Review

Developed by:Trendy Entertainment Published by:Reverb Publishing/D3Publisher Genre(s):
  • Action RPG
  • Tower Defence
  • Platform:
  • Microsoft
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$14.99 ESRB Rating:EVERYONE 10+ Players:1-4 (2-4 Online) Release date:October 19, 2011 Reviewed on:XBox 360
    9.4

    Dungeon Defenders

    When it comes to innovation in video games, sometimes the best new ideas come from the best old ideas. Creating a new experience that’s both fresh and fun, doesn’t always require a totally new concept nowadays. Trendy Entertainment gets this trend, as their new title is a mash up of different video game genres. One part tower defense, one part action RPG, and all parts equally fun; Dungeon Defenders is a completely awesome game.

    The game takes place in Etheria; a mystical kingdom filled with dragons, orcs, and other creatures of lore. These forces of evil were lead by a group of immortal beings know as the Old Ones. Four heroes stood against the Old Ones, eventually sealing them inside Etheria Crystals. The heroes were tasked with guarding the Crystals in order to make sure no one would release the evil held within. Well, being legendary and all, it wasn’t long before they were called upon to help those in need in another land. Of course, they wouldn’t just leave the Crystals unprotected, so they left their younger kin to guard them. Kids will be kids it seems, as the younger guards accidentally released another evil force while playing one day. This new horde of monsters has but one purpose, to free the Old Ones and take over the world. It’s up to these heroes in training to fight back the masses and save Etheria…or at least stall the impending doom until their adult counterparts return.

    On the tower defense side of things, Dungeon Defenders (DD) plays normally. You’ll have to fend off waves of enemies who are trying to reach/attack an object. In this case, you’ll be fighting all sorts of monsters to defend Etheria Crystals. Before we get into that, however, let’s talk about the characters. At the start of the game gamers will get to choose a character from one of the four classes. There’s the Apprentice (mage), Squire (knight), Huntress (rouge), and the Monk (er…monk). Each class has their own list of abilities and defensive units that gamers will have to become familiar with in order to progress. For instance, the Apprentice has the ability to place magical towers that shoot energy blasts, bolts of electricity, and fireballs at enemies who step into range. The Squire is a strong melee character that relies on spiked blockades, steel blade traps, and siege styled turrets. The Huntress is like the “rouge” of the group. She uses crossbows and guns, can turn invisible, and uses traps as her defensive units. The Monk also uses strong melee attacks to fight back enemies (go figure). He also uses different Aura’s, an energy field that has different effects ranging from healing teammates and structures to confusing enemies causing them to fight one another. Each character plays differently from one another, allowing for multiple strategies and play styles.

    After you’ve made your selection, customized and named your character, it’s time to get down to business. Going back to the tower defense element, each map places one or more Etheria Crystals in a given location. Your job is to make sure the crystals survive waves of incoming enemies and the first wave begins with a Build Phase. This is where gamers get to decide what defenses to put up and where. There are a few things that gamers will need to keep in mind when planning their strategy though. The first thing is that your defenses cost mana, the currency in DD, which can be acquired by opening chests and defeating enemies. Your special abilities, like being able to heal, are also tied to your mana. The second strategic element is unit cost; each map has a limit to the number of defensive units players can assemble and some defenses cost more units than others. The last element is the map itself. Enemies spawn in different places and you’ll need to figure out the most effective placement for your defenses. Do I place barriers at certain entrances in order to bottleneck enemies 300 style? Or do I place explosive traps near spiked pits in hopes of my enemies being knocked into them by the explosion? Do I use all my mana on traps and units or do I save some for my abilities? There is a lot to think about when it comes to fortification.

    The second phase is where the action happens. During the appropriately named Action Phase, enemies will try to attack your crystals and players will try to fight them off while repairing defenses. At this point DD successfully turns into an action RPG as hit points start flying everywhere. Depending on your character, your approach to fighting will differ. I liked playing as the Apprentice; he is a powerful character that uses wands to shoot magic energy blasts at enemies from afar. He also has an ability called Overflow that allows him to cast spells much quicker than normal. Casting is used to summon units and use abilities. During the action phase, casting takes much longer than it does in the Build Phase. Using Overflow drastically lowers the time it takes to repair and/or build units. Normally my role was to deal out massive damage from afar while repairing and placing units on the battlefield. When I switched to my Squire, my role changed. I still maintained units like before, but this time instead of keeping my distance, I jumped right into the fray. Being able to soak up a lot of damage meant that I would be leading the charge into battle. Of course, these are just examples; you can play your character anyway you want. Once all of the enemies are dead a new Build Phase will start. This allows you to level up your character with earned experience points, collect the loot dropped by foes, and strengthen your defenses. This continues until you’ve completed a set number of waves for the given map.

    If this was all there was to DD, it would certainly be a good game. All of the mechanics work well with each other and the game is a blast to play. With that being said, we can thank Trendy Entertainment for not settling for “just good” and offering up a hefty list of gaming greatness. One way they did this was by making sure gamers were given a lot of things to collect, to do, and to fight. Take the enemies for example. DD is packed with multiple enemy types ranging from goblins, orcs, and massive ogres to evil wizards, skeleton warriors, and dark elves. Most enemies can be taken down using your defenses alone. Others, with unique abilities, will require a more direct approach. One enemy can summon skeletons to fight for him, and killing the skeletons proves rather ineffective as he can just keep resurrecting them. Multiples of this enemy can really ruin your day. Trendy didn’t just stop at the normal cannon fodder; they also included boss fights for good measure.

    There are a lot of enemies in this game; there is even more loot. Defeated foes will drop piles of loot to use and/or trade with fellow gamers. What’s cool is that you can also level up weapons and items you’ve found. By investing in a weapon, you are given the option to upgrade the stats of your choice. Want to only upgrade a weapons firing speed? Go right ahead. Think about all of the loot found in a game like Borderlands, add the option of upgrading those items the way you want and you have an awesome loot system on your hands. Some items might seem limited when it comes to being upgraded but you will just have to consider that not every weapon allows you to upgrade them the same way (there isn’t an option to upgrade the firing speed of a sword). Another cool feature deals with the ability to lock items. Let’s say you’re in your inventory and you want to organize it by getting rid of unwanted items. It is real easy to accidentally sell a weapon/item that you wanted. Being able to lock weapons/items in place takes care of that problem. The same thing can be done when visiting the shop; you have the ability to lock weapons/items at their current prices (making it easier to purchase them later). Although a small feature, the implementation of this lock mechanic was pure genius!

    Then there are the modes of play. The Campaign Mode has players moving from map to map defending crystals while the cinematics explains what’s going on. Survival Mode has gamers battling endless waves of enemies. Challenge Mode changes the normal gameplay mechanics by using altered rule sets and unique enemy encounters. For instance, one challenge has you battling enemies without the use of defensive units. Each of these modes can also be tweaked by the difficulty setting. Playing on higher difficulties changes the types (and the number) of enemies you face, how many waves a map has, what loot is left behind, and more. The last mode of play is a PVP mode that puts gamers against one another in an all out brawl. Of course, the developers put their own spin on the classic PVP. They added extremely high level monsters that roam around killing any players that gets too close to them. Getting killed by a monster subtracts from your score, making it harder to win the match. All together, these modes and features significantly help DD’s replay value.

    Trendy worked really hard to give us a game worth our time. I mean, even the little things like being able to have pets that follow you into battle (whom can also be leveled up) goes a long way to make DD stand out among all the big releases this year. This developer took a risk by pulling from multiple genres at once and actually succeeded in creating a great game. Throw in the great 4 player co-op both on and offline, with the option of bringing guests playing split-screen online with you, and DD is a must buy. With the promise of more content coming in the form of DLC, I can see myself playing Dungeon Defenders right into 2012!

    Gameplay:

    9

    Trendy has made a truly fun game to play.

    Graphics:

    10

    The cartoony art style works well for DD. Everything looks great.

    Sound:

    9

    …even the narrator sounds cool.

    What's New:

    9

    Trendy took old gaming mechanics, tweaked them, and then made something new!

    Replay Value:

    10

    Multiple modes. Alternate enemies and loot based on difficulty. Great co-op. Yea, you’ll be playing for a while!

    Final Score:

    9.4

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