Desktop Tower Defense 1.5 is actually an upgrade to the original game, but the scope of the upgrade is so substantial that it almost makes it into a completely new game thus it is more like Desktop Tower Defense 2. It was released in June 2007 by HandDrawn Games. It is a tower defense game much like any other, but post the upgrade the sheer variety of options promise to make it a very engrossing tower defense game indeed. Here are some of the key features of this game:
Gameplay
Tower defense games might seem to be the gift that keeps on giving, seeing the number of successful games we've had in this genre, but creating a good tower defense game is nonetheless a very difficult task indeed. The balance between varied but not confusing and engrossing but not tedious is a hard thing to master, but fortunately for us Desktop Tower Defense 1.5 pulls off this task with aplomb.
It doesn't have any storyline whatsoever, but what it lacks in that department it makes up for it in the sheer number of gameplay options. Firstly, you have three standard game options: Easy, Medium and Hard. Then you have a category named Challenge Modes, which is specifically designed to cater to those of you who didn't find the regular game hard enough. In it, you have sub-categories like "The 100", which asks you to survive 100 straight levels, "Speed", which forces you to think while you build instead of taking your time, "15 Towers", which only allows you to build a maximum of 15 towers and survive the game, "Survivor", which basically asks you to survive for as long as you can against a wave of Spawn-type creeps, and lastly the "3K Fixed" sub-category, which gives you only 3000 gold to make a fixed maze.
The other main category is the "Fun" category, which isn't just promising in name alone. It too has 6 sub-categories, which are "Trickle", which sends a creep your way every second, "Random", which sends a host of random creeps your way in every round instead of the fixed type per round mode, "10K Gold". Which gives you 10,000 gold to play with and make a terrific maze, "Spawns!", which has only spawn creeps in every wave, "Boxes", which has a box-based grid where you can't build any towers in certain boxes, and lastly, "Cross", which is the same as boxes but with a cross-based grid instead of the standard free one. That there is enough to keep even the most avid gamers busy for at least 2-3 days, if not more.
While reading the above, you might have wondered what "Spawn creeps" are. Well, creeps are the enemies that you have to face (and their basic hand-drawn designs are slightly creepy in that they're cute) and spawn creeps are one type of creeps. The other types include the "Immune" type, which is immune to certain types of towers, the "Flying" type, which may just fly over towers instead of following the maze, the "Group" type, which basically come together in one group, the "Fast" type, which are much faster than the rest, the "Dark" type, which are much stronger and therefore need higher level towers to damage them, the "Normal" type, which are, err, just normal creeps, and lastly the "Morph" type, which just morph into any of the other types. Occasionally you will encounter a Boss enemy, which might belong to any of the above types. These enemies are, as the name suggests, very strong and usually one or two in number.
To counter that lot in Desktop Tower Defense 2 game, you have up to 9 different towers. The list begins with the Pellet Tower, which fires weak pellets at normal intervals. Then you have the Squirt Tower, which fires quickly, the Dart Tower, which damages an area on the ground, the Swarm Tower, which is specifically designed to deal with flying creeps and fires 4 missiles at a time, the Frost Tower, which freezes enemies and slows them down, the Bash Tower, which uses earthquakes and such to damage all enemies heavily within a small fixed radius, the Ink Tower, which shoots ink blots everywhere, the Snap Tower, which fires once per wave and stuns all enemies within range, and lastly we have the Boost tower, which boosts the abilities of all towers within its (very small) range. Each of these towers can also be upgraded up to 5 times to boost their firing rates, damage capabilities and range.
Despite the mind-boggling array of choices, this game doesn't require much strategy at all. You might need to think a bit for the 100 wave modes, but even then a standard two-layer maze to cover both the entrances with a couple of Pellet and Swarm Towers in the middle should suffice to get you through. Try to use the maze to cover the entrances diagonally and use Squirt Towers only to make the maze walls. You can use the others within the open area inside the maze to cause extra havoc. Place the Frost Towers at the entrance and you should be good to go. Don't forget to upgrade your towers regularly. Playing the 10K mode to start with should help and will help you to get your head around the choices you have and what they do.
Graphics and Audio
The graphics of Desktop Tower Defense 2 are really basic, to be honest. But the simplicity is endearing in its own way and some of the creeps look kind of cute. The towers and types of enemies are detailed enough for you to be able to make out at first sight as to what is what. In short, the quirky graphics go almost perfectly with the quirky nature of the game itself.
There is no background score in the game, so it is left to the "ploppy" sounds of tower-fire and the "D'OH!" sounds of the creeps as they perish to make up the background score for this game. If you're any good at the game, they won't disappoint. It does become repetitive after a while even though the "D'OH!" sound is quite endearing initially, which is why you have a very conveniently placed mute button in the top right corner.
Conclusion
Apart from the slight lack of quality in the aesthetics and maybe the lack of strategy required to make an impact in the game, there isn't much to criticize in the game. The sheer variety and the quirkiness of the game do give you a lot of room to praise the game though, and it is worthy of every bit that you can throw at it. It has the potential to send new situations your way just when you think you've got everything covered and will keep you busy for a good while. All in all, if you like tower defense games, you will certainly enjoy this one so go ahead and give it a try.