The Bottom Line: Old-school Defender fans may enjoy it, I HIGHLY suggest a rental prior to actual purchase. Unimaginative game play and story, coupled with poor controls make this game a sure loser.
k_lundquist's Full Review: Defender for PlayStation 2
Ever see that old cartoon, "The Critic"? Remember how he always used to say: "IT STINKS!” well apply that to this game, and there you go.
Essentially Defender is an unintuitive 3d shooter, with only its prestigious name keeping it alive. I am a huge fan of fast paced, shoot em' up style games, with vast amounts of baddies and insanely hard difficulty levels - thinking Defender would be that, I gave it a try. Thank god I rented it.
With a hefty (retail) price tag still going for 50 bucks in some stores, there are much better games one can purchase for the money.
GAMEPLAY:
Tepid by all accounts, the game's basic premise follows that of the old school defender found on Atari. Aliens are out to take over the universe, humanity is on the run, and it is the job of defenders to salvage colonies and ultimately save the human race. As in typical defender style you must save colonists before the aliens infect and destroy them, WHILE defending your colony / outpost, and performing any other mission objectives given to you. A novel idea, ALMOST entertaining, but the concept of "Defending" is over used to a fault and quite restraining, so much so that the player seldom gets the chance to wreak any havoc on the enemy. What's the point of a fast paced shooter if you can't jump right in and start blowing things up? Why complicate everything with a B movie story line?
And Btw, when I say B movie, I really mean it - I'd imagine some adult themed movies have better plots. The voice acting is weak by any standard, and there is never any explanation to why the Aliens are there, and why humanity got its butt kicked so bad. The story barrels along at a snails pace with loosely arranged missions and massive plot holes. If it does get any better I wouldn't know. I couldn't stand to play the game more than a few days. It was a five-day rental, but I only played the game for 3. Ever have the feeling that playing some games is almost like seeing a really bad movie in the theater? You know you want to leave, but you already spent your money, and need to justify the purchase by sitting through the agony. That's what it felt like playing Defender. I knew I didn't like it the first few times I played it, but might as well get my 5 bucks worth, right?
GAMEPLAY RATING: 2/10
CONTROLS
The Controls are HYPER SENSITIVE. Once you get used to them, you'd think they'd get better... but they don't. About all you can do is get better at stopping your ship from careening out of control. Any amount of precise flying is nearly impossible to do, especially when you need to retrieve powerups. I found myself having to turn the ship around several times to pick up items. The poor controls were definitely a major souring point.
RATING: 4/10
AUDIO
Die-hard Defender fans will enjoy the sounds. They are from the original Atari Defender. Interesting for the first 5 minutes, but annoyingly boring once the novelty wears off. I don't expect Cell Phone-like sounds to come out of my 128 bit PS2 capable of 5.1 surround sound. The game soundtrack is run of the mill. Nothing to write home about.
RATING: 3/10
GRAPHICS
Ok. I have to admit I was impressed. The worlds were beautifully rendered, the ships looked impressive, and the explosions kept me satisfied.
RATING: 8/10
OVERALL:
In the end this game gets a 3 out of a 10. Yea it makes no sense if you average the above numbers, but I put more emphasis on gameplay and overall fun, than how pretty it looks. So an 8 should not bump up a 2 that much.
In addition to fast and furious space-combat action, Defender will showcase elements of strategy, Take flight in new Defender ships with the ability t...More at Amazon Marketplace
3D Defender based on the timeless arcade classic offers players space-combat action as they fight to defend their solar system and save the human race...More at eBay
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