Dungeon Defenders Review (Windows PC)

 Each level consists of an Eternia Crystal (the object you must defend), multiple paths to the crystal, and several doors from which the enemies will proceed. The layout of every map is different, so no one tactic is going to work on every level.

Enemies will pour forth in waves. The waves will become progressively harder with each one that passes. Thankfully though, you get a break between each wave so that you can collect mana, change weapons, and build defenses. Defenses cost mana to build, upgrade, and repair. And you can bank the left over mana and use it to purchase weapons and pets in the tavern. While in the tavern, you can also set out on various challenge maps that will dramatically change gameplay.

Dungeon Defenders Pros

Dungeon Defenders has many delightful features that just blow me away. At first I was leary about purchasing Dungeon Defenders so soon after getting Orcs Must Die. My fear was that the gameplay would be similar, but that it wouldn’t compare with the quality of OMD. From the first moment I started, my fears were laid to rest. While the graphics are not as good, they still have their own style and appeal. The cell shaded look and lack of blood make Dungeon Defenders a family friendly game, but still have a draw for the adult crowd.

My biggest praise of this game is the huge of amount of various gameplay options. For the guy who wants to be the best, there are the ranked servers. For the casual gamer and the modder, there are unranked online servers that you can create and customize. The guy who has lots of friends and controllers can play splitscreen local co-op. For the person who wants to forgo lag, Trendy Entertainment included a LAN option; and a PVP mode is in the works to top everything off.

Another praise I have of Dungeon Defenders is the level of difficulty. It is possible to win in singleplayer mode, but just barely. When you play with a team of 4, the enemies are scaled with the group so that the game is challenging even on Normal. Add that to the diverse groups of enemies and bosses that you will fight, and it is understandable if your group has to replay a few levels.