PC Review: Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten

Over the last five years indie games have gained a steady and impressive following among both PC and console gamers, giving rise to a rebirth of many classic game types and the birth of many creative new game styles as well. One of the game types that has benefitted the most from the rise the indie market is the Tower Defense genre, and there are few games that exemplify the quality an indie title can reach like Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten.

At first glance Defender's Quest does little to inspire confidence in the overall product. With a rudimentary title screen and an almost complete lack of graphics options the game will seem lean on content to start with. Even the cinematics in the game are somewhat jarring and a let down, consisting of still images that, in all honesty, would feel more at home in a flash game than a title developed for sale.

Delving deeper into the game, however, will quickly show you the quality that lies beneath this initially lackluster veneer. The in-game graphics are a wonderful modern take on the 16-bit era, colorful and with enough animation to keep battles fairly lively and interesting. While the graphics options are sparse at best, the game wows with how much customization it allows in its gameplay experience, allowing players the option to tune experience gains, character downtime penalties, and even monetary gains to suit most players from the most hard-core strategy gamers to those who are looking for a more relaxed experience. Despite the less than stellar presentation for cutscenes the characters themselves are all colorful and fun, and the art design itself only fails due to a lack of consistency between cinematics and gameplay. Characters offer a rudimentary RPG-style skill and level up tree, and combining that with the ability to level up characters mid-level to gain access to more advanced combat techniques gives the entire game a great deal of depth. The equipment system is underwhelming, with new swords and armor offering nothing in terms of rewards beyond an incremental stat boost, but the entire design shows a great deal of promise, if not polish.

Gameplay is often quick, but can be paused to allow the player time to consider strategy as often as one needs to. Overall the difficulty curve on the game is well managed: with rewards turned up the game is a relaxing affair that still manages to hold your attention, while turning them down increases the difficulty and need for strategy without ever becoming unfair. Controls with either the keyboard or mouse are generally responsive and convenient, and there is next to nothing in the experience that will frustrate most players unduly. Level design is well handled as well, with the levels scaling nicely to present new placement and enemy challenges as the player progresses through the game.

With an intriguing storyline, good characters, and incredibly scalable gameplay that allows it to appeal to audiences of varied skill or dedication, Defender's Quest succeeds in presenting its players with a high-quality product worth investing your time in. While visual presentation suffers due to a mish-mash of different styles, it is only a minor flaw in the face of an otherwise well-made and solid game.

Final Rating: 8 out of 10.

Despite its visual shortcomings many game designers could learn a thing or two from Level Up Labs about accessible gameplay. By appealing to users seeking a hardcore strategy experience as well as those looking for a more casual game the creators have come up with a stand-out strategy title for both markets.