izigame.me

S U M M A R Y
Defense Grid: The Awakening is a sci-fi tower defense game with a huge emphasis on high scores (using leaderboards) and has six DLCs available for it. Overall, I recommend it due to its satisfying, strategic, and nuanced gameplay as well as the sheer amount of content it comes with: 26 levels, each with anywhere from 4-8 challenges that change how the level plays. Although competing for high scores isn't for everyone, the game still has a relatively entertaining story mode with a large number and variety of levels for the casual player to enjoy.

A C H I E V E M E N T S
The base game has 64 achievements, none of which are overly-difficult to get; however, the ones centered around getting above a certain score on each level and a certain number of challenges will require you to learn how to optimize your score, will be an arduous task that will take quite a lot of time to get, and will eventually feel like it needlessly drags the game out.
The other 23 achievements belong to the six DLCs, and are basically the same as the 64 base achievements but are specific to the DLCs, so if you're a completionist and want all achievements then be aware that the total cost of the game will be slightly over double the price of the base game. Furthermore, the DLCs have only gone on sale twice a year since 2019 so you might have to wait a while for a sale.

R E V I E W
Gameplay
The gameplay stands out among the typical tower defense formula of having to diversify your tower selection in order to counter the enemy composition and this is due to its level design and its interest-based resource system which ties into the emphasis on high scores:
- While many tower defense games are designed so that you construct your towers adjacent to the path that the enemy takes to their objective, some of the levels in this game allow you to construct towers in the enemy's path in order to block that path and force them to take the next shortest route which adds strategic depth to those levels; and
- During each level, you recover resources (to build more towers with) by killing aliens and also by accruing interest on any unspent resources. This incentivizes you to save up your resources to passively and exponentially gather more, as well as to hold off on building new towers until you absolutely have to. Upon completion of a level, your resources are also added to your score which adds further nuance to the optimization aspect of the game.
The game has a substantial amount of content and replay value: the main campaign has 20 levels, there are four standalone levels, and the game includes two levels from the Portal-inspired Defense Grid: The Awakening - You Monster DLC as a teaser. Furthermore, each level has a number of special challenge modes that restrict the level in some way and range from increased difficulty, a set amount of resources with no recovery of resources or interest, a limited amount of towers, towers can't be upgraded, more waves, and many other modes. These add an immense amount of replay value as some challenges act like a new puzzle to figure out.
The game also has a fast-forward option to speed up the slower moments and has a checkpoint system which allows you to go back in time to the previous checkpoint; however, the checkpoints are very sparse and going back to a previous checkpoint often sets you back many waves which is both irritating and a waste of time. While going for high scores, I often found myself going back to a previous checkpoint and repeating the exact same set of steps just to get back to a specific wave so I could try a new strategy. If that strategy failed then I would have to go back and do this again multiple times until I had optimized the specific wave exactly as I intended. That being said, this probably won't be an issue for most casual players and really only affects those who are trying to optimize for a high score. Speaking of high scores, the game used to have a very dedicated and active community who competed for high scores and it seems as if a few of them have made a return recently.
Graphics
The graphics use 3D models for the towers and aliens which look all right from afar (the default zoom distance) but look much better and are quite detailed when fully zoomed in — it's actually quite satisfying to zoom in and watch your towers kill the hapless aliens who can't fight back. The backdrops for the levels are also very diverse, quite pleasing to look at, and help paint a picture of the broader world that you find yourself in.
Sound
The music is composed of martial/military music accompanied by ambient nature sounds. Although the songs are fitting and do their job of being background music, they are quite generic and ultimately forgettable.
Story
The story is pretty basic, all things considered, and is frankly an afterthought compared to the gameplay which is the core aspect of the game: you are a silent protagonist who is attempting to protect a planet from an alien invasion using the planet's dormant defense grid. When you awaken the defense grid, you are greeted by a charming artificial intelligence with a British accent and a propensity to defend its home planet. It then becomes your companion, has a few funny lines throughout the game, and is the highlight of the "story".
Miscellaneous
The game has four ASCII mini-games that are included for some reason and which are copies of Castlevania, Guitar Hero, Space Invaders, and some type of one-on-one pet battler game.
Conclusion
Overall, I recommend the game due to its satisfying and deep gameplay as well as the overabundance of content you get for the price, particularly if you get it on sale which it occasionally does so for 75% off at 2.50 USD.