IS Defense

 
Developer: Destructive Creations
Steam Release: Apr 2016
Hours Played: 3.6
Similar To: None that I know of
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

IS Defense is a first-person shooter that has you clamped at a fixed point to a machine gun turret that allows slow 360 degree turns. After surveying the terrain for a few moments scores of ground troops, some with explosives attached, and heavy duty vehicles then attempt to rush your position. With the option of calling in additional help or upgrading skills permanently with accumulated experience points, you repel their advance by mowing them down with machine gun fire and missiles. The result is a frenetic scene of explosions, chaos, death and destruction that can only end with your inevitable demise. This will be as you're eventually overwhelmed, signalled by a sudden appearance of a black screen. There are just four unlockable maps to battle through with each successive one being locked until 100% completion is reached.
  

BALANCE & PACE

Personally, it took me around one and a half hours to kill off the 2000 infantry and destroy the 100 vehicles required to unlock the second map. Gameplay is very straightforward. All is calm as you first look out from your turret. You'll then pick off an initial band of soldiers quite easily as they emerge from their starting position. Then, more pockets of trouble will pop up at different places as you quickly pan back and forth quashing their numbers. Later, you'll get an alert that squadrons are attacking from behind you which will require you to swivel the turret in a large arc to quell their annoying presence. All the while, you'll need to watch your health bar on the right and call forth supplies to heal up. Time-wise, length of levels seemed random as some were over with quickly while others were extended regardless of skill.   

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

Production values are fairly high with the game requiring quite a powerful rig to run smoothly. You'll begin with a coastal map of the Sicilian shore and a scene not unlike the storming of Omaha Beach before moving onto an unnamed Spanish harbour that comprises a dock full of shipping containers and heavy industrial machinery. As mentioned, you'll be in first-person view and can zoom in by holding the right mouse button. On my mid-range rig, I had to turn down some graphical settings yet still experienced quite a noticeable hit to my frame-rate and stutter when the action got heavy. When it does run smoothly, gunning down soldiers is satisfying as is scoring a direct hit with a missile at an incoming batch of soldiers.
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

IS Defense starts you off with one map. To unlock the second, you need to kill 2000 infantry and destroy 100 vehicles. The second requires you to kill 3500 infantry and destroy 200 vehicles before you can get access to the third map located at the Croatian mainland. The final map has you battling at the French Riviera. The game drip-feeds you skill-points which you can use to permanently upgrade features of your machine gun, missiles or supplies etc. You are awarded one point per kill and your rank for each map is displayed in the top right corner. This will click upwards as you rise up the ladder and knock other players down a rung - no doubt more likely as you spend more and more skill-points to get permanently stronger. 

 

CONCLUSION

While the game may court controversy with its title, it will not win any awards for innovation. You do not duck and dive through various locations, you do not have a wide range of weapons to pick up and unleash, and the environments don't change from start to finish. It really is a case of shooting anything that moves with the primary focus being on obliterating whatever encroaches closest to your position. This really makes IS Defense a stress-busting tool that's good for a half-hour blast but quite a monotonous experience once your playing session extends much beyond this.