The game starts out innocently enough. In the first few levels you’re acquainted with the aliens you are meant to mow down, the array of towers you’re going to be using, and the fundamentals of the aliens’ path. The game is quite simple when you’ve only got two or three towers to work with and the aliens have one single path to follow. At the end of the game, however, you’re going to have 10 towers of varying powers to deal with, multiple entrances and exits for the alien horde, and an infinite number of paths on the game board that you’re expected to change and direct depending on where you put your towers down. Crazy, I know.

A straight playthrough of the story is meant to take you 8 to 9 hours.  I know that’s not a lot, but you’re certainly getting plenty of playtime for your money. Of course, if you’re anything like me, you’ll notice a flaw in your strategy halfway through a level and completely restart the mission. Personally, I didn’t fail a single mission until the very last one, but I did restart each mission at least once trying to tweak my get-go strategy. That’s a quick way to increase playtime. Also, once you finish with the story campaign, you can play through 7 challenge modes including the 10-tower limit mode, or the story challenge mode where the aliens are much tougher.

That’s about all there is to say about Defense Grid. In concept and on the surface, it’s amazingly simple. There are no gameplay innovations here, you place your towers and you watch the alien horde either fall to your might or shrug it off, steal your cores, and run home. I think it’s because of this devilishly simply idea that I can’t really pick anything wrong out about the game. It’s amazingly refined, and if you fail, it’s your fault. Every now and then, trying to build a tower quickly becomes a problem, but you can trace that back to your own poor planning and strategizing.

What’s the verdict? Find out on page 3.

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