Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jul 18, 2014

  The original is my favorite tower defense game of all time. I have access to the beta and can tell you it's every bit as fun, but they've also added new mechanics. Defense boards that can change during play, and they're adding customization of your loadouts to expand upon the original. Choose from new commanders with different abilities, and tool your towers to develop them to your preferences. PS - Multiplayer co-op game modes too!
• gamedeal user

  Jul 20, 2014

  Overall, I REALLY like what I see so far in the beta. Likes: - The maps look so slick. Lot's of detail - visually stunning. - The missle now hits bad guys on the ground! - The Boost blocks. - The hit/coverage area of selected weapons is more precise. - Map editor/maker? Crap, are you kidding me? I can make my OWN levels? Giddy up.... - Lot's more! Dislikes: - CRASHES. It's beta - hope they fix it. Been providing my dump logs. - I miss the ability to see the bad guys health bar like DG1. Trying to mouse over and click to see health is annoying and time consuming. (7/24/14 - found out the "/" key controls the health bar!) - I'd like the ability to turn on/off certain graphic special affects instead of the "Fast Performance - High Quality" selection. Looks like Hidden Path hit gold again with DG2 - just clean up the graphic options and stop the crashes. Nice job guys!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 24, 2014

  Did you like the original Defense Grid? Well, have more of the same, only tweaked and given a big ol' graphics overhaul (not that the original wasn't pretty) and a bunch of little features that at best are nothing but fun, and at worst can be ignored. The writing and voice acting is still there so plenty of delightful exposition about raspberries. Perhaps the best new feature is that levels are no longer static. Almost every level can be "edited" in pre-determined ways by clicking on the command ship and paying a few resources to add sections to the map. Some sections add new areas to maze the aliens, others add new build locations to cover previously vulnerable areas. Of course, after adding this feature it is never really mentioned in the story line so you have to figure out the feature even exists on your own. Air enemies/flight lanes were taken out, but they didn't really add anything to the game since a single level 3 missile tower would trivialize any flight path it could reach. So now the Missile Tower is a long-range single-target bombardment tower (with the Meteor adding AOE/DOT bombardment). The only feature I don't wholly like is the tower upgrade system. You can slot upgrades into your towers, upgrades which have some interesting effects (scatter shot to give AOE on gun towers, slow lasers, etc.). The real problem is that the upgrades are randomly gifted after every completed mission (story or not) with no control over what you get. This is exacerbated by the fact that almost every upgrade has multiple levels. So you can be "find" level 1 shield busting concussion bombs, or you can find level 3 despite not having any previous versions of the item. the only redeeming feature of the "drop" system is that it won't give you items you already have, or have a higher level of. Over all, and despite the brain-dead drop system, this game is over all a massive improvement and great sequal for the original Defnse Grid. Don't let my winging about the drop system turn you off of a great purchase.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 9, 2014

  I enjoyed the game but am giving this a negative review. I played through the whole thing and had a good time, had to replay a couple levels to get the gold rating. Finished. Nice. Now, let me goto the steam workshop for this game and download some player made maps so I can enjoy this game for quite a bit longer (ala Civ5). Wait? What? Player made maps are only available to be voted on WITHOUT PLAYING THEM? You cannot download them and can only vote on them and when they get enough votes then they will be made available via the Hidden Path Store for a couple of dollars. WTF is up with that? I had no idea I was buying a microtransaction game, this is complete BS imho. If the community makes the map then the map should be available to the community for nothing, stop charging for what others create for your game. I seriously doubt I will give this company any more of my money and I certainly will not be buying any expansion map packs.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 24, 2014

  I have been putting off writing this review as I did really want to love DG2. What I've seen from reading other reviews is too many(I'm not saying all just TOO many) are corrupting their reviews due to their love of the first one both positive and negative. I will try to write this review without even mention DG1 or comparing them as I think it is best to review DG2 for it's own qualities. Okay so firstly, some of the good things. DG2 has a strong core (no pun intended).It does what TD's should do in a lot of ways. There is a large selection of tower types and a 'boost' tower which can be used for cheap maze creation. There is a selection of tower 'bonus' items that randomly drop after missions which can be applied to towers. There is a large variety of enemy types, with unique abilities from shields to foes that can disable your defenses and alot in between. The campaign is a decent length with a nice variety of levels and multiple gameplay types. Some of the things that grate on my nerves. The dialogue and voice acting unfortunately is terrible, it's actually annoying to the point where for the first time ever in a game I have disabled the voice audio. The story isn't great. Now I will quickly say a TD does NOT need a story to be good, but when it does attempt a story it must not be bad otherwise it drags the feel of the campaign down. The gameplay feels very repetitive, and it shouldn't but it's not holding my attention. I only finished the campaign to finish it. I was really trying to find something that made me say wow awesome I love this game, but I haven't yet. Summary This is a solid TD game, but unfortunately I cannot recommend it for what it does at it's current price. I do not regret buying it but I couldn't recommend it for a friend to spend their money on. This is not the definitive TD game as the store page claims. This is just another TD game though while it's good, it's not great enough to stick it's head above the pile. I would say worth picking up in a sale as it does do a lot well but as I said before, I wouldn't recommend to a friend, so I cannot recommend it here at it's current value. I will keep an eye on updates and occasionally jump back into the game. If I find something that changes my opinion I will update my review.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 24, 2014

  Waited for this with much anticipation and while it's great fun it just doesn't have the same magic DG1 had. It's really hard to say why that is as there is nothing that particular stands out as wrong with the game it just seems to be missing that magic spark. However the game is still great fun and recommended to all woer defense fans out there. I'm also sure there will be DLC in the pipeline which will extend the life of the game.
• Nostra

  Jun 29, 2023

  Follow co-op suckers for more co-op games! Let me start right off by saying this sequel does not live up to the first game. So let's check out the negatives: - It doesn't look any prettier to me. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it looks more dated to me but that's a subjective opinion. - The view seem to be closer to the towers, although I speak from memory so that might be wrong. I just feel like we had a better overview of the battlefield in DG1. - The UI is bad. Like, Skyrim levels of bad. This was made with controllers in mind and what do you know, it's unpractical for both controllers and kb+m. - Similarily, the co-op function and lobby are some of the worst I've ever seen. In Online, you have to re-create a lobby after each map. Not only that, but you'll also get automatically queued with some random dude looking for a similar match (map plus rules) to yours, forcing you to cancel everything or quit and restart. Now in local, things are a bit better, but the play modes are limited and since you obviously share the same screen, you'll have to fight the camera with your friend, forcing them to move their cursor in the direction you need to go to. - They monetized the Steam Workshop. You literally can't use any user-made maps unless they are first whitelisted, and you pay about 1$ per map. - The devs have completely deserted the game. No updates are coming. So what exactly are the positives, you may ask? + Despite the kick in the nuts it is to get it working, the game IS co-op. You can play the story, against each other, or collaborate while racing for maximum points. + Despite the fact Defense Grid 1 had way more content, Defense Grid 2 content and custom made rules are nothing to scoff at. Said custom rules are enough to outweight anything DG1 has to offer (not saying it does, but that makes it a strong contender). Having the choice between sharing the same pool of cash, or rather splitting it, or even doing some PVP (enemies you kill respawn in your friend's zone) is just great. + The towers are all pretty balanced, allowing one to make their own strategy based on their preferences. + The item drops are fantastic. They range from score boost, to more AoE, slowing enemy movement and so on. They're basically mods you can add to your towers. So yeah, all in all and despite quite a few negative points, Defense Grid 2 is most definitely a good game and I can recommend it without an ounce of hesitation. That being said, I just wish it was better. Because after the fantastic first game, you'd obviously expect more. Not less.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 7, 2015

  Good game, the reasons for the negtive review: 1. Much easier than DG1.(Main storyline finished in under 15hrs playtime.) 2. Lack of expansions or DLCs that continued the fun and story of DG1. 3. Maps submitted on Steam Workshop have to be voted on just from screenshots. 4. Community voted maps will then be SOLD to you! Recommend you buy DG1 for better value if you don't already own it.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 19, 2015

  I really enjoyed DG2. I think some of the tower graphics are too similar, so when zoomed out sometimes I'm left wondering which tower is which. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=347329268 I also suspect the game is actually easier than DG1 as I don't have too many problems racking up gold medals and I don't remember getting them as easily in DG1. Storywise, it was a nice continuation and I thought the levels were well designed. Boost towers and the tower improvements you can earn via good performance are also pretty nice and add more strategies and ways of mixing towers up. The grahics are prettier than DG1 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=347547384 Overall, brilliant game well worth the modest cost and I hope they introduce lots of good DLC as they did with DG1, although I'm less sanguine about this new store as purchasing single disjointed and unreleated maps doesn't do it for me. But we'll see.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 21, 2015

  Core game play is much like the original DG with some additional interesting twists. The graphics are improved of course, but the storyline didn't seem very compelling or particularly motivating. Some things about the design choices are puzzling: Reading paragraphs of text between episodes? Rotating the view in only 90 degrees units at a time with a key? What century is this? The increased complexity of the main menu & campaign selection screens seem unnecessary and distracting. Multiplayer is a great addition. The orignal DG was one of my favorite games. DG2 is a fine game with lots of options, but doesn't seem to capture the same level of magic as the original.