Recent reviews by Rob-P

This is a very cute and funny game that satirizes a very serious topic.
It's a wonderful Tower Defense Strategy game.
I highly recommend this game and I appreciate the hours of enjoyment I have gotten from it.
I hope there is a update in the future (it needs a "full screen mode" so with multiple monitors you don't scroll off the edge of the play area).
I definitely would be willing to pay some $$$ for updates, etc.

1) This game is classic
2) Many newer games still don't have all the things this game has, even at 10 years old
3) A Toaster can run it (you don't need a RTX2080Ti for it)
4) The community is great, passionate, and loyal

Pros:

• Hearts: Accumulate hearts as "extra lives" when you may need to guess
  
• Background: Very attractive themes (e.g., Doctor Who)
  
• Colors: The board's color changes as well as text in the squares
  
• Right Click: Using a right-click on a square allows you to uncover adjacent squares when you've isloated a solution. This aids in removing some "human error" scenarios once the player has fixed a solution for a square.

Cons:

• Achievements: Some of the achievements are luck based, but you can still get them by grinding away enough.
  
• Colors: At times, the game picks some colors that don't contrast well. However, you can resolve this by completing the board, or just restarting your progress.

Overall, I high recommend this game if you liked the original. It is so much improved over the original version that came bundled with Windows.

Love the Game!

Pros:
1) Artwork/graphics
2) Replay of levels (I enjoy the replayabilty and improving my gold haul)
3) Various combinations to upgrade your buggy & 3-levels per upgrade.
4) Smooth game-play
5) Achivements are not impossible (nor luck based).

FAVORITE POWER-UP: Love Bug.
- Honorable mention: double Damage

Cons:
1) In Keyboard/mouse-mode the keyboard controls are very responsive. You need to get used to maneuvering the buggy.
2) Cursor: Can't change the cursor color or shape
3) Power-up: The drops type (rapid fire, double damage, unstopable, Love Bug, etc) seem to be random (but maybe I don't know how to get the drop to be what I want)
4) BOSS: Sometimes it's hard to figure out what is required to defeat the boss. It requires a Google search to watch a viedo to understand. There should be some in-game explaination of the triggering/weakness required for defating the boss (e.g., "shoot at the tiny yellow wheels", etc)

Overall, this is a wonderful game. The game allows the player to customize the buggy in various ways which leads to experimenting and tuning the game to a player's style (Is your play style to shoot, or ram enemy cars? Do you prefer fine tune shooting, or a space/scatter shot approach that doesn't require precision?)

How much is expected from a game that, after discount, cost: $0.43 (43 cents USD)?

Pros:
- Never played anything like this before
- The "challenge" to this game is overcoming the really awkard controls
- The AI is relatively forgiving. In some levels you just need to be partly into the space for it to count as being parked. Also, with the trailer (level-25 to 35), it is allowed to 'gently graze' some obstacles.
- At Level 35 you lose the trailer, and it's just the car again. :)
- You do NOT need to COMPLETE Level-50 to get the last Achievement, just get to Level-50.


Cons:
- Controls: For a PC, this is awful. "W" (move), "S" (Stop), and turn a Steering Wheel with your mouse, also shift Forward/Reverse on a lever.
- You drive without regard to arrows on the ground. See Map-9.
- The Default position is "Reverse". If you forget this fact, you usually immediately back into an obstacle and have to restart.
- POV: 3rd Person (over-head) not 1st Person.
- Harder level (after 25), you have a trailer attached to your car. However, to park the car, you may at times have the trailer blocking the remainder of the parking lot.
- Inconsistent Rating of difficulty: Level-34 has the 3-Star parking spot as a relatively easy achievement with the trailer. However, Level-33, in comparison, the 3-Star parking space is far more difficult to get to (if at all).
- Field of View: At times (on a PC) you can see the entire parking lot. Other times, only a portion of it, so you start out and need to hunt for where the parking spaces are located. This makes you have to re-try the level at least once (1 time to figure out where the parking spaces with the *Stars* are acutally located, then 2nd time to try to actually park the car).
- Deceleration: No car, moving this slowly, takes this long to stop. Brakes on a real car far outpower the engine, etc and make a car stop very rapidly (instantaneously at these simulated slow speeds).

Reccomendation/My Motivation:
Why am I even going to recommend and continue to play this game? ONE REASON: To the "All Achievements Completed" (100%) as a stat that gets posted on my Steam Profile. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this game. It's just more of the same over and over.

UPDATE: Thumbs-down. The game added MANY achievements. Not worth playing at all now.

This BETA has a lot of potential. I have never played SMITE, so I'm coming at this from a TF2 point of view. Also, I'm not going to compare it to Overwatch, since I don't play that either.






UPDATE:
Pros:

1. Good Game play
   
2. Good characters (Champions)
   
3. Lots of potential to become a TF2-like game
   
4. Artwork is good
   
5. Allows text chat with team
   
6. Sales and promotions while in BETA

Cons:

1. Client crashes (it is in BETA)
   
2. Still buff and nerf-ing characters to balance play (meaning your fav. champion may not be the same in a month or so)
   
3. No voice chat to team (there is only so much you can type into the team text chat in a timely manner)
   
4. Matchmaking still is not that balanced
   
5. Attempting to motivate or dissuade players from playing off Character
   
   • Example: a Frontline Champion should work to "capture the point", not play a Flanking style.
     
   • However, the game does highlight champions that fulfill their role (highlight reel at game end).

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Original Post


Pros: (for a BETA)
Familiar game play
Good selection of characters
Several maps (I've played at least 3 so far)
No long/endless games/episodes (think "Powerhouse" in TF2 that could last for DAYS)
Steam Founders Packs (unlocks a lot of loot)
Tip of the hat for skins for Barik (e.g., engineer) from TF2-look


Cons:
Some of the characters have underpowered skills (e.g., Barik)*
Still crashes (expected in BETA)
Downtime for servers still an issue (couldn't log-in after repeated attempts early in morning US time)

*Barik:
This is the only character I've played so far. He's allowed 2 turrets (e.g., sentries in TF2 lingo).
Other shooter specific characters can easily nullify the turrets (even if you play cards that heal the turret when you are near it). The default set of cards seems a very well rounded set, and after playing up to level-5 of this character, I think the "reduced build time" card for the turrets is essential. In TF2 speak, they are similar to mini-sentries (easily dispatched). The cool down period for the turrets is 8 seconds, so after deploying the first you have at least 8 seconds before deploying the second turret. The barricade (or shield) is almost a must, used in conjunction with the turrets. Put up a shield, then you first turret quickly and in succession (since the build time of the turret and the low health of the turret compared to DPS output other players can inflict). The blunderbuss (e.g., shotgun) is a good close-in weapon, but again is not a match for an opponent with a long-range moderately powered weapon. Barik is relatively slow, so you'll be using the "rocket boost" (e.g., speed up) to get out of some places or flee a rapidly advancing adversary. I enjoy playing Barik, but in comparison to other "Pull the trigger" characters, he seems a bit outmatched. I'd like to see a bit more development of this character, and I'm sure the gameplay will be phenomenal.

Perspective: Don't think of it as Chess .. it's not.

It's chess, but it isn't (as the game notes indicate).

For the sale price on steam of $4.99, this game is fantastic.
Get it on sale, and play it. It's more than "chess" with cool pieces. You need to play it differently.

Very enjoyable sequel to Defense Grid (DG). Improvements over the original edition were the incorporation of aspects of the “Command Tower” into the Boost tower. The Boost tower does add a bit more of nuance then the original edition. Initial maze creation is less costly with the Boost towers, and careful placement of the Boost tower is still essential in winning the game. If you’ve played the extended versions of the original DG, you’ll find that you will quickly be able to excel at this version. While the Orbital Laser was the only choice of off-world help in the original edition, DG2 does a very good job in expanding the options to allow tower boosts, resource (money) boost, and more. Some levels are well suited to these new options, where the Orbital Laser would have been over-kill or less challenging if used.
Well worth the money, and even better if reduced via a Steam sale price :)

This is a very fun puzzle game. Some of the more advanced levels introduce things like movement mirroring (reverses your intended movement) and a time limit. On the negative side, the time limit levels, while challenging, can pose a roadblock if you are not enthusiastic about learning/recording precise moves in order to complete the timed levels. It wouldhave been helpful to set difficulties or bypass the countdown aspect of the timed levels. Over all a very nice game, and very resonable price.

I enjoy strategy games, and do enjoy a FPS game. This game is both, however, I purchased it for the tower aspect. I enjoyed iBomber Defense and its spin-off games since it was pure-play tower. Toy Soldiers is a tower-FPS, but I enjoyed the tower aspect. In Toy Soldier, I would use the Sniper Tower a lot, and play the game that way, although in order to get some achievements in Toy Soldier, you needed to control some units directly (Triplane, Mustard Gas units, etc).

Due to my leanings with Sanctum 2, I typically play with SiMO where there is less "running around". This plays well, but it seems that the last level "The End" might require some kiting, although plenty of fan videos indicate this isn't required.

There are plenty of fan manuals around, and that helps. The "Bar charts" of speed, damage, and range during weapon selection doesn't allow a detailed understanding of the trade-off between various weapons.
Team play is next for me, and I'll need to look around for players that enjoy more of the FPS aspect, so a rounded team can be played.

Overall, this is a fabulous game, and since it's been offered at a reduced price, the game is that much better.