Evil Defenders

 
Developer: CP Decision
Steam Release: Nov 2015
Hours Played: 26.1
Similar To: Defend Your Life / Kingdom Rush / Prime World: Defenders / Warstone TD /
Rating: 5/5 Stars

GAMEPLAY
We all know the basic principles behind the standard tower defense game where you place towers on build squares to kill creeps that follow the same path. The mobile app store (where this game originates from) is awash with them. Kill, collect, upgrade, rinse and repeat - all in the name of getting that coveted three-star award. All these principles apply here but in a way that makes Evil Defenders one of the most thoroughly enjoyable TD games to have made the transition from mobile to PC. Clicking a build square gives you the choice of 5 basic towers (archers, warriors, bombs, mage towers or slow-down) that can then be upgraded about 6 times during the level. You also get three special abilities including a lightning attack, a teleporter to send creeps backwards or a melee warrior in the form of a giant demon called MacHellman.     

BALANCE & PACE
The currency used to permanently upgrade those towers and abilities (outside of levels) are called souls which are awarded after the level has finished. Upgrades made during levels are in the form of skulls and these get awarded automatically as you kill enemies - no frantic clicking is required to pick up coins or items. As standard you are shown how many of the 20 lives you have left, how many skulls have been collected, how many waves there are left (usually out of 10, 20 or 30) and the now essential option of speeding up the game in double or quadruple time - plus the option to start waves early for extra bonus skulls. All these features are displayed in a clear and tastefully rendered art-styled UI. You get 15 levels altogether but with six difficulty settings in each, there is plenty to keep you busy. 
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The art-style in Evil Defenders is magnificent and definitely one of the main features that pull the player in. From the stylish icons in the menus and those embedded in the UI to the wonderfully distinctive towers, you can tell a great deal of effort has been put into making the game distinctive. Additionally, the interesting variety of enemies such as the ranged archers, the melee knights, the spellcasting wizards and druid healers (to name a few) all play their part and get a mention in the encyclopedia. Likewise, the animations for the characters who fire missiles from your towers and the voice-overs for each as you place them plus the deaths of the enemies themselves adds that extra character and depth. Throw in an excellent honky-tonk soundtrack to keep the pace galloping along and the game easily gets full marks here.

PROGRESS SYSTEM
The game features a map as part of its progress system with 15 unlockable circles on a path denoting levels. Clicking a circle will take you to a further level-select screen showing a screenshot of the battleground along with five difficulty settings and three possible stars to collect in each. You also get a challenge level as well. The full map shows how many of the 15 you have acquired per level. With six difficulties in each level (including the challenge) the game boasts 90 levels altogether. Bear in mind that you'll need to upgrade towers and abilities with souls to have a chance of beating later levels and particularly on harder difficulties - and this is where a slight grinding element to the game comes in.   
 

CONCLUSION

Reviews tend to be fairly mixed for Evil Defenders with the negative ones tending to pick holes in its pedestrian gameplay, lack of innovation and the grind. But as with Rogue Legacy, a grind is not a grind if it's fun. For me, the immersive gameplay helped by its quirky art-style and the sheer variety of crazy enemies makes up for any lack of innovation it might have. There again did I mention that each level has its own unique event? Freezing a lake, poisoning the edges of a pond, bolting a door to halt enemies, raining down missiles or even showering the path with gems so enemies attack each other are events that can be triggered (at the cost of skulls) to swing the tide of battle. In fact, the great level-design alone calls for different strategies - all of which help make Evil Defenders a game well-worth checking out.