The blurb for this game in the Steam store says "Defense Grid: The Awakening is a unique spin on tower defense gameplay". It's lying. It's not unique at all. It plays pretty much the same as most any other standard Tower Defense out there. If you're looking for a fresh and unique reboot of the genre, you're looking in the wrong place.
Defense Grid takes the tried-and-true tropes that a gazillion other Tower Defense games have used, and it wraps them up in a prettier package. Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying They Copied It So It Sucks here; yeah, it's formulaic, but the formula is great. I love the formula. Everyone loves the formula. Nothing's wrong with the formula. And as it happens, this is an excellent take on the formula. It has a campaign mode that's actually really good. The visuals are pretty (look at some of those screenshots), and the voice acting is surprisingly solid (that British Voice With An Internet Connection guy is great). It has challenges and stuff that add lots of replay value. So while you can't play it for free, you are certainly getting a bigger, better, deluxe Tower Defense variant for your money.
The kicker, of course, is that there's a GLaDOS DLC. And really, you can't top that.
Bottom line: This is a strong, solid take on the genre. But bear in mind that there are half a bajillion other games out on the internet that you can play for free and get a good approximation of the gameplay. If you like Tower Defense, this is probably one of the best around, but ten bucks is a bit steep compared to the (free) competition, so I wouldn't buy it unless it's on sale.
VideoGame This is a Tower Defense
The blurb for this game in the Steam store says "Defense Grid: The Awakening is a unique spin on tower defense gameplay". It's lying. It's not unique at all. It plays pretty much the same as most any other standard Tower Defense out there. If you're looking for a fresh and unique reboot of the genre, you're looking in the wrong place.
Defense Grid takes the tried-and-true tropes that a gazillion other Tower Defense games have used, and it wraps them up in a prettier package. Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying They Copied It So It Sucks here; yeah, it's formulaic, but the formula is great. I love the formula. Everyone loves the formula. Nothing's wrong with the formula. And as it happens, this is an excellent take on the formula. It has a campaign mode that's actually really good. The visuals are pretty (look at some of those screenshots), and the voice acting is surprisingly solid (that British Voice With An Internet Connection guy is great). It has challenges and stuff that add lots of replay value. So while you can't play it for free, you are certainly getting a bigger, better, deluxe Tower Defense variant for your money.
The kicker, of course, is that there's a GLaDOS DLC. And really, you can't top that.
Bottom line: This is a strong, solid take on the genre. But bear in mind that there are half a bajillion other games out on the internet that you can play for free and get a good approximation of the gameplay. If you like Tower Defense, this is probably one of the best around, but ten bucks is a bit steep compared to the (free) competition, so I wouldn't buy it unless it's on sale.