Midway has always been known as a creator of classic arcade games and with a rich history of timeless titles to choose from, it would be shame if Midway didn't try to update these classic and bring the to the next millennium systems.
Midway and Inevitable Entertainment took their job seriously with Defender. The took the premise of the classic title, gave it a Starship Troopers back story (complete with the 'Troopers tongue in cheek approach and several nods to the movie itself) and pulled the game into 3-D. Just as the name suggests, you spend most of the game on the defensive. Alien races of oversized cockroach/insect/classic Defender enemies called the Manti are devouring humans like popcorn. The Manti bugs consume human D.N.A. and the humans have formed the G.S.A., to stop them from becoming D.E.A.D.
You begin the game with two basic ships to choose from but earn more ships (six in all) as you progress through the game. Each ship has it's own strengths and weaknesses with separate rating for Speed, Armor, Agility and Strength. However, different ships sport different weapons, with some using rapid fire, weaker weapons while others use slower, more powerful weapons. As you progress through the game, you earn points that you spend in the upgrade system to buy additional and better weapons. The bad (if somewhat realistic) thing is that upgrades to weapons are not carried over to other ships. So, you must decide if you want to hang onto your credits until after you have earned a bonus ship (so that you can upgrade it immediately), or spend those credits on additional weapons to try to survive the early levels. You got to love those humans, charging credits for weapons when the whole survival of the human race is as stake!
The classic Defender was an exceptional 2-D shooter. You spent the entire game scrolling over the same area in a circular world with the player warping back to the beginning of the level when he reached the "end" of the landscape. Of course, this new Defender doesn't work like that since it is set in a 3-D world. Now, instead of heading in one direction looking for aliens trying to devour poor, helpless civilians, you are free roaming the four corners of the universe to find the baddies. This wide-open approach means it much harder to find the damsels and dudes in distress and it also means that swooping in and catching them after freeing them from the claws of the alien invaders is a whole lot harder. Even picking up a colonist standing a wide-open field can be a challenge speed is of the essence.
The game is played using a 3rd person chase camera view from behind your ship. It also uses a strafing set-up with some stunt flying barrel rolls and other cool moves thrown in. Your ships have a default hovering type of ability and a resistance to gravity (and inertia) that makes flying them notably different from most other 3-D shooters. Coupled with the constant use of the forward thrusters, handling these beasts has a deceptive quality.
Staying close to its arcade predecessor, the player is given three Lives (more can be purchased using the aforementioned tokens). The levels are set up to take advantage of these three tries and you can expect to lose all your ships trying to complete each level. Once you learn the layout, where the enemies will be coming from and their main objectives you can fight the good fight and come out mostly intact. Still, I kept looking for a quarter slot on the front of my Xbox to pump in a few quarters to continue it just has that arcade vibe. There is another layer to the shooting aspect and that involves defending drop points by strategically placing missile launchers and other heavy weaponry around areas that you are defending. Nothing says, "Thanks for saving me!" like a colonist manning a tank to help you smash the insects.
One of the things that really help to boost this title is the co-op mode. Aside from the Single Player Campaign, you and a friend can team up to take on the bugs together.
There is also a deathmatch/battle mode for some head to head action. The death match arenas come packed with the same power-ups you can find in the missions, but the co-op mode is better executed and offers a more thrilling ride.
On the audio side, Midway earned a soft spot in my heart by including "Defender Club Mix" by KMFDM and "Vaunt" by Trigger. Some retro sound effects and gung-ho marine voice-overs also help the feel of the game.
In the end, Midway painted themselves into a corner with Defender. In order to keep with Defensive nature of the original title and the "rescue the innocents" gameplay, this new Defender is never able to fully embrace the 3-D shooter mayhem. However, the cooperative mode really opens the game up and gives you and your friend Scarface Tony a chance to scream, "I buried those cockroaches!"
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