Defense Task Force - Sci Fi Tower Defense

I like the game, but since it's not possible to save your progress I can't recommend it. If the developers implement a rewind system (like Defense Grid, for instance), I will be glad to change this review, but just now if you want to progress in the game you need a good memory to remember where your towers were an then place them again and use the speed up button, or a lot of time to play 50 or more waves.

[h1] In A Nutshell [/h1] Defense Task Force (DTF from now on) is a classic style tower defense with some original mechanics put into it, set in a sci-fi universe. Like in any TD, the core gameplay will consist in organizing a defense strategy against increasingly powerful hordes of enemies. In each level, you need to survive a minimum number of waves before you can unlock the next mission, and be able to keep playing until you get overrun without penalties, to maximize Energy gain, the currency of the game used to purchase Research upgrades in a dedicated tech tree. The Research tree features several, role-focused turret types with three upgrades each, plus a series of modifiers called Boosters, acting as late-game upgrades. Before you are able to upgrade anything in battle, you first need to research it in the Tech Tree. Energy is also used to research and deploy different types of forward bases, acting as "map templates" in each mission, with different spots to place turrets, becoming larger, and more expensive types, as you progress. Getting a better forward base also means spending more energy for it, and in case of early loss you can go negative in your energy budget. While the core gameplay and mechanics are quite good and fairly balanced, the downside of DTF is how the Energy system itself works, as it forces the player to replay the same missions many times to grind energy points to get better turrets and forward bases in Research, or even to play new missions, as also accessing new missions costs energy. This rather annoying grinding wall artificially inflates the playtime a lot, without adding much depth to the content or gameplay, and can honestly result annoying and boring after some time. [quote]Liked this review, and want to see more of the same quality? Check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39323490]Tamaster's Review Archive[/url] to see all my Reviews in a single, convenient location.[/quote] [h1] Gameplay Analysis [/h1] [b] General Gameplay [/b] DTF offers a classic Tower Defense gameplay, exception made for the forward base mechanic which is rather original, all the rest is based upon the regular, tested game formula of TDs. You will be able to add, upgrade and sell turrets at will, in the pre-determined slots depending on what forward base you chose. Building the appropriate towers and upgrades, and giving the right target priority orders to each tower are fundamental steps to maximize efficiency and DPS, and not get overwhelmed by the enemy before reaching the target wave. Enemy variety is quite good and each enemy will have its own weaknesses and resistances to certain towers. Towers cannot be destroyed or disabled. An almost missing feature critical in tower defense games is the possibility of freely deciding the enemy path by building towers in locations of your choice: instead in DTF, your freedom in this regard will be quite restricted until very late when you unlock the last and most powerful forward base type, that allows some more freedom. This may upset hardcore fans of the genre. [b] Story [/b] An introductory cinematic will tell you about the story leading to the current events, but besides that, there is not a real storyline going on during the campaign. It is expected for a TD game. [b] Combat System [/b] Combat is what you would expect from a TD game, classical style, the player is only in control of turret positions, priorities and upgrades, while everything else is automated. [b] Content & Pricing [/b] The game can take quite a long time to research everything and complete all levels, mostly because of the previously mentioned Energy system, as it considerably inflates the game's length, but not in a meaningful way. The current price of 20$ is not justifiable for the amount of effective content offered, and I recommend getting this game only when on at least 30-50% sale, get it full price only if you REALLY are a Tower Defense enthusiast and just need some new TD to try. [b] Balancing & Challenge [/b] On Medium difficulty, the game already offers a good challenge, while on Hard it becomes tough. Challenge is mostly tied, however, to your tech progression and so to how much you "grind" energy to get research unlocked. Some degree of tactical planning is required. [h1] Technical Analysis [/h1] [b] Graphics [/b] DTF uses Unity 3D engine, delivering adequate graphics, but not brilliant. Models, textures and environments are of sufficient quality for a tower defense, and in general the visuals do the job, but nothing more than that. For being an indie game, graphics is on more than sufficient standards. [b] Sound [/b] Effects, music and sounds are of average quality and do not particularly stand out in anything. [b] Performance & Stability [/b] GPU utilization is completely off-scale for a game with such requirements. In battle, it used almost 90% of a GTX1080, at 1440p, which is completely absurd given the rather simple graphics it delivers. Optimization issues are most certainly present regarding memory usage, probably related to Unity's well known performance issues. [b] AI [/b] N/A [b] Quality of Life [/b] There is no realtime-pause during matches, which is not uncommon in TDs and could be useful in planning while overseeing the battlefield. You can see incoming enemies of next waves, however the game lacks detailed information about them when hovering on the enemy icon in the wave queue, leading to confusion regarding what comes next. These two factors combined lead to players having to frantically click on enemies while on the field, and read about their weaknesses / strengths there, losing precious time usable instead to organize defenses. [b] Bugs / Issues [/b] Resolution resets to native used display resolution each time a level is started and must be changed again if a different resolution is desired. [h1] Conclusion & Rating [/h1] Defense Task Force is a classic tower defense done mostly right, the core systems are in place, work well, and the original mechanics are good, even if not game-changing, as most of the gameplay remains very classic in formula. The problems mentioned before in the review, all together, manage to cripple the game considerably, not enough for it to be a bad game sure, but preventing it from really standing out. [h1] RATING: 6.5 / 10 [/h1]

Very buggy. Sloppy code, uses a TON of resources, GPU use is through the roof on a 1080ti, slow load times, random freezes before/after levels, program crashes with error dumps. Not ready for prime time.

You only need one word to describe this game: uninspired. It's basically a Defense Grid ripoff where you play the same couple of maps over and over against the same enemies. If you're looking for a TD, pick up something good like Kingdom Rush. Also, notice how the glowing reviews are free review copies?

[u]06/30/2018 build 01.07.22[/u] I thought the tower defense genre was dead which was very sad because I'm a huge fan of TD games but then Defense Task Force was available on steam and I bought it. At first it was marked as not interested because the videos on steam didn't tell much about the core game mechanics. It was just the usual bling bling stuff which I'm not a fan of but a video of Xterminator on Youtube changed my feelings about Defense Task Force completely and I'm happy to have the game now. [h1]The basics of this tower defense game[/h1] You play on a map where you have to defeat creeps with different weaknesses. If too many creeps reach the extractor on the map it is over and you have to start again. You're getting energy for defeated creeps to build different towers like... [list] [*]machine gun [*]cannon [*]missile [*]proton pulse [*]plasma beam [*]fire (flame thrower) [*]space-time (slows down creeps) [*]tesla [*]toxic [*]sniper [/list] [h1]Research[/h1] After collecting enough energy it is time to unlock higher tiers of every tower that I've mentioned in the list before, upgrades to improve player stats and perks for towers. These perks are only available when a tower is fully upgraded to tier 3! [h1]Perks[/h1] I'll pick two of my favourite towers. Just to get an idea how much everything costs. (1) perk's name, how many points to spend and what the perk does (2) upgrade cost for each point (3) boost (how much more bang for your buck do you get for one upgrade) [list] [h1]machine gun[/h1] [*](1) rotation speed 0/10 (boosts the rotation speed of the tower) [*](2) 50 [*](3) +20% [/list] [list] [*](1) damage 0/100 (damage boost) [*](2) 59 [*](3) +10% [/list] [list] [*](1) range 0/5 (range boost) [*](2) 150 [*](3) +10% [/list] [*][h1]tesla[/h1] [*](1) extra chain jumps 0/5 (boosts the rotation speed of the tower) [*](2) 100 [*](3) +20% [/list] [list] [*](1) range 0/5 (damage boost) [*](2) 50 [*](3) +10% [/list] [list] [*](1) range 0/100 (range boost) [*](2) 50 [*](3) +10% [/list] [list] [*](1) chain quality 0/5 (improves the chain effect and grow faster to another enemy) [*](2) 50 [*](3) +20% [/list] It is also possible to improve the global player stats a bit to get more energy and higher defense for the extractor... that thing that we have to protect. [*][h1]global skills[/h1] [*](1) initial mission energy 0/10 [*](2) 101 (no typo) [*](3) +1% [/list] [list] [*](1) extractor hp 0/10 (damage boost) [*](2) 100 [*](3) +10% [/list] [list] [*](1) extractor auto-defense system 0/10 (increases the mirror damage inflicted by the extractor to attackers) [*](2) 100 [*](3) +20% [/list] [list] [*](1) extractor capacity 0/5 [*](2) 50 [*](3) +20% [/list] [h1]Maps[/h1] At the beginning there is one map for free on every planet that cost no energy. If you want to play other maps you have to unlock them first and everytime you have to pay a specific amount of energy to be able to play them again. The moment when you've spent too much energy for research stuff and not able anymore to play the favourite map which cost 200 energy... priceless. :D [h1]Ranks[/h1] Sometimes a specific rank is needed to unlock higher tiers for some towers or bigger maps. Starting as a cadet to general takes quite some time. I don't really know how this works exactly but I just play maps over and over again to reach the rank that's needed. [h1][b]What do I think about Defense Task Force[/b][/h1] All in all... I really like it because I've finally found a new tower defense game that I enjoy. It is a bit hard, especially around wave 20. If you upgrade stuff just a bit too late you're toast just a few waves later. You have to be well prepared to reach higher number of waves. My highest wave was 128 so far but I have absolutely no idea how to reach more than 500 pretty easy like other players did but I don't give up to find my own recipe to get it done one fine day. Yes, 500 and more waves is correct. After reaching the goal of let's say 30 waves you will be asked if you want to continue or not. If yes... the game is endless until you're not in mood anymore to watch endless hordes of monsters trying to chew on the extractor. 07/01/2018 edit: I'm still struggling to get the key how to make it to higher numbers of waves after 25 hours of playtime pretty easy even after getting some help from the steam forum. I've played most games of the tower defense genre and enjoyed all of them. (Defense Grid, Kingdom Rush, Defender's Quest, GemCraft, Alien Robot Monsters) During the last 25 hours I noticed that all of these games were very forgiving when you made some mistakes... upgrading a bit too late, using the wrong towers. It was still possible to rearrange some things and winning the map. As much as I'm happy to play Defense Task Force I have to say that this game is very frustrating for me as well. If you miss the point to upgrade towers on time it's over. You might survive few more waves but it's just a matter of time when more and more creeps getting through the defenses and make their way to the extractor. There's always this feeling that I don't have enough money to build my defenses strong enough to say that I'm safe for a while. I really don't like that. This is why Defense Task Force won't be my favourite TD game. I'm enjoying it but too frustrating for me. [b]Special thanks to the devs for the sound of Defense Task Force[/b], especially for the tower soundfiles. The tesla tower, plasma beam, proton pulse and space-time tower have awesome sounds. I really love to hear them. Best of luck for you guys and huge success for Defense Task Force. You guys deserve it. [*][h1]Ripoff[/h1] Some may say that Defense Task Force is a ripoff or it looks too similar to Defense Grid. I really don't mind if that's the case because it doesn't matter as long as I enjoy playing the game. I don't get it why people complain about it over and over again. Just play the game and have fun. There are so many awful TD games available on steam. Feel free to be happy that Defense Task Force made it to steam and have fun with it... like me. [*][h1]Hardware[/h1] Some players mentioned that this game eats hardware like nothing... even high end machines do have problems with it and other comments. Let me tell you something: Speedy (my pc's name) is 12 years old and I'm still able to play the game! I bought him back in 2006 and this reliable thing might be ancient but is still in good shape with no surgery needed so far. :) Many people would have bought a new PC at some point, even the Borg queen would say... nah, I don't assimilate that ancient thing of technology. I played many games with Speedy and had just no reason to buy Speedy 2.0 so far but I will in the near future. Just don't tell Speedy. He's very sensitive. ;) No error, game freeze or crash has occurred during the whole playtime. Well, loading the game takes some time but that's ok. Speedy is not the fastest anymore. I cuddle with my cat during loading process... my kind of workaround. :D Lilly (my cat) likes it when I play Defense Task Force... snuggles guaranteed. :D [*][h1]Pricetag[/h1] Yep, this game, made by a small indie studio with only two people, cost round about 20 bucks. It might be very expensive at first sight but keep that in mind when you guys out there who complain about the huge pricetag want to buy the next so called AAA game like Call of Duty for 60 bucks. I remember playing these games. You pay 60 bucks for a game that you play only for the campaign and dump it afterwards... after almost eight hours and never touching it again. So many indie studios offer so much more replayability and fun for just 20 bucks that I usually don't buy these so called AAA games made by big studios. I don't really care about the pricetag as long as I have fun with it... and don't let the 14 hours fool you. There will be a lot more in the future. I'm just too busy to play it more.

Want to play a grind fest TD, play this Want to play a good TD, play something else

Sehr guter Defense Grid Klon! Sieht nicht nur so aus, spielt sich auch so. Wer klassische Tower Defense Spiele mag, muss hier zugreifen. Die Messlatte beim strategischen Anspruch liegt echt hoch, Normal ist schon sehr anspruchsvoll. Es gibt sehr unterschiedliche Türme, die neben den normalen Level 3 Upgrades auch noch massig Bonuspunkte in Eigenschaften vertragen. Die nötigen Freischaltungen verdient man sich durch Punkte, die man in den Missionen gesammelt hat. Neue Karten und Kampagnenfortschritte werden so auch erspielt. Wer schlecht spielt, benötigt also viel mehr Anläufe. Um in der Kampagne weiterzukommen, muss man zudem ein bestimmte Anzahl Runden überleben, was immer länger dauert, wozu man in der Regel auch die größeren gekauften Karten mit mehr Bauplätzen verwenden sollte, die man frei auswählen kann. Das Spiel macht insgesamt gesehen süchtig, eine vernünftige Kampagne mit zumindest etwas Story, fest zugewiesenen Karten mit bedingt anderen Herangehensweisen im Spielaufbau, und weniger Upgradefirlefanz wäre jedoch wünschenswert gewesen. So muss man jetzt doch viel zeit mitbringen und ggf. viel Grinden, und wenn nicht alles perfekt läuft, ist schnell mal ne halbe Stunde oder Stunde Zeit hops, weil man echt lange braucht, bis mal eben 60, 70, oder gar 80 Wellen durch sind, und dann doch noch kurz vor dem Wellenziel abnippelt. Ich habe das Spiel gerade im Deal gekauft, da sollte man auf jeden Fall sofort zuschlagen und nicht lange fackeln. :-)

Defense Task Force. Exciting tower defense game with great visualization and sound effects. The visualization effects is too good that distracted my attention and forgets about building my towers initially! I am starting at the medium difficulty level and it seems to me it will be quite some effort to farm energy to research tower upgrades and open new maps. I will comment further to see how some of the general research will help to solve this. To see my first try on this game, this is the link to the video: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/276383652 Loving it so far!! I look forward to challenging the tougher aliens in the next episode.

Great game love the research portion and the different strategies I continue to discover. Highly recommend. Flamethrowers OP ;-)

Having every aspect you could want from a tower defense game; Defense Task Force offers exactly what you crave from a game of this genre. The overall quality of this game excels beyond expectation and the detail put into it’s design adds an essence of illustriousness that is almost unparalleled by games in it’s genre. In this game you aren’t just defending your base, you are defending the fate and future of the world itself. Visit: https://indareareviews.com/defense-task-force, for the full review on this fantastic game!