Dungeon Defenders (XBLA)

Been awhile since I've written something, figured I'd write something real quick like. DD is a Tower Defense style game with several maps, and as you progress, becomes incredibly difficult at later levels.

Story

The story in this game is not very well explained but I'll try to sum it up as best as I can. Basically, you are the offspring of a legendary hero/heroine who goes to venture in a far away land, while they are away, chaos ensues and you must kill a horde of beasts before they are able to destroy a crystal that houses an evil spirit.


Graphics

The graphics are cartoony (think Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker). The graphics are well done, and the effects are pretty nice too. Multiple enemies appear on screen at once (upwards of several dozen thousands at a time) and still manage to work (although you will see lag).


Controls

The controls are very simplistic. Jumping, attacking, alternate attack and several shortcuts that can be enabled with the D-Pad. Holding one of the bumpers will bring up the menu which allows you to build defenses, repair, upgrade or sell said defenses and recover health, or activate special skills.


Voice/Music/Sound

Characters don't really talk (except a death scream or something), and the music and sound tend to block out other players who are talking (but you can lower the volume of those if you desire). Music changes slightly going into different areas, but for the most part, stays the same. There's nothing really spectacular in this dept.


Other

One thing that will benefit players is the ability to switch to their other characters while playing, if you decide your Squire (Warrior) is needed, you can switch to him in-between waves, this allows for elaborate defenses as each class has their own defenses.

A negative is the fact that mana is used for EVERYTHING. Wanna upgrade a tower, need mana. Wanna upgrade a weapon or armor piece? Need mana. Wanna buy something? Need mana. This will cause you to be low on mana often.

Pets add another tactic to the game, pets add stats, and sometimes, abilities to your hero. They are expensive to buy, but if you don't wanna buy them, you can earn them, but this is incredibly difficult as well.

There are also Challenges, which have you under unique conditions. No towers, moving core, only certain enemies, etc.


Overall

This is a fun and challenging game for Tower Defense fans, but if you're an occasional TD player, you'll likely have many hardships while playing.

8.0/10.0

Pros

- Challenging
- Plenty of weapon/armor/pet customizations
- Fun online play

Cons

- Maybe too difficult
- Not many towers for each class
- Needs more levels