Defenders of Time is about as straightforward as it comes with tower defense games. As with all games of this type, you strategically place towers in order to stop endless waves of attacking enemies. What Defenders of Time does differently, though, is pacing.
There’s no pause button in the game, so once the waves start, they don’t stop. Unlike most tower defense games, where you can actually sit back and enjoy watching your towers conquer waves of enemies, you constantly have to be paying attention to what’s going on in the game. There’s always something to manage, whether it’s building towers to define and disrupt the enemy pathway or upgrading your towers to target specific enemies. With no pause button, though, it’s imperative that you take some time to learn what each individual tower type and its upgrades do as there’s little time to read the descriptions during a match. It’s definitely chaotic at first, and even a bit overwhelming, but once you learn the capabilities of each tower and become comfortable with upgrading, Defenders of Time becomes much more fluid.
At the beginning, you are only able to build one type of tower. As the game progresses, you unlock various tech specs which allow you to upgrade that tower into your choice of six different tech trees. The game offers a nice variety of tower types ranging from your standard slowing turrets to air-defense to long-range to single-target, high damage. Once you determine what to upgrade that initial tower into, you can then further enhance the capabilities by unlocking various upgrades. In total, there are three tech levels for each type; however, each tower offers different specialties so you don’t just want to build all of the same upgraded towers. Depending on your strategy and the map, you’ll want a nice mix of all. The good thing is, removing a tower will refund you 100 percent of the cost that you paid for it, so it’s encouraged that you constantly build and spend your money rather than holding on to it for later upgrades.
Layout of your towers is also a big thing, as the path enemies roam changes dynamically according to where you place your towers. At the start of each game, you are shown the standard path enemies will take to reach your Time Beacons (base). Ground and air units typically have different paths; however, you are able to change these paths based on your defense layout. Admittedly, it’s a bit confusing at first with all of the constantly changing lines, paths, colors, and upgrades, but once you learn it all the game really opens up.
Unfortunately, Defenders of Time does little to explain anything. There’s a tutorial, but it’s slow and boring. There’s an overall theme, in which the game takes place in an alternative universe where the fabric of time must be protected, but there’s no real story. A race of alien enemies are looking to destroy Time Beacons, but I don’t really know why. Developer Four Lights previously said the focus of the game is on the gameplay, but I can’t help but feel they missed out on an opportunity to introduce us to at least the basic gameplay elements in an interesting, story-driven way, rather than a boring tutorial.
While single player is fun enough, Defenders of Time also offers a multiplayer mode and ranked gameplay. And this is where it separates itself from other tower defense games where you mostly play alone. Gameplay is largely the same, in the sense that you build defensive structures to defend from waves, but the difference is you’re doing it with other players. And all the while, each team has a commander that not only builds alongside you, but also chooses which alien units to send at the other base. To better strategize, the commander is able to tab between the two bases, look at the opponent’s build strategy, and determine what alien units to send. If the enemy base has poor air defense, then send air units. Money is shared and distributed across all players on the team evenly, and teammates are able to upgrade each others’ towers. The multiplayer portion of Defenders of Time is really where the game shines, especially if you enjoy competitive play.
The problem is, right now Defenders of Time seems to have a very low install base right now, resulting in long wait times when searching for multiplayer or ranked games. The times I was able to play with others, it was fun, but that was far and few between.
The good news is, if you’ve purchased a copy of the game, you can invite another friend to play with you for free. All they have to do is download the game and accept your invite. You’re only allowed to invite one friend to play for free with you at a time though.Though it helps, it’s still frustrating that it’s not easier to find a match against random opponents. It essentially inhibits you from enjoying half of the game — the more exciting half.
I love the thematic approach to Defenders of Time. The soundtrack has a "Men in Black" / "Mars Attacks" feel to it. It's got a driving beat that keeps adds to the intensity of the chaotic gameplay. Stylistically, the game reminds me of a 1950s/60s low-tech sci-fi movie. It's almost as Disney's Tomorrowland vision of the future was reimagined as a tower defense game.
Single player is fun, but multiplayer is definitely where the bulk of the game’s fun is. Right now though, Defenders of Time is being hampered by the poor matchmaking time. If Four Lights can figure out a way to attract more players (maybe a price cut on what I believe is a steep $19.99 price for a tower defense game) and fix the multiplayer experience, then Defenders of Time can be a great game.
