PSP MINI: Vector TD! Review

By TRJ

Another PSP MINI from Sony. Vector TD is a Real-Time Tower Defense Game that requires tons of strategy and can be quite addictive.

Created by Frima Studios, creators of A Space Shooter for 2 Bucks. Vector TD has you strategically place towers around the map to eventually kill 7 different variations of enemy Vectoid.

PSP MINI Vector TD Start Screen by BooyaGadget
Opening Start Screen Vector TD

The Towers

Green Towers

These towers fire green laser beams at the Vectoid.  They repeatedly fire at the enemy until it is destroyed.  Level 2 and 3 of the green towers have so much damage points that their beams will reflect off of the initial Vectoid and damage nearby Vectoid.

Red Towers

Unlike the green towers these towers are very different at each level.  Level 1 Red Towers fires rapid laser beams at the Vectoids, while Level 2 Red Towers fire multiple shots at nearby Vectoids.  Level 3 Red Towers are a very powerful weapon in the game.  These towers will fire homing rockets at the Vectoid.  They can change course mid-flight and once a Vectoid is destroyed they can bounce off and move to the next Vectoid.

Purple Towers

These towers work like the Green Towers, but they have the ability to store their energy.  This allows them to make much more powerful laser bursts that will not only damage the Vectoid, but slow them down.

Blue Towers

The Towers have the ability to slow down the enemy Vectoid.  Level 1 Blue Towers are equipped with a laser that will do very little damage to the Vectoid late in the game, but the ability to slow down the Vectoid will allow other Towers to clean up and do the dirty work.  Level 2 and 3 Blue Towers will increase their damage hit points and also slow down oncoming Vectoid.

Bonus Points

Once every five waves there is a Bonus Vectoid. Once defeated the player will receive a bonus credit.  This credit can be redeemed by choosing one of the four bonus options.

  • Damage Booster- The damage for each tower within range of the Booster is increased by 25%.

  • Range Booster- The range for each tower within range of the Booster is increased by 25%.

  • Interest Increase- This will increase the interest paid for destroying vectoid waves by 3%.

  • Panic- Choosing this option will give you an additional 5 lives.

Strategy! Strategy! Strategy!

PSP MINI Vector TD Gameplay by BooyaGadget
Vector TD Gameplay Screenshot

When playing Vector TD it is important to get comfortable, these games will take some time.  Later in the video you will see that just beating Switch-Back takes me 36 minutes and that is one of the easiest maps in the game.  Your strategy hat is essential and mistakes will cost time and money and lead to the Vectoid escaping.  The object is simple, destroy all Vectoid before they complete the maze.  If a Vectoid leaves the map you will lose one of your 20 lives and once your lives are gone the game is over.  There are 50 waves of Vectoid.

Before we go to the tape I want to explain the strategy I used to defeat all 50 waves.  I have seen this strategy defeat even harder maps and it worked very well on Switch-Back.  The basics of the strategy is to use Level 1 Blue towers ($300) spaced around the map so that the Vectoids are always traveling at a snails pace.  Once you have saved enough money its time to place Level 3 Red Towers in the middle of the map and by using your Bonus Vectoids to purchase Damage and Range Booster, you should be able to target the entire map with these Red Towers.  Add some additional Level 3 Red Towers to help and you will beat the first level of Vector TD.

Want to see it all in action, watch our vector TD gameplay video.  Keep your eyes peeled because I had to speed it up so you don’t have to sit through the entire 36 minute video.

Impressions

I really like this PSP Mini and would have spent the 2 bucks on it if ( at the time ) wasn’t already FREE for PSN Plus Subscribers. The game is affordable, but no longer free.  The strategy is amazing and if you want to absolutely kill an hour of your life in the fastest way possible, saddle up to one of the expert maps. I have played games that are approaching the 40 wave mark and I am already pushing an hour of gameplay and my brain is on overdrive trying to come up with new strategies to get to the finish.

This game is probably not for the bus ride to work and most of the time it feels like a full-fledged PSP game.  For the Real-Time Strategy fans out there I can’t recommend this game enough.  I run alot of RTS on the computer and this is a great little RTS fix on my PS Vita.  Get it today, if you are a PSN Plus Subscriber it will cost you nothing. Booya!