Review

Sanctum 2

If you read my hands on preview, then you’ve got the basic premise of Sanctum 2’s story. In hopes of terraforming the planet LOEK III, humans have built oxygen-producing cores at key points on the planet’s surface. This act didn’t sit well with the planet’s inhabitants as they seemed to be adversely affected by the oxygen. Of course, this resulted in a conflict of interests as both sides are determined to live on LOEK III. The aliens march, crawl, scamper and fly towards each core while the humans build walls outfitted with turrets to keep them at bay.

Sanctum 2’s campaign isn’t very riveting when it comes to its narrative. Not a bad thing at all since the gameplay is what is being pushed front and center. Like most tower defense titles, the game boils down to building defenses in hopes of keeping enemies from reaching a certain point on a map. The common gameplay design for this genre is a build phase, then an attack phase, followed by another build phase. The build phase allows for the purchase and placing of weapons in preparation for the coming onslaught. By using indicators on the map, gamers can see which way the enemies will come and place defenses along those paths. The attack phase is where all the fighting happens; waves of enemies need to be defeated before the next build phase can start. Sanctum 2 adds a twist to the formula by allowing the maze or the path that enemies use when marching towards their goal to be manipulated by the player.

During the build phases, gamers are given a set number of small peg like bases to be placed around the map. These bases act as anchors for your maze; sitting two of these bases next to one another in the environment will cause a wall to be erected in between them. Turrets can be placed on top of any base as it acts as their power source. Setting up walls and turrets will help when it comes to slowing the enemy’s approach. What I loved about this feature was that it was quite simple to understand  and yet still presented a good challenge during gameplay. Only a finite amount of bases are given during each build phase, they can only be placed in certain areas of the map, and you can’t block the aliens completely (the maze must have an end that leads to a core). These limitations mean that a lot of thought should go into the layout of each maze.

That’s not to say that there is a completely wrong or right way to do things. Worst case scenario, your maze only slightly hinders the advancement of aliens. If you have enough turrets to help you blast them apart, you may still be victorious. Good placement would offer something that funnels the aliens into narrow pathways with turrets on either side. Going a step further, you could have the maze bend in such a way that the aliens would have to pass by the same turrets a second time before advancing on. Each map allows for multiple solutions, though some are way better than others. This is why it feels so good when you realize that the maze you created was successful at being a great deterrent to the opposing force!

One thing I noticed while playing is that just having a good layout isn’t always enough. There are so many different kinds of enemies with different strengths and weaknesses. Some enemies can fly over your walls, while others can outright destroy them. Some have armor plating and can only be wounded on  certain places on their bodies. Others are so quick that they can run past certain defenses without taking significant damage. Making matters worse is that multiple enemy types can spawn during any given phase. To help fight back the horde of creepy crawlies are four elite soldiers armed with unique attributes and weapons, a handy perk system, unlockable items and the ability to upgrade your turrets in the smallest of ways.

Choosing one of the soldiers to play as really comes down to your preferred style of gaming. Hawkins, for instance, uses a shotgun and has more hit points than the other characters. This makes him great for taking point when the fighting starts. On the other hand, SiMo is the go to guy for long rang combat do to his effectiveness with a sniper rifle. To offset their primary weapons and stats are perks that are unlocked via experience points gained over time. Giving Hawkins a perk that raises his weapon damage makes him deadly up close, especially when it allows him to harm enemies no matter where he shoots them (it negates the need to shoot armored foes only in sensitive areas).

Leveling up will also net you new secondary weapons and more turret options. The weapons range from a pulse rifle that sends an electric current through multiple enemies to rocket launchers with a timed mine secondary function. Outside of the weapons themselves is a neat trick when it comes to weapon swapping. Most guns in the game (especially the more powerful ones) take a decent amount of time to reload. However, if you switch to your other weapon after depleting all of your ammo, the game will reload the weapon for you. By switching back and forth between weapons you can keep shooting almost without interruption. Of course, if you’re using a secondary weapon that isn’t suitable for the current foe, reloading might be a better choice. The turrets are similar when it comes to their variety. What makes them stand out in this game though is the way they are upgraded. Using resources that are given during the build phases, gamers can upgrade their turrets in increments. Unlike other TD games, every single point pushed into a turret upgrades it; let’s say it takes 100 points to reach level 2 but you only have 5, the game will level up the turret by 5%. So even though it isn’t at level 2, it’s still better than its base level.

The last thing to note about Sanctum 2 is the cooperative gameplay. Up to four players can tackle any given level. In the preview build, I was a little concerned about the resource sharing; whoever ran over and picked up the most drops at the end of an attack phase basically commanded where things would be placed; since they had more resources at their disposal. In the final game, that has been addressed by giving everyone some resources to use automatically. What’s also nice is the ability to share by just looking at someone and left or right clicking the mouse. You still have to work together (meaning people may get on your nerves from time to time) but it isn’t as cut throat as before.

Altogether, Coffee Stain gave gamers a lot to think about. There are the questions that come up when playing solo: Do I pick the assault rifle carrying soldier with the ability to double jump or the rocket toting one? Do I use my resources to buy a new turret or to slightly upgrade a couple even if only by a little? Should I grab defensive or offensive perks? The questions continue on with multi–player modes; should I share with this guy/gal or not? No matter what you choose to do, the resulting firefights are always fun and engaging. Adding to the challenge are Feats of Strength, modifiers that raises the difficulty of encounters (but doubling the amount of XP given). Like I said in my preview, these elements work together to create a tower defense title where a fast trigger finger is just as important as being able to strategically place towers. You have to think before you act and then think again. Even if you aren’t big fan of the FPS and/or tower defense genre, this hybrid is sure to please!