Dungeon Defenders (XBLA): "A Tower Defense & RPG Hybrid Gaming Experience"

I did a lot of research before I set out on my quest to get the review code for Trendy Entertainment's new XBLA release 'Dungeon Defenders'. Initially I was quite impressed with what I witnessed from watching the 'Dungeon Defenders' trailers, and developer diaries videos. I knew I had to get this game for review, so that my reader's would be well informed as to what the game's experience is like. I also wanted to see for myself how this game compared/differed from other RPG hybrids. I have to honestly say that I was thrilled when Trendy Entertainment's PR sent me two review codes, so that I could experience the multiplayer with someone else that I knew. Often times I find myself missing out on the multiplayer experience, because I have no one to share it with. Thankfully Trendy Ent. realized that the reviewers (such as myself) needed to play their game as it was meant to be played, in multiplayer/LIVE.

The intro to 'Dungeon Defenders' tells the tale of four young heroes (that look a lot like younger versions of their parents) who have found themselves in a very dire predicament. It seems the the young ones have unleashed an unspeakable evil that is hellbent on destroying their homeland. Unfortunately for the young lads, and lass their parents are far away fending off other threats. It is now up to the four them to not only show some maturity, but also some bravery as they face of the danger that they have set free.

My first impressions of 'Dungeon Defenders' were kind of mixed. I absolutely loved the art style. It was what actually drew me to requesting the game for review. On the other hand I felt that the story seemed sort of rushed. Don't get me wrong though, the story was really good. I just had hoped for something seriously epic. After watching the developer's diaries, and trailers on Youtube I also felt like the gameplay itself wasn't really like what I had expected. This wasn't really a bad thing though. During my playthrough of the game I found that following the full version of the tutorial was kind of troublesome. The narrator's voice seemed to rush the experience on too quickly. I actually found myself having to play the tutorial twice to understand the rules/controls. Following the typed dialogue, and narration was a bit frustrating at times. Once I managed to complete the tutorial I was able to play the game pretty well though. I do suggest that you play through the 'full' tutorial first even though the game offers a quick version of it.

The trailers, and developer diaries of 'Dungeon Defenders' often state that this is an RPG with Tower Defense style gameplay. In my own playthrough of the game I found that to be 100% accurate. The game is sort of half, and half when it comes to the two genres that were combined to create it. In 'Dungeon Defenders' your choice of whether to play the game with 'Survival', 'Pure Strategy', or 'Mixed' settings will greatly effect the outcome of your overall experience. There are many different game customization options to tweak (splitscreen, screen layout, window size ...) that will greatly effect how the game is played, and can be set to best suit your own personal preferences. Dungeon Defenders features a solid singleplayer mode for those who like to play alone as well as a very enjoyable multiplayer (Local/LIVE) mode that can be played with up to 3 other players. You will quickly find that the game goes by much easier/quicker if you have someone to join you in your adventure though.

The control setup in 'Dungeon Defenders' is a bit complicated, but managable to learn. Playing through the 'full' totrial is a necessary step that I strongly suggest gamers to take on before playing the game. Dungeon Defenders features a gameplay system that's all about waves of enemies, building phases, and combat phases. During the two phases (Build & Combat) of gameplay in 'Dungeon Defenders' you will be pulling up many different menus that can seem quite confusing at first. You have a menu for towers, weapons/armor, and leveling up as well as some others. Before each wave of enemies is set loose you must 'Build' your defense in a strategic manner using the character's unigue tower defense tools. The objective of this phase is to secure your Eternia Crystal from the approaching hordes of creatures that intend on destroying it. Once you have layed out your traps/defenses you will face the next phase, combat.

As you play you will find that killing off the creatures that are set loose during each wave can be done by combining by direct combat (melee/projectiles) from your character (Monk, Apprentice, Squire, Huntress), and the use of the tower defense tools that you have prepped the map with. There are multiple waves of enemies for each map that each include the two phases I previously mentioned. As you play further into the game you will find that enemies come in different sizes, types, and even from different locations. All you need to focus on is setting up the proper defense on the given map to best protect your Eternia Crystal. With a friend/friends this task will be much easier.

There are many interesting features in 'Dungeon Defenders', and not all of them are accessed on the battlefield. In 'Dungeon Defenders' there exists a tavern of sorts where you can purchase weapons, armor, and even pets for your characters. These exchanges do come at a price though. The currency in the game is basically the mana that you collect from fallen enemies, treasure chests, and even items that you sell to the bank. Mana has several different purposes in the game. Aside from it's monetary value you can also use it to upgrade weapon, and armor stats. Mana is also used for setting, and repairing your tower defenses. To say the least Mana is a very important part of the game, and must be spent wisely if you hope to succeed.

Dungeon Defenders is all about the four characters/heroes that you see in the game's intro sequence. You can select to play as only one of the four character types, or even play as all of them via character trade out during the 'Build' phases. The four character types in 'Dungeon Defenders' include a Monk, an Apprentice, a Squire, and a Huntress. Detailed customizations (color, name) of each character class/type are available, and add a high degree of personality that suits each gamers' tastes. You'll also find that each character has their own unique fighting, and tower defense style as well as user specific weapons/armor. The Monk, for example, uses his aura based abilities/defenses to harm enemies or even to heal himself/teammates. His weapons include lances, and other similar weapons. On the other side of the spectrum you have the Huntress who uses traps, and ranged attacks to destroy her enemies. The Huntress's weapons are all reloadable projectile/gun types. I highly suggest trying out each character, so you can see which one suits your style of gameplay best.

The game features a lot modes, and settings that will change how you acquire items for your army of four. One of the quicker ways to score those rare items is to trade with friends (locally, online). At the moment the developer has stated that trades have to be made the old fashioned way by dropping the loot on the ground for the other person to pick up, but a patch is in the works to make it a more secure transaction. Another way to score rarer items/loot is to play the game on different difficulty settings. Obviously the more difficult the setting the better the loot you will find. The final way to gain these better items is to play through the 'Challenge' mode. In 'challenge' mode you will have to complete various objective based tasks that will test your characters' strength, and endurance. In the end the most successful gamers will be those who really try to challenge themselves in the game.

Dungeon Defenders features many different variations of armor, weaponry, and even pets/familiars that can be obtained. The cool thing about all of that is that the stats on the items/pets are upgradable just as your four heroes are. If you ever max out one of your weapon's, armor's, or pet's stats you can name it. It will always carry a mark saying that you raised it, or forged it even if you end up trading it with someone else. This type of customization seriously enhances the replay value of the game, and gives the gamer something to look forward to for continuing to play the game even after they have beaten the campaign.

After completing enough of the singleplayer mode, and sampling the multiplayer with @CherryRasulka and @MasterBlud I realized that 'Dungeon Defenders' is best played with a friend or friends. The singleplayer mode is almost impossible to beat alone, unless you are willing to replay earlier levels multiple times so that you can upgrade all of your stats. Playing with friends on an easy LIVE match is even a little extreme due to the massive flow of enemies. @CherryRasulka informed me during our multiplayer session that the game is rated for players of 10 years old, and older. After talking it over with her, and having her 10 year old daughter test it out we both decided that this game's learning curve is much too difficult for someone in that age group.
 One other serious flaw that I found during my multiplayer (LIVE) playthrough was that inviting other players to private (LIVE) matches doesn't always work. @CherryRasulka's daughter wanted to try the game out with me, but wasn't able to join because we couldn't receive each other's invites. This is a serious issue that definitely needs to be resolved.

I found in my singleplayer experience that the tutorial was flawed as well. It was extremely rushed as I mentioned earlier in this review, and I ended up having to listen to it twice to understand it well enough to play properly. Other than those issues the game offers a fairly solid multiplayer experience. I'm hoping that Trendy Ent. will be able to make a patch for the invite system after the release, and fix some of the other issues as well. If they can sort out the issues I mentioned then this will be a worthy game to add to a gamer's collection. Dungeon Defenders will be available on Oct. 19, 2011 (Xbox Live Marketplace) for 1,200 msp.