X-Morph: Defense

insanely fun defense game that also has a twin-stick shooter element. this is a solid, addicting game that is a must play if you're into tower defense games.

If you like base/tower defense in rts style with a hero this is your game :) X-Morph: Defense is basically the counter game to Anomaly: Warzone Earth. You're part of an alien invasion force, which's goal it is to gather the ressources of Earth, and must defend your Core structures in 14 levels from human attacks.
Like the game description and screenshots already tell, this is a tower defense game, where you actively participate in the fight. You're controlling an alien ship, which can switch between attack mode and ghost mode on the fly, whereby the ghost mode is both a defense mode and your building mode.
The ship itself hast four attacks. A rapid fire dual plasma gun, bombs, anti air rockets and a laser beam, which all offer a secondary fire option. The Plasma gun can be charged to fore a single plasma ball, the bombs can be charged to the Dark Matter bombs, which can destryo buildings, the Rockets offer an EMP attack and the laser creates an anti gravity hole, which is basically a block hole that instantly destroys most enemies. During combat, your ship can be damaged, but also regens health when being out of combat. This also goes for the ghost mode, which makes you invincible, but disables your weapons.
To the gameplay itself: Each level starts with your Core landing on Earth and you have to defend it from waves of attacks, which become harder the longer the level goes on. At the start of each round and between waves, you have an unlimited amount of time to place defense turrets. Like the ships, these turrets have various weapons. Each turret starts with a plasma cannon, but can be upgraded to wield flamethrowers, artillery guns, lasers and anti air weapons.
The amounts of turrets and upgrades you can build is limited by a ressource meter, which is filled up by beating a wave, killing enemies or collecting their scrap with a ship upgrade. Additionally to their weapons, turrets also have impassable laser fences, which can be used to block off enemy routes, so that it takes more time for them to reach your Core and to funnel mutliple enemies into a choke point. Between the waves and during combat, turrets can be relocated and reconfigurated. For example, if you fought of a bunch of bombers and now a group of soldiers is walking along the turret during the next wave, you can change the anti air gun into the flamethrower free of charge. Relocating turrets is also free and you also get your spent ressources back, if one of your turrets gets destroyed, which makes the game player friendly.
The enemies are a slightly futuristic, global army, which resemble the GDI from Command and Conquer. They have tanks, APCs, helicopters, fighter jets, anti air units and other vehicles, which all are serving different purposes. Tanks for example, just attack your core, anti air vehicles are serving as a medic unit and attack the placer, APCs deploy infantry units if not destroyed and bombers target your structures on their flight path. Additionally to that, the game also has three boss enemies, which all work a bit differently and bring a small bullet hell element into the game.

I think this game is an interesting mix of tower defense and twin-stick shooting, offering a unique perspective by putting players in control of the invading alien forces. The game stands out with its destructible environments, strategic base-building mechanics, and action-packed combat.
Pros:
✅ Unique Gameplay Concept – Combining tower defense with direct combat makes for an engaging experience.
✅ Destructible Environments – The ability to reshape the battlefield by destroying buildings adds a dynamic element to the strategy.
✅ Co-op Mode – Local co-op is a fun addition for those who enjoy playing with a friend.
✅ Varied Enemy Waves – Different enemy types require adapting your tactics, keeping gameplay fresh.
Cons:
❌ Difficulty Spikes – Some missions can feel overwhelming, especially on higher difficulties.
❌ No Online Co-op – The lack of online multiplayer may be a drawback for some players.
❌ Repetitive Elements – While fun, the gameplay loop can become a bit repetitive over time.
Overall, X-Morph: Defense is a solid game for fans of tower defense and twin-stick shooters. If you enjoy strategy with a mix of fast-paced action, it's worth checking out, but be prepared for some challenging moments.
With all said, I give this game a 7/10!
get goo goo aluuu

Fun defense game with a fully controllable ship which is a good addition

This game is straight-up sci-fi carnage with a plan. You’re not defending Earth from aliens you are the aliens. And not just any aliens. You’re high-tech, shape shifting, pew-pew-zapping, tactical geniuses who showed up to strip the planet for resources and blow up anyone who says otherwise.
Tower Defense + Twin-Stick Shooter
You’re not just building towers and hoping for the best you’re flying your own ship around the battlefield, actively blasting tanks, jets, and entire battalions to pieces while your defense grid softens them up. It’s tower defense on steroids, with the added bonus of turning military bases into flaming craters.
Destruction Physics
Bridges collapse, skyscrapers explode, jets spiral into the ground all in glorious slow-mo. It’s like Michael Bay made a strategy game. Every level gives you opportunities to creatively ruin infrastructure, and it never stops being satisfying.
Strategy That Actually Matters.
You don’t just slap down towers and call it a day. You place laser walls, funnel enemies through kill zones, and tweak layouts mid-battle while juggling your fighter ship’s positioning. It rewards creativity, and it punishes laziness. Plan smart, play aggressively, and watch as everything goes beautifully to hell.
Visuals & Sound:
Crisp, chaotic, and clean. The explosions are punchy, the enemies come in huge swarms, and the game runs like a dream. The soundtrack has that perfect “alien invasion meets tactical ops” vibe, and the voice acting leans hard into the sci-fi cheese in the best way.
Final Thoughts:
X-Morph: Defense is one of those rare games that nails a hybrid concept and makes you feel like a strategic mastermind and an unstoppable alien war machine at the same time. It’s smart, it’s fast, it’s polished, and most importantly it’s a blast.

This is a wonderful game, what a surprise it was... it's a action tower defense game, much like Sanctum 2, where you place your towers to influence the path of the enemy, and instead of just letting them do the work, you are also a unit that goes around doing damage, in this case, as a spaceship doing some top-down shooter combat.
The action is non-stop, as the ship you are always active, one of the game's greatest strenghts is never having down-time. Not to say you'll be constantly overwhelmed, it's very well paced, but you'll always be doing something. Shooting and observing how effective your towers are and collecting destroyed enemy scrap, flying back-and-forward to juggle multiple lanes. You can also build mid-round in a pinch. It's the only tower defense game I've played that does NOT need a fast-forward button at all.
The tower placement is pretty unique, you can greatly shape the path of the enemy, much like Sanctum, but in a more dynamic way. The grid is a lot smaller and blockades can be made in any wacky ways you can think of... very satisfying to force an enemy path to do a Loop-the-loop around street blocks.
My favorite part of the game is how dynamic everything is, almost everything is destructible and all the bits have physics to them, and it's not all just for eye-candy, lots of it has purpose. Enemy debris can be collected for points and extra build materials, smaller buildings when destroyed can open up new paths for enemies to use, or open up line-of-sight for your turrets, and larger buildings can tumble onto roads, the debris blocking whole paths for the enemy, and also doing damage if anything under. Plus it IS just extremely satisfying to use a bomb and see all the things explode majestically around.
And the graphics are pretty charming I'd say... it has a late PS3/360 vibe to it, but while still having plenty of vivid color and appealing visual effects. I don't know if this 7th gen vibe was intentional or not, but I appreciate it none the less, the first level looks straight out of Metal gear rising or Resident evil 5, but with high res textures and modern niceties. Not stunning, but I'd call it very competent.
So yea, that's about it, it's just a bit of a hidden gem, found it at random, it was dirty cheap, didn't expect much and was blown away by the quality. Extremely fun, recommend it to everyone, even if top-down shooters arent your thing, they aren't mine, it STILL hooked completely.

I'm a few levels in, so I scrapedx the surface.

So far, the game is pretty fun.

+ Wave based Tower defense.
+ place towers and interconnect them to block/redirect walking paths
+ optional: manual shooting mode using your ship
+ optional: focus turrets only
+ destructible environment, such as bridges and the buildings