Tower Defence games have been around forever but recently they are becoming ever more popular and as a new competitor in the field, Dungeon Defenders does not dissapoint.
Four kids are looking after the castle and accidentally unleash some bad stuff and now they’ve got to fix it. At your disposal you have four classes: The Apprentice: (a wizard ideally suited to novice players), The Squire ( your melee/knight type), The Huntress (for ranged) and lastly a Monk for melee and heals.
The tutorial can be a little overwhelming since there is a lot of information and controls to learn but if you are into this style of game then it likely won’t be hard for your squishy brain to absorb.
Your goal is to protect the Eternia Crystals from those looking to destroy them. Easy enough in the beginning when you only have 1 Eternia Crystal to defend and only 2 doors which enemies can spill from, but that doesn’t last for long with more Crytals to defend and multiple routes to block off. Of course each wave pours out more enemies and stronger enemies and things can get tricky awfully quick if you don’t keep an eye out.
You get a build phase before the waves begin and during this phase you can switch between your classes in order to build up defences against the upcoming waves. You get time between waves to rebuild and strengthen too. Also, between waves you can run around and loot the chests that appear for the chance to upgrade your gear.
Your classes do level up and become more powerful. The only downside to this is that if you prefer one particular character over another then one will be way ahead while others remain weak. This is fine for multiplayer if you have other people playing other classes they have boosted, but in single player when you go to switch between different classes it can feel a little disappointing to play with the weak ones. Your only option is to play them even if you don’t prefer their play-style; you can always replay the easier levels to do this.
To add to the strategic fun, when the waves begin you can run around RPG style casting spells, or bashing things to assist in slaughtering.
I had two issues with the game. I found the camera wasn’t able to give the view that I preferred to have, though there are a few choices available. Perhaps I am just fussy.
The other issue I had was that I only have 1 PS3 controller so I couldn’t do multiplayer with someone in the same room. Thankfully you can do online co-op though it can be harder to communicate and co-ordinate your defences. It’s still lots of fun if you can handle that much going on all at the same time. This game is absolutely meant to be played as multiplayer and it’s where it really shines.
Dungeon Defender‘s cartoony style graphics are colourful and quirky and it’s great fun overall. Made by trendy Entertainment…Trendy by name…Trendy by nature.
8 dungeon invaders vanquished out of 10