The new tower defense game is great alone and in co-op

Aug 16, 2014 05:31 GMT  ·  By

The tower defense genre is definitely quite popular nowadays, especially on mobile platformers, but the true home is still on the PC platform, where plenty of iconic games have established the core features of the category.

Among them is Defense Grid: The Awakening from developer Hidden Path Entertainment. The title brought forth a stellar and highly polished tower defense experience that gained, slowly but surely, a highly passionate following. This led the studio to launch multiple expansions, including one in partnership with Valve.

In recent years, the independent team has been trying to get a Defense Grid 2 sequel off the ground, first with a not that successful Kickstarter campaign and then with funding from Dracogen, not to mention a publishing partnership with 505 Games.

At Gamescom 2014, the studio brought forth the latest playable beta build for Defense Grid 2, showing off not just the actual features of the title but also the full-fledged level editor through which fans can create their own stages and even upload them to the Steam Workshop.

First up, the actual tower defense gameplay is looking better than ever. The studio didn't attempt to change the successful recipe but it has added special mechanics in the form of powerups for towers. These are in addition to the regular upgrades and aim at enhancing special elements, such as damage modifiers.

Throughout the new story, which is much more fleshed out than the barebone one seen in The Awakening, players will meet new characters including commanders with special powers like the orbital laser, a time freeze, and other such things.

Level design uses both regular single paths and open “plaza” areas where players can dictate the route used by aliens by setting up their towers.

All 21 story levels can be played alone via the single-player but also through multiple cooperative modes. The first one is called Co-Op Doubles, and is a basic one where players have a shared resource pool and they work together to defeat the aliens. The second mode is called Coordinated Defense and sees the map split between orange and blue tower locations. Each player has a separate resource pool and, while it's still a cooperative effort, players are ranked separately so expect a lot of competition between the blue and orange sides.

For a true competitive experience, there's the Defense Grid Fighter mode. Each player gets his own version of the map, with the aliens coming in at the same time. When an alien dies for one player, he spawns for the other on the same place but with more health. This leads to an escalation and Hidden Path promises some intense moments.

Another key feature is the DG Architect level editor. It's the same tool used by the studio to make the stages inside the game and it's rather easy to use. Players can share their creations using the Steam Workshop and Hidden Path will pick the most popular, polish them, and release them as premium levels inside the game. A portion of the revenue will be given back to the original creators, much like in Valve's titles (Dota 2, CS:GO).

Defense Grid 2 is set to debut this September for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.