PC User Reviews

As someone who loves tower defense and strategy games this is one of the best tower defense games ever made

Very good game. I enjoyed playing this game a lot. I strongly recommend this.

I've only recently bought DG2. I don't know if the game has been changed since its initial release, but I really like the way it plays now. I've just finished the Containment DLC for DG1 (which I though was hard, but really fun too) and rolled right into DG2 after that. DG2 is more dynamic. The boost towers allow you to quickly block off a path without spending too much, while you can still build towers on top of them. When you do, you can then upgrade the towers, for instance to disrupt shields/cloaks, do more damage, or later on, boost your score. As some people mentioned, temporal towers are now less powerful, however they stack! so the key is to place more than one, and have them overlap. This in turn, slows down aliens a LOT. I find it a challenge to try and make the towers as effective as possible, and finish the levels with a minimal amount of towers, and the game rewards this in your score. You get points for each alien you kill, based on how much cores you still have and how many resources you still have, and this is adjusted based on your tower value. Later in the game, you can select upgrades and modifications for the towers, to make them fit your play-style. The more effective your towers are, the higher your score will be. The story is fun, and the little fly-by cut scenes in between are a nice touch. Take a little time to get familiar with the changes they made. To me, it does feel like DG1, and I like the new changes. It's quite addictive to me ;)

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

I have enjoyed the first Defense Grid very much and looked forward to this one. However, the game has a lousy user interface copied from the console version and it makes the game unplayable. The mouse cursor is FIXED at the middle of the screen and doesn't move. Instead, ,moving the mouse pans the map, so you are essentially trying to bring the map to your (stationary) cursor, rather than the usual, other way around. This is so inconvenient it's unusable for me. I found no setting to change that, and nothing on the forums suggest there's a way. I stopped playing minutes after I started. This is pure laziness on part of the developers, to stick a console interface on a PC. Shame.

Defense Grid 2 adds various elements to the mix, such as multiple space weapons, and boost towers, which can function as just inert blocks, or provide the potential to add tower upgrades. In play, you are also awarded enhancements to the basic tower ammunition, which show up at the end of a round, and which you can use from then on. There's also the command shuttle, which gives you additional controls, such as heat maps of where damage is most intense, and the ability to raise hidden terrain. The gameplay is more varied than in Defense Grid 1, and there are more paths to victory. The story gets more characters and some of the unexplained plot lines in DG1 are pursued to their conclusion. The voice acting is good, but the story itself is a bit predictable. There's still some ambiguity about what the aliens are up to, but there's less of that sense of devastating bleakness that pervaded the first game. The music is lovely, but again slightly misses the spot in comparison to the dramatic score of the first game. I have no problem recommending DG2. It's one of my favourite games of all time. I hope there is DLC and even DG3 in the pipeline, because my biggest complaint is that I want more official maps.

I'm not sure this one is as good as DG1, but it's still a very solid game. Unlike some of the reviewers, I like most of the new tower additions and the boost tower has value from a strategic perspective. I quickly moved to playing all the levels on the hard setting; the normal setting was too easy. I do somewhat agree that the levels are somewhat more linear than the first game, but there are still many levels with interesting challenges. The addition of the multi-player modes is a HUGE addition and I expect to get significant value from them long term.

I gave it a ten for what it is - the best overhead tower defense game you can buy right now. I'm really confused by folks that liked DG1, but not 2. It looks to me like they gave everything people wanted from 1, including multi-player and user created content. I didn't care for the MP, but the user content is going to be huge. I also liked the new tower perks mechanic and engine.

This game suffers, like most PC games today from severe Consolitis. I only played 5 minutes until I deleted the game: your mouse cursor does not move. Instead your mouse moves the camera (intended for game pad play). Your mouse cursor gets LOCKED to only be able to move vertically when you open the build menu. There is no borderless windowed mode. 0/10 because of Consolitis.

Great tower defense, with a fun variety of towers, interesitng maps, lots of aliens, and all kinds of challenges. If you like the genre, this is for you.

I love DG1 (>1000 hours, yep, that addictive) and I have just completed DG2 campaign (took me >190hours). Now it can be set as easy, normal, elite, and open OR competitive. Crazily fun. Firstly I had reservations with DG2, but now with the patches, it's smooth gameplay. Lots of new elements in DG2, and it is a big improvement on DG1... Boost bases, difficulty, map rotation, different orbital lasers, new aliens, dynamic maps, etc... Yes, I grew to love the changes, and I am still playing DG2 now!! Well done sequel!

It's just like the first but seems to crash more. Same visuals, towers, monsters, etc. Feels more like a buggy expansion than a sequel. I suggest buying Defender's Quest instead of this.

A good game but not as good as the original. Maybe I've just gotten better but the whole game feels too easy. I beat the whole game on hard difficult without any trouble, I didn't lose one core throughout the whole game... One complaint, the multilayer is so stupid, if you really want to play it get ready for a 20 minute wait just to play the game totally different from the way you like it. Yet another MP mode crammed into a game.

Decent tower defense game, but dont expect anything near as good as DG1. The level design in DG 1 was clever and challenging. The decisions you made had a huge impact on the outcome. DG2 seems pretty bland in comparison. The level designs dont leave much room for choice or error and the path to take is often obvious. The choice of towers and whether to upgrade them or not also dont matter as much.

DG 1 is a classic due to great tower balance, fair difficulty and overall good design. For some strange reason the developers decided to "fix" the game, so they fixed something that wasn`t broken in the first place - classic own goal by developers isolated in their ivory tower. You no longer gain interest and you cannot "juggle" enemies. Flying enemies are pretty much gone and the difficulty at higher levels will please masochists, but alienate most fans of DG 1. Be warned if you loved the first DG like I did, this is several steps in the wrong direction

Considering my passionate love to its predecessor, it breaks my heart to say this: DG2 leaves a great deal to be desired ... and should not be mentioned in the same breath as the former. For one thing it lacks 'awesomeness', meaning -as already stated here - your tactical decisions feel ultimately irrelevant. Married with an uninspiring atmosphere, an off-the-rack map design and an indifferent tower-architecture it leaves you as an apathetic watcher rather than an immersing player. I consumed the game due to some kind of delusional romantic nostalgia, lost interest and will hopefully forget my profound disappointment very soon.

the negative: the balance of towers is not perfect. - some towers are just useless ( tesla towers for example ) - or well - maybe not completely useless but too spacialized to waste a good spot for them. the maps do not offer the same freedom in many cases.... which limits the players choices and tactics - and so limits the re-playability. the aliens - some of them - do look a bit too much the same. - it is not easy on first glance to determine which alien can do what. - i am also not so sure about the balance of waves. the positive: all in all - the game is fun! yea - i am having a blast trying to get gold status i do like the AI chatter - yea, it is a big cheesy - but it is fun. there is lots of room for custom maps and expansions - it certainly is one of the very good TD games, but it does not re-invent the genre. ( which is also good, i like how it is quite classical )

Compared to the original DG, this one seems a bit bland. It's by no means a bad tower defense game, but every tower type feels the same in a way they're all bad. Even when you upgrade them, it's difficult to notice the difference in damage output, fire rate etc. Consequently, a surefire way to complete every level is to spam various types of tower in no particular order and no strategic planning. You don't have to think much where to position a certain type of tower or which one to upgrade, just spam the basic ones everywhere and you're good to go. The maps contribute to the overall experience; there's always an obvious path you should work on, you're never left thinking "should I route them here or here?", it's always glaringly obvious.

If you look at the negative reviews, they all have the same thing in common, the game doesn't feel the same. It's true, the balance has been reworked, but it's actually a good thing. If you played DG, the first thing you'll notice is that Gun Towers are no longer insanely overpowered. The next thing you'll run into is that one kill box isn't going to cut it. The fast moving aliens require overlapping level 3 temporal towers to really catch them, and you just can't fit enough damage into that small an area based on the way their hit points are balanced, so the only option is to spread out across the map much faster than the original game. You have to use more long ranged towers and set up paths so that they overlap fire. Speaking of overlapping fire, the boost tower does indeed add deeper tactical possibilities, allowing you to set up towers that can fire over other towers. Great for maximizing damage in a maze. I'm about half way through the game, playing on normal mode, getting gold, then moving on to the next map, and it's a fun challenge. Don't expect to be able to approach it in exactly the same way as the original, and you won't be disappointed.

Hidden Path really nailed it! DG2 is as good as DG1 in almost every way. Some interesting changes with the boost platforms and the upgrades makes it interesting. Very balanced gameplay and has me hooked like the original. Must play for any tower defense fans and/or fans of the original. Fantastic!

They added a lot of things: useless story, ugly graphics that makes the game hard to understand (seriously what happened? Must have spent a lot of time, for a result like that...), they totally changed towers (does not always make sense but I guess it's about getting used to it). The fun is gone, really disappointed.

I'm a Defense Grid 1 lover. And I was really waiting for DG2, but what a disappointment. I'm glad they took out "Command tower" and the % of more resources, it was the only good thing. But the game feels bad. I didn't like the graphics, couldn't find anti-aliasing. The towers feels lame, so you have to build too much towers, making a visual pollution. The level 3 towers don't feel powerful at all, the inferno tower can't target properly, and even the level 3 inferno tower won't make damage... and won't burn a lot of aliens... Tesla don't feel particularly useful. Missile too. All towers seem a bit of the same..., just spam and spam towers all over the map. DG1 was so detailed. Every one of tower you built or upgraded felt important and unique, and some very powerful.

Absolutely loved DG1. Beat the entire game + all DLC at the hardest difficulty. Unfortunately DG2 isn't more of the same. The tower changes are silly (boost towers everywhere so now I can't see anything, what fun!). Most of the towers are now ineffective against what they are suppoesd to be used for (temporal's have almost no effect on faster aliens, inferno are useless against regenerating alies, ect...). Missile towers are now better version of meteor towers, but both are eclipsed by canon, so there's no reason to build either. Tesla's are now completely useless. On top of that the maps are very linear, with much less strategy than in DG1. The optimal path in now clearly obvious and there's very little strategy or tactics involved. Its sad, with almost 100 hours spent in DG1, I'm already done with DG2 after just 9.

Take everything great, and makes it better. The music is inspiring, the story fun and compelling, and the replayability massive. Thankyou Hidden Path for an experience worth having! If you haven't played the original, grab that, play through, and then play this - you won't regret it.