damage-over-time, Infernos are short-range AoE, Meteors are long-range AoE, Teslas build up charges (which can bounce), Temporals slow nearby enemies, Concussions damage nearby enemies, Missiles are anti-air, and Command towers reveal cloaked enemies and increase resource gains.
Each tower can be upgraded twice, going from green to yellow to red along with other visual changes. The upgrades are, frankly, somewhat boring, increasing damage, range, AoE, etc. There is not a single upgrade that changes how a tower works. Somehow in Defense Grid, this simplicity seems to work out, but I do wish there were some more interesting upgrades available.
The enemies in Defense Grid are similarly "simple" with mass Swarmers, speedy Racers, cloaked Lurkers, shielded Bulwarks, and more. There enemies that project cloaks or shields to nearby enemies, aliens that portal in reinforcements, two different flying enemies, and a few different bosses (including one that releases other enemies on death). I actually appreciate the simplicity here; there is enough variety to require smart tower use, but not so much variety that you constantly have to analyze enemies.
A level 3 gun tower firing at a boss, zoomed in all the way.
Other than that, the tower defense gameplay is mostly standard, with some exceptions: power cores and an orbital cannon. The power cores serve as the "lives" in each level, but they have some unique behavior. Aliens can steal anywhere from 1-3 cores; if they are killed on the way to the exit, the cores are dropped and slowly float back to their power station. But they can be picked back up on the way by other aliens, frequently creating chaotic situations where you "save" the same core multiple times on its way back.
The orbital laser which is unlocked partway through the campaign is a last-resort tool that destroys all aliens in its blast, but takes awhile to recharge and does not give resources for aliens killed. The laser does come in handy when that one alien breaks for the exit or a boss is about to escape at the very end of a level, but in general I try not to use it.
Although the towers and enemies might be simple, Defense Grid can be quite challenging at times, especially during the later levels. Thankfully, there are features included that make the difficulty bearable. You can fast-forward the game to speed through boring or easy segments, but you can also "rewind" to checkpoints if things start to go badly. Since I refused to let a single core escaped, I made frequent use of rewinding. A less "impressive" but just as helpful feature is the "tactical view" which shows enemy entrances/exits, air unit paths, and all ranges.
Tactical view showing enemy paths (ground and air) and tower ranges.
The campaign is a bit slow to start (as new towers unlock), but once the full roster of towers is available it really picks up. The levels get larger, longer, and more complicated, and the game remains challenging all the way to the final level (which completely stumped me at first). I felt that the campaign could have used a few more levels, but I suppose the Borderlands and Resurgence DLCs will do, and with the Portal ARG maps there are 14 additional maps to play.
The gameplay in Defense Grid is great, but there are some additional elements that make the game even better. The graphics are superb for a tower defense game; the towers and aliens look great, the levels have interesting visual design, and even the interface looks good. The soundtrack matches the game well, though I can't say any of the music is truly memorable. Defense Grid even includes a story that works for a TD, told through your computer companion. The story isn't overly complicated, drawn out, or full of twists and turns, but it's just enough to make the game feel like more than just shooting aliens.
If you enjoy the tower defense genre, you should definitely take a look at Defense Grid: The Awakening. For only $10 (or $14 with all DLC), you'll get a ton of great TD content. At the moment, I'm not sure that there's a better choice for a standalone TD.
