Sanctum 2 Hands on Preview!

The tower defense genre is one of the most experimented genres in gaming. Developers are constantly evolving what is considered to be a tower defense title. At least, that seems to be the cast when looking over the past few years. Plants vs. Zombies, Orcs Must Die!, Dungeon Defenders, and Anomaly are just a few titles that showcase this fact. This year we’ll see even more unique takes on this popular game type. This brings me to the Tower Defense/FPS hybrid, Sanctum 2!

Sanctum 2 follows the story of four soldiers tasked with protecting oxygen-producing cores on the planet LOEK III. Apparently, the indigenous life on the planet is threatened by the presence of oxygen and seeks out to destroy these cores. Out of this basic premise comes an exciting and strategically-based gameplay that successfully blends mechanics from both the FPS and tower defense (TD) genres. Now unfortunately I didn’t get to play the first Sanctum when it was released (I know…shame on me). So I can’t really say what has been improved since the first game. What I can tell you is that I had a great time blasting persistent aliens looking to destroy my cores!

Developed by Coffee Stain Studios, this interesting title features some really cool design elements. The first of which is the ability to build a maze for the attackers to trek through. Most TD games have pre-built mazes or environments where the emphasis is on the placement of defenses. The same holds true for Sanctum, only we get to decide how the maze will look. For example, one place had me defending a core that was located in a building on the far side of a courtyard and the aliens were set to enter the game field through specific doors on the opposite end. At that time, they had a straight shot to the core I was trying to protect. Before their assault, during a build phase, I was given the opportunity to put down bases. These thick, peg like structures are used to build walls; placing a base beside another adjacent one will cause them to extend out and connect to each other to form a wall. The placement of each base is important due to them being limited in nature.

The same thing goes when it comes to building towers. These defensive units fit on top of bases and assault approaching aliens, weakening them along the way. Gun turrets, electrical spires, mine dispensers and more need to be placed in good spots along your maze to be utilized effectively. During the first build phase I was able to build out part of my maze and place a few turrets. But, after each wave, more resources would drop next to the core, allowing me to build up my maze, weaponize more bases, or upgrade the defenses I’d already set up.

Trying to decide where to place bases and towers is only part of the challenge. Now enters all the different enemy types you’ll face. Some enemies have armor plating and need to be attacked from behind, while others can fly over well-constructed mazes. Hulking boss characters will completely destroy towers and smash through walls on their way to the core. Basically, the towers and mazes alone are seldom enough to keep advancing enemies at bay. This is where another cool mechanic comes in, the ability to fight alongside your towers in first person.

Gamers can pick from four different soldiers, each with their own strengths, weakness, and starting weapons. Skye, for example, can double jump and uses an assault rifle. The rifle is relatively weak but its damage output increases when the gun is constantly fired at an enemy. It can also zoom in, making far off enemies easier to hit. Her sister Sweet uses a rocket launcher that’s great for taking down flying aliens. It takes a while to reload and only has a few shots but these weaknesses are tempered with the fact that each rocket sets enemies on fire upon impact. Regardless of who you pick, actively engaging foes head on is really fun. Again, I had a blast!

Sanctum 2 also features RPG elements in terms of upgrades and unlocking items. Win or lose, you’ll collect experience points based on different stats (like how many aliens you personally killed as opposed to your towers). Leveling up unlocks new secondary weapons, towers, and stat boosting perks. The secondary weapons can be used by any soldier and helps balance their fighting potential. Hawkins uses a shotgun, so he needs to be closer to enemies to be effective. Giving him a long ranged secondary weapon will allow him to keep his distance when things get hairy. If that’s not enough, outfitting him with a perk could even the odds. The perks can improve stats, like making one shot out of every three do 3x the normal damage. Sometimes using a defensive perk is better than an offensive one. Let’s say your core was heavily damaged during a previous wave, having a perk that rejuvenates its life based on a percentage of its total health would come in handy.

In addition to the RPG elements, Coffee Stain added what’s called Feats of Strength. These are modifiers that make the core game more difficult in exchange for an increase in XP output. They range from making the aliens tougher to kill to making death permanent (if playing with others, you’d have to wait till the next wave to respawn). Not only would this allow you to level up quicker, it also makes things more challenging to those who feels that they’ve mastered a particular stage.

All of these elements work together to create a tower defense title in which  the ability to strafe and shoot is just as important as being able strategically place towers. Now with  up to four players, you and your friends can take on waves of aliens together either through the campaign or via quick matches. Visually, Sanctum 2 looks good (I dig the comic book vibe) with its bright color pallet and stylized characters. The sound effects fit the futuristic theme and the sound track was ok. My only real gripe was the fact that the resources aren’t shared between players; if someone runs and scoops up the resources dropped after a completed wave, they’ll be the only ones that can build mazes and/or towers. This really diminishes the cooperative qualities of the game; having a random “know-it-all” completely controlling the battlefield design just because they are faster than you doesn’t really promote the co-op experience!  Outside of that, everything was great.

Sanctum 2 launches this week (May 15th) for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC for 1200 MS Points/$14.99. Wait…that’s tomorrow…Well, be sure to check back for our full review (if you haven’t already made up your mind)!