Defense Grid is a classic Tower Defense game for the Macbook Pro based on Alien enemies, high-tech weapon towers, and in general a futuristic, 'space-age' type feel.
To be clear this game, made by Hidden Path Entertainment, is a true Mac game that you don’t need to use Boot Camp to Windows to play although it is available on a variety of platforms. You can purchase Defense Grid straight from the App Store right now(HERE). So far, Defense Grid is indeed one of my favorite games on my Macbook Pro. Although there are options that differ in price and quality, in my opinion, this is the #1 Tower Defense game made for the MB Pro.
DIFFICULTY
While it may seem simple during the first few levels, further advancement into the 20 levels start to require a lot of strategy so don’t get too cocky. The first few levels are defintely tutorial based and grids are laid out for you, allowing you to quickly get accustomed to the game, but a few levels in, your brain better be ready to design your own choke-points, handle a variety of land, shielded, and air based bad-guys, and capitalize on your strengths to exploit alien weaknesses. Because this is a multiple platform game, there is a buttload of videos to help you through tough levels on youtube. Unless you are an all-star tower defense gamer, it is very likely you will at least need some help on level 20. It took me many attempts to finally beat level 20 and thus the entire game.
GRAPHICS
I use the 15” variety Macbook Pro and the graphics look fantastic. There are several levels of ZOOM you can use but I definitely use the Zoom-OUT the most so I can see the entire grid. This is definitely the way I play 95% of the time. Zooming in doesn’t really serve much of a purpose in my opinion. If I had to rate the graphics I’d give it an 8/10 strong but certainly not “totally amazing”.
SOUND AND STORY
I enjoy the story of Defense Grid, and definitely became attached to my “computer friend” that basically narrates the entire experience. Deep in the game, he evens offers to buy me a beer, “if he could”! The story definitely gives you a feeling of purpose in gameplay which I find as a great bonus to any game. In general, the sound, and effects are good, but the game takes a major knock as the sound actually cuts out on occasion. This is not just me and my setup, reading the reviews you will find others that go through the same sound cut-out bugs.. It is a moderate impact bug, but doesn’t take away from my declaration of this game being the top Tower-Defense grid game for MacBook Pro.
THE BAD / KNOCKS
By far, what this game needs most is a map editor, user creations, or at least an update for more than 20 levels. Defense Grid is screaming for more levels, and the newly popular share-create-play type setup. I would personally create levels, and I believe it’s doable. The other main knock as mentioned earlier is the bug with sound being totally cutout from time to time. The other downside, is that this is the most expensive tower defense game, but I think you get what you pay for at $16.99 USD especially when compared to the competition.
SUMMARY
This game has been around for a long time on many systems and it is damn popular. If you hate tower defense games, then this may not be your cup of tea, but if you want to try something new that you know is loved by most of its owners ( including myself ) then definitely give Defense Grid a shot. When you get to level 20 let me know how you do, it took me a LONG TIME to figure it out! Not only did I like it the first time around, but I give this game a high replayability score because I can’t stop playing my favorite levels over and over. I just get a kick out of trying new strategies or the “challenge levels”. My favorite challenge is the Walkers Level, where you face 99 waves of “walkers” perfect for setting up nasty defense and just flat out destroying alien jive turkeys. This game is a favorite of mine and highly recommended!