Defenders of Ardania Critic Reviews

Nine times out of ten, fast action, depth of strategy and crisp graphics are enough to look past all the flaws that crop up throughout DoA. It makes for an ultimately positive experience to war against AI and, when you can, a friend. Sure, there are moments when the game herp derps (the voice acting definitely sounds like they were partaking in major derp), but when all the ugly is held up next to all the beauty, DoA's beauty wins out in spades.

With so many options at your command, Defenders of Ardania tries to overcome some shortcomings by incorporating some new innovations, and while this works somewhat, the fact that these shortcomings exist does hinder the overall enjoyment of this game.

Defenders of Ardania is a fairly enjoyable tower defense title that has its ups and downs. The core tower defense mechanics are awesome, easy to pick up on, despite game delaying tutorials from the Connery clone, and solid amongst the chaos. The addition of RTS offensive features however don't seem to fit into the grand scheme of things nearly as well as it could have. Neither the less Defenders of Ardania is fun and worth a try.

Every important piece of Defenders of Ardania is individually well done. The factions are similar enough to feel balanced, while different enough to maintain distinct identities. The models are attractive; their designs innovative enough to avoid an entirely generic feel, and even the levels in which they appear are interesting.

It's an interesting experiment, but in the end I think we'd rather see a new Majesty game.

If you're deeply invested in these games and have some friends of the same cloth looking for a twist on the genre, then DoA's multiplayer is certainly worth investigating. The learning curve is steep, but the Xbox Live action is satisfying. Defenders of Ardania isn't the prettiest game, but there's some elements in place to keep you interested.

Defenders of Ardania is competently made but doesn't really excel in any particular area.

Unless multiplayer's a must, stick with one of XBLA's older (and better) tower-defense games, like Defense Grid or Orcs Must Die.

A further downer is that the campaign missions are relatively easy to rush through.

Tower defense meets real-time strategy, with the winner to be determined a few hours from now.

Attempts some RTS elements but misses the mark.

Defenders of Ardania was a nice concept, but poorly balanced execution and a tired, unoriginal story keep this from being anything special aside for maybe some Tower Defense diehards who have been waiting for something to come along in the genre.

It could be a very good game and although it's not specifically been done before it just seems to defeat itself. It's neither a RTS nor a Tower defense game. Defenders of Arcania doesn't do either really well and it doesn't know what it wants to be which is a shame really.

With some changes to the gameplay such as restricting some access to early tower placements, an improved tutorial and less aggressive AI, Defenders of Ardania might have been a more enjoyable experience, but with a better selection of tower defences games available out there it might be worth spending your precious pennies elsewhere.

There's something to be said for slow-burn strategy games that require precise tweaks and purchases to gain the edge in battle. Unfortunately, Defenders of Ardania lacks these nuances and insists on wasting the player's time with needless limitations and wave after wave of opposing forces that result in an ongoing stalemate.

If you're desperate for a competitive tower defence game and have between one and three friends who feel similarly, Defenders of Ardania might give you a few evenings of entertainment, but that's about the only way I'd ever recommend this. The single-player campaign is just plain bad, and when you compare this to the solo offerings of Defense Grid, Plants vs Zombies, or any of the other good tower defence games out there, it's hard to think of a reason why you'd want to shell out for this.

In conclusion, Defenders had the basis for a good game. The developers have tried something different, but it hasn't worked this time. The gameplay just comes across as uneven. Certain units should be strong against some towers and weak against others and vice versa, instead of every unit bar one being weak against everything. Unfortunately, this game simply comes across as a chore to play, rather than a joy.

Probably not the worst tower defence game anywhere ever, but certainly the worst we recall playing on Live Arcade.

Defenders of Ardania is so bad, it's bad - and I don't make that statement lightly. It's filled with idiotic design decisions and gameplay imbalance. I had an utterly miserable time with it, and I never, ever want to touch it again.