The Perfect Mix Of Tower Defense And Action RPG Is Found In Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave ($2.99) by Trendy Entertainment will probably be one of the best games you can get for your iOS device for the price. If you like dungeon defense games and roleplaying games (RPGs), then this is the perfect combination.
The graphics of Dungeon Defenders on iOS is pretty awesome. The game utilizes Unreal Engine 3, so the visuals are console-quality. If you have ever played World of Warcraft, you’ll also notice that the Dungeon Defenders looks similar to that insanely popular MMORPG. The way your character moves and idles is fluid, and all the items that you equip on (especially weapons) will reflect on the character. The hordes of enemies that you’ll face will also look good while you tear through them.
In Second Wave, you can be one of four young heroes: Huntress, Apprentice, Squire, and Monk. Each one will have different strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. The Huntress utilizes traps and explosives in defenses, and uses ranged weaponry to attack. The Apprentice will have magic towers for defense and can nuke enemies from afar with powerful magic spells. The Squire makes defenses of brute force with limited range, and pummels the enemies with mêlée attacks. The Monk wields spears, and can use his aura energy to heal allies and cripple foes. Since the Monk is a support class, he does not have the ability to set up defenses like the other heroes.
There are two game play modes: Online and Solo. For people that haven’t played before, it would probably be best to start with the Solo campaign, just to get a feel for the game. With Online, you can do either a co-op campaign adventure or duke it out in the PVP Arena. Unfortunately, the PVP Arena has to be unlocked as a $4.99 in-app purchase.
I started with a huntress and have been playing just the single player campaign. You can create multiple characters, since the game gives you several character slots. When a new hero is created, you start out at level zero. You can view a selected hero’s stats by tapping on the button with the book.
On the Hero Detail screen, you’ll see the current equipment on the hero on the left, and more information on the right side of the screen. There are four different tabs that will give you different information on your hero: Attributes, Skills, Defense Stats, and Damage Resistance.
In Attributes, you see stat points for Health, Damage, Speed, and Casting Rate of your hero (you obtain more points to distribute to these attributes by leveling up). The Skills section is different for each hero; for example, as a huntress, I have Invisibility and Piercing Shot, but no items currently give me bonuses in these abilities. The Defense Stats (for a huntress) will show me what bonuses can be applied to my traps, like more detonation counts, increased damage, a bigger radius, and reset speed. The Damage Resistance will show you how much resistance your character has for physical, fire, lightning, and poison damage. To increase any of your skills, defenses, and resistance, you’ll have to find items that will give such bonuses.
When you’re ready to start an adventure, your hero will be in a tavern. You can use the tavern as a place to get used to the game’s controls. Move your finger around on the left side of the screen to move your hero, and the right half of the screen will allow you to look around your surroundings. While this control scheme works, sometimes I found it to be a bit clumsy, especially in the heat of action on the battlefield.
The health bar and mana are displayed at the top (red for health, blue for mana), and if you’re a huntress like me, you’ll see the current amount of ammo for your ranged weapon (don’t need to get more ammo, just need to reload when it hits zero). On the bottom left, there are three buttons: pause (brings up a menu), signal (very useful for co-op to let teammates know where you are), and a map of the area. On the right, you have action buttons: jump, attack, and reload (it takes longer to reload if you are completely empty than if you just reload a few shots).
In the top and bottom right corners, there are two buttons: Build and Hero. This will allow you to see what defenses your hero can make, and you can view your hero details.
If you talk to the Tavernkeep, you can buy a variety of items: from pets that can help you in battle, weapons, armor, potions to modify your character, and also bags of money to buy things with (in-app purchases). Your item box can also be accessed here, which is where all the loot you collect will go in; items can be sold from the item box as well.
Once you’re ready for battle, it’s time to start by going to the giant glowing crystal in the tavern. Tap on it and you can select one of the campaign levels or even select a challenge. The challenges will have special rules that you must follow to complete the level. No matter what you choose, you have the option to select the difficulty of the level (easy, medium, hard, or insane) before you dive in to the action.
When you’re in a dungeon, the goal is to defend the Eternia Crystal from the waves of enemies. The Crystal can take only so much damage before it breaks and you lose.
There are two phases: Build and Combat. Build is used to set up and prepare your defenses. However, your defenses will cost mana, and you start out with none. What do you do? Bust open those treasure chests, of course! You will also see where the enemies will be coming in from, so make sure you place them in the right spots. When that’s done, go up to the crystal and activate it to go in to the Combat Phase.
The Combat Phase will have the enemies coming in, and hopefully going in to the defenses you’ve prepared. You will also have to take care of them yourself if the defenses weren’t enough. If a monster sneaks past you and starts attacking the crystal, there will be an on-screen alert and you’ll have to drop everything you’re doing to make sure that crystal doesn’t break.
If you are successful in defending the Crystal, then an alert will tell you when a wave is cleared and everything will be reset (treasure chests, the Crystal health, your health, etc) for the next (more challenging) wave. Enemies will drop mana and loot, and if you have any charges left on your defenses, it’s recommended that you repair them rather than set up a new one (it’s cheaper that way). You can also access any of the new loot you get via the Defender’s Forge, where you can also upgrade any items.
Then simply rinse and repeat the process through five waves of enemies, which get harder in each wave. To pass a level, the hero will have to clear out all waves. The quality of items depends on the difficulty level, and more experience is received with harder levels. You can return to the tavern at any time, but progress won’t be saved in the dungeon, so you’ll have to start over the next time you go back in.
I found the single player to be extremely fun, though it’s a bit challenging. Just like other RPG games, there will be a good bit of grinding to do before you can get strong enough to take on more powerful enemies. Despite this, the game is still fun and plenty of loot drops in the process, so you’ll definitely keep playing.
In the Online mode, you can do the adventure with up to three friends that also have Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave on their iOS device. The premise is the same, but with teamwork, it should make the overall experience even more fun (or frustrating, depending on who you play with). You can even trade items with each other. I just wish that they didn’t have the PVP Arena as a $4.99 in-app purchase, but rather just included it with the game (perhaps make the game cost $4.99 rather than $2.99 that way).
You can view your overall statistics from the main menu, and configure the options to your liking. Second Wave also integrates Game Center for leaderboards and tons of achievements, so there’s plenty of reason to keep playing, especially since the level cap is 80.
The only thing I hope to see fixed in the future is the camera and controls – I just found it a bit clumsy at times, which can be frustrating when you’re in the middle of an intense battle.
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave is a great hybrid of tower defense and action RPG, and for the right people, this is easily one of the best games you can buy for your iPhone or iPad.
