Gamer reviews for Galaxy Defense
Defend your base in space!
From the same developer that brought you Castle Tower Defense is a sci-fi version of their enjoyable title. Galaxy Defense will take you to space where you have to deploy various turrets to defend your command center from the invading alien forces. This is an title that offers optional in-game purchases and daily log-in bonuses when connected to the internet though it is not required to access and play the game. The game has very minimal and non-intrusive ads that may ruin the experience.
Galaxy defense follows the same gameplay format as Castle Tower Defense. You need to deploy turrets and upgrade them as necessary to repel the swarm of alien enemy forces. Unlike other titles where you only need to deploy your towers and let them do the job, you also need to keep an eye to your towers since enemy forces can attack and destroy them. Damaged towers can be repaired using alloy. Each tower can be upgraded permanently in the main menu by spending either gold or crystals. These two currencies are earned after completing a stage. The better you do, the more crystals and gold coins you'll earn. During a battle, players can level up their structures and repair them by spending alloy. Alloy is earned by destroying enemy forces or building an Alloy Factory which generates 5 alloy (default) every few seconds.
The objective of the gameplay is to prevent enemy forces from reaching and damaging your base. The game is over if your base is destroyed. Your base is equipped with a short-ranged cannon that can target both air and ground targets. Land-based enemies will follow the fixed path in each stage. The problem are the airborne enemies that can fly over the paths. They don't follow the pattern of the map's paths and will be almost impossible to take down without properly placed, upgraded turrets. Some fliers can also out-range your ordinary towers which will allow them to attack your structures and watch them get utterly destroyed, especially if you have no turret or power to counter it.
Your performance each stage is graded in three criteria: your base's remaining HP, the number of towers you've built and the number of enemies you destroyed. A perfect rank is when your base suffered no damage, you destroyed all enemies and build the required number of towers. Perfect rank will allow you earn three crystals and the max amount of gold for that stage. Farming can be daunting in this game since repeated completion of stages will give you diminishing returns, making it not worthwhile to spend time completing or even perfecting the stage.
Since gold and crystals are valuable commodity, players will have to think carefully where to spend their resources especially when buying upgrades. For towers, upgrading their range and damage will help in the long run since these upgrades will allow them to hit their targets before they even get close. Players should also increase their tower's HP. Since enemies in the game can target and destroy towers, frontline towers like the flamethrower and cannon needs to be more resilient to withstand enemy attacks long enough to get repaired or until the other support towers destroy the targets.
Tower placement is also one thing players should take note. There are only fixed "slots" in the map where you can place your turrets. Some of them are away from each other, making them vulnerable to pincer attacks. This distribution will make a lot of things going on at the same time, especially when there are swarms of enemy forces trying to overwhelm your isolated outposts.
Players can also use powers like the EMP that can stop enemies for a few seconds, deploy a protective shield to all your towers within the range of effect (half-damage mitigation by default) or call in an airstrike to decimate all enemies within range. These powers have their cooldowns and can be used as long as you have enough power (akin to MP / mana) to use them. Power is automatically recovered over time or when you call in the next enemy wave in advance. Aside from powers, players can buy consumables called Props using gold. Due to the difficulty in obtaining gold however, players may opt using their gold on permanent upgrades instead.
Players may find the game's sudden difficulty curves annoying. There will be early stages where you can't upgrade towers since their upgrade options are locked until you reach the next stage. There will also be annoying fliers like what was mentioned earlier that will exploit misplaced but valuable towers. The unrewarding grind will also prevent you from enjoying a grind that should've allowed you purchase the much needed upgrades in the game. Incidentally, this inconvenience will force some players to make an in-game purchase which will give them access to a lot of gold and crystals.
The mentioned gameplay limitations aside, the game is addictive in its own right. Tower defense games are usually a build-and-upgrade affair. This game will keep you up at all times since you need to watch out for everything. You can lose a tower or an entire outpost if you're paying attention. Enemy fliers will buzz overhead towards your base if you're not careful. The fact that you also need to use alloy, the same material for building and upgrading your towers, for repairs also plays a good part in making players come up with the best strategy for the situation.
The game has decent graphics. Its overhead map view will allow you to watch the entire battlefield. The background and map designs fit well to the theme. The towers, enemy designs, animations and effects also looks good and detailed. The game's sound effects are good as well.
The game has its own strengths and weaknesses but it presented itself enough as a good tower defense title. You can play the game offline and in-game purchases are optional. Players can still enjoy what the full game has to offer though expect to encounter some sudden difficulty curves that may require more patience and several attempts. Fans of the genre looking for a different theme and a bit of challenge should definitely try this out.
