X-Morph: Defense

So many people play 'basic' TD games like Bloons, but they're really missing out on the true depth and excitement that a proper, modern tower-defense-combat game can bring. Games like Sanctum and Orcs Must Die are great examples, and X-Morph is another. It has:
- Superb graphics, sounds and real-time physics.
- A good variety of towers and enemy types without being overcomplicated.
- Fences for maze building.
- Large maps with countless maze-building options.
- Enemies that fight back, and some will attack your towers too.
- Some enemy types that are able to traverse terrain and bypass fences in different ways, forcing you to change your strategies.
- Each wave of each map often feels radically different due to changing enemy types and spawn directions.
- Destructible objects that can change the enemy paths.
- Clear pre-wave information and a minimap that allows you to plan your defenses and assess the situation as events unfold. If you miss something, then you only have yourself to blame!
- Bosses!
The campaign can be played solo and split-screen using Steam 'play together' if one of you has a controller. It would be nice if there was true co-op, and that's my only real criticism of the game, but it's still a great addition.

Fun tower defense game, but i enjoy their sequel (Riftbreaker) more.

This is an excellent tower defense, but be aware it's also an excellent action game (I know the store description/tags say this, but it's easy to miss).
I like the flexibility the game offers - I can focus on towers and spend my time picking up debris to get more towers, or focus on doing the killing myself if that's more fun. On the hardest difficulties, of course, you'll have to do everything at the same time.
Some neat things about this game:
* Towers feel different and impactful
* The map changing after a wave keeps things fresh and exciting (worried? see the next item)
* I _love_ being able to sell towers with no loss of resources. It scratches that itch in my brain and makes reacting to map changes feel good.
* The environmental detail is stunning. Being able to knock over buildings to impact pathing is pretty neat, though I wish there were better indicators for what can be knocked over and where it will land.
* Excellent UI - it's crystal-clear where towers can be placed, what they can attack, what they can connect to, enemy pathing (including fliers and jumpers and...)
* Difficulty scales really nicely, with lots of options
* So so so much content! (and the DLCs are pretty cheap to pick up)
It has a co-op mode, though I didn't like the implementation. It's 2 player only, and the players have to use different control schemes (one keyboard/mouse, one controller). There's also _just_ enough lag that it doesn't feel great to be the remote player.
I highly recommend it.

One of the best tower defense games. The enemies and maps offer variety, the visuals are pretty and the shmup aspect makes the waves more exciting and dynamic.
As the campagin progresses you unlock more towers and skills for your ship. X-Morph offers 4 difficulty settings so players of all skill levels will have fun.
You can even play the campaign with a buddy, only locally thou.
I have a lot of fun with it atm.

Nice game, scores 8. One suggestion is, you should make more bosses with national and cultural characteristics. Use your imagination.

---see where this game landed on my tower defense tier list beneath this review!---
If you love tower defense and shmups, this is mandatory. The controls, abilities, and mazing all come together very well.
I never have high expectations when going into a new tower defense game, but this one blew me away!
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My Tower Defense Tier List
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S Tier: X-Morph Defense | Warcraft 3 Custom Maps | Orcs Must Die! 2 | Orcs Must Die! 3
A Tier: Fieldrunners 2 | Dungeon Warfare | Warstone TD | Orcs Must Die! | Revenge of the Titans | Plants Vs Zombies
B Tier: Unstoppable Gorg | Prime World Defenders | Dungeon of the Endless | Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal
C Tier: Dungeon Warfare 2 | Kingdom Rush | Refactor | Digfender | Defenders Quest: Valley of the Forgotten
D Tier: Fieldrunners | Infinitode | Element TD 2 | Space Run | Bloons TD 5 | Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows | Deathtrap | Terrorhedron | Dungeon Defenders | Dwarfs!? (Tower Defense Mode)
E Tier: Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves | Sentinel 3: Homeworld | Ancient Planet | Unholy Heights | Rock of Ages 3 | Infested Planet | Cubetractor | Defense Grid: The Awakening | Sanctum 2 | Super Sanctum TD
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Surprisingly compelling game, despite how it looks at first glance.
Seeing photos and the trailer, of both the gameplay and UI, made me think this was a budget indie title, but I was very pleasantly surprised that under the over-the-top "alien tech cool" design (I mean, have you seen how many animated "glowy bits" are in the *decorations around the menus?*) there's a very solid game, with very polished balance, difficulty, and doesn't get too sidetracked with its silly story and voice acting to make it any less fun.
As others have mentioned, this is more a top down shooter than a tower defense, but it has elements of both. Most interestingly, towers are extremely situational, it takes quite a bit of observation and theorycrafting to design good defenses.
Difficulty wise, the game takes a bit too long to ramp up, with some stages being overly short and presenting only a single gimmick, however I never felt like the game was dragging on or that it was too easy.
The final boss of the main campaign was very interesting to fight, and I'm hoping the additional content introduces more boss fights, as those were to be highlight of the game.
It certainly deserves more attention than "what is this game I don't even know how I got in my library?" status.