I loved Kingdom Rush back in the day. It developed my Tower Defense love and so I quickly realised the Switch was missing such a rich genre. Efforts have come and gone, Pixel Junk arrived last year, to a mixed reception. Thus this is the context in which the incorrectly spelt Defense (IT IS SPELT DEFENCE!) Grid 2 released on Switch.

Developer: Hidden Path Entertainment

Publisher: Hidden Path Entertainment

8 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided // $19.99

Right, where was I. So excusing the issues with the spelling of the game, Defense Grid 2 (DG2) pulls up as a pretty good entry for the Tower Defense game of the year award on Switch. Yep, it is a real thing? Not heard of it, well you have now. Of course, there really isn’t much competition. Anyway, moving on. . . In all seriousness, the Switch has a massive gap in this market, something which as a tower defence fan is a real shame. Why are so many genres ripe with games whilst others remain barren? Thus I think my thoughts on DG2 have definitely been shaped by this lack of games. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good game, which is boosted by the fact it represents a fairly lacklustre genre.

What is important to me in tower defence games? As specific as it sounds I love the process of upgrading the actual towers, being able to manipulate and build new strategies around them is so fun. DG2 has a fair few towers all effective against different forms of the alien hordes. Hang on. . . I didn’t even explain what is going on with these towers and aliens?! Strap in boys and girls, we are going back [?] to the future! The far future may I add.

Damn aliens, always RUINING things!

DG2 takes place in a future in which man has looked to space and colonised it. They aren’t on their own though, being joined by high tech A.I. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones out there, for what tower defence game doesn’t have an evil to be stopped! As I said, DG2 is in a universe in which humans must protect themselves and earth from a hungry alien species, determined to steal your power cores. Your towers are built to stop them and boom, that is the base of the game and its story!

GAMEPLAY TIME BABY!

I really don’t care much for the story of DG2, I played most of the game whilst listening to my own music. Of course, this is just a choice by me. I went through the dialogue and such but I just love to get into the gameplay of tower defence games. Plus, I doubt many people came here thinking, ‘I wonder what the story is’, let’s be honest!

In essence, you upgrade your variety of towers through the campaign but there is also the ability to upgrade each tower within the levels themselves. Naturally, this is a standard part of Tower Defense games. The upgrades are fairly substantial, something which I have certainly noted before in other games in which upgrades feel negligible. However, when compared to Kingdom Rush I found them lacking, this is more of a praise for Kingdom Rush rather than against DG2. On its own, the variety alone makes it a strong part of the game, and that is even stronger when you consider the volume of tactics the towers allow you to explore. For example, early on, when you unlock the Tesla tower, you encounter shielded aliens which require the tesla tower to take down. Not all tactics are as obvious as this but the system in play feels well made and polished. There was a clear sense that if I tried something which made sense, it would work.

Lots of towers and lots of upgrades. . .

The speedup mode is a blessing because at times the gameplay can get a tad dull. This is mainly once you get a nail on strategy, at which point it is a relative breeze to just keep upgrading your towers until you complete the stage. Thus being able to push through these parts was a welcome addition. What is less welcome though is the god awful camera angles and controls. Just why. . . Let me move the camera freely, don’t trap me in these stupid, angles which are either so zoomed in I might as well be doing a fly on the wall doc with an alien or so far out I am looking down from space!

Ew. . . The Visuals!

Yeh. I didn’t like how DG2 looked at all. It just felt gritty and grimy to me. I just don’t like this style, maybe because games like Kingdom Rush are so bright and colourful, but it just isn’t clicking with me. It fits the tone of the story I guess, but it just feels unimaginative and so dull. I don’t really like this style on the Switch anyway so what more can I say. Exploring alien worlds should always look amazing and fresh, not boring and brown, so very brown.

Why must all the platforms be dull? Variety is the spice of life!

I liked the colour being used to indicate the different towers and their upgrades. It is such a small feature to include but it made the experience so much easier. Especially in the height of stages where complete chaos is enveloping the screen and you need to quickly find out what you need to upgrade. So good job guys! I would have loved to see this expanded more perhaps with different designs, but functionally it is 100% sound.

So, would I tell you to check out Defense Grid 2? If you are looking for a Tower Defense game specifically for the Switch, I would definitely recommend it. For what it’s worth, it’s the best of the genre on the Switch. It isn’t my favourite in the category but as far as the Hybrid experience goes you can’t do better right now.

Hope you found this review both informative and fun to read! A really fun platformer coming out is Almost There: The Platformer, check out our review! To keep the conversation going go follow us on Twitter and join our Discord. Our Youtube channel has become a recent project of mine so go check it out for guides, games and more!