Wonderfully atmospheric and evocotive. Amazing how much story you can tell in such a minimilist fashion.

So I hadn't paid that much attention to this game because I though it was just another shoot-em-up in space. Then I finally decided to pick it up during a sale.

This definitely isn't just another SHUMP.

Well yeah, you fly a ship around and shoot at things, but you also get to design your fleet, research technology to improve your ships, find specialists to fly them, undertake missions for cash and to improve your relations with various factions, mine asteroids, chase comets and, oh yeah, explore the galaxy. If this is a SHUMP, it's a 4X, RTS SHUMP, and we can apparently use more of those.

Definitely recommended.

I don't play tower defense games; I second-guess myself too much. I spend all my time agonizing over how to place my towers then get frustrated when the enemies tear through my defenses as if they weren't there.

But for some reason I picked up Defense Grid, thinking I would play it for a few minutes just to see what the fuss was about. Two hours later I look up and realize that "hey, this one is fun"!

So take it from someone who normally doesn't like this type of game and pick this one up. It's definitely my surprise game of the summer.