Defenders Review

Seemingly a fairly conventional Tower Defense game, Defenders offers a little more to excite thanks to its inclusion of collectible card gaming elements, thereby adding some much needed strategy to a tried and tested format.

There's a story to it of course, but odds are that one will be too busy delving into the key mechanics of Defenders to really care. The game offers a fairly comprehensive tutorial, gradually introducing everything that one needs to know. Essentially, it's a regular Tower Defense game with lanes set up so players know exactly where the enemies are coming from. There's the usual mix of towers such as the perfunctory basic attacking tower, as well as slowing towers, poison towers, and the slow yet effective heavy duty bunch.

This isn't where Defenders is particularly distinctive. It'll scratch the Tower Defense itch but it doesn't offer anything spectacularly exciting. Where things get all the more interesting is the cards that are offered upon completion of each stage. Players can build up their card deck, choosing to bring new skills and even magic spells to help them along the way. More importantly, such cards can be fused together to create more effective and stronger examples, with elemental attacks also possible to be imbued for further damage. Experience gains lead to new talents, completing the set of tactical edges that Defenders offers.

Besides typical waves of enemies in each stage (with speeding ahead rewarded by extra currency), there are also boss battles to take into consideration. These often provide the most satisfying moments, with different strategies required depending on what the creature's best ability is.

While Defenders might be, at its heart, a fairly typical example of the genre, those card collecting elements and moments of deeper strategy go a decent way to making the experience feel a little different from the norm. It's a fun ride, even despite its occasional overfamiliarity.