By Jim Rossignol on October 21st, 2011 at 8:53 am.
Colourful UDK-powered 4-player co-op tower defence RPG Dungeon Defenders has a demo! You can get it here. I’ve not had a chance to play this yet, but given how pretty it looks, and the fact that I am a sucker for tower defences, I might just have to have a crack. I’ve also posted the most recent trailer below for your perusal.
You don’t even need to play the demo. It’s awesome. Just buy it.
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Games should always launch with a demo ready, otherwise I’m just gonna pirate them to try them. It’s not entitlement, it’s just the only possible way I can ever think of buying a game that has no demo.
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Because you absolutely have to buy it. /facepalm
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Exactly. I’m glad you understand my predicament, Archonsod.
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Since being gifted this game by my rather splendid other half 2 days ago it’s all I want to play. Do not pass demo, go straight to full game (and don’t worry about the mouse lag in the menus, it doesn’t affect the game).
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But is it as good as Orcs Must Die?
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My time with OMD has been brief, but i’m willing to say yes.. However its not quite the same thing, because its really been designed for Co-Op. Each class has a limited set of towers making single player less enjoyable than the Co-op mode.
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You can switch between hero classes during the building phase before each wave, so it’s possible to have all the towers even when playing solo. So it’s entirely possible to win on your own.
In response to the original question, I liked OMD, but I’m *loving* DD.
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Awesome: that’s exactly what I was hoping would distinguish it from OMD.
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I think there will be quite a few people regretting getting caught up in the OMD hype, when if they’d waited a week they could have bought DD. Not that OMD is an awful game but it’s unlikely to have the legs DD will. Still, each to their own, and it’s not as if either game is THAT expensive.
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I bought both and like both, but in different ways.
OMD has a more serious vibe, and the traps work like traps.
DD has a more fun vibe, and it’s more tower defense. (Yes, there are traps, but even they are tower-ish and none of them (at least that I know of) are physics-based.)
Also, OMD doesn’t have a level-up system. You get more traps, but only according to how far you are in the game. If you come to a level you can’t beat, you … Just try again. There’s no options.
DD allows you level up up yourself, your clothing, your weapon, and your other characters, giving you a lot more options for getting past a troublesome area.
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I’m not sure what qualifies as “physics based” these days, but the Squires Bouncing Blockade and Bowling Ball trap both serve to knock people around (and frequently into lava.)
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I didn’t a demo when the words “4 player Co-op tower defense” were uttered, and I’m definately not dissapointed with my purchase.
However it is great that this has a demo, it was released pretty quickly after the games launch, what was it 1-2 days later?
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The demo launched alongside the game.
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The game snuck-out early for Steam (during the day) – the demo appeared at 6pm (when the games usually show up).
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This game is insanely fun and addictive. It’s – in my not so humble opinion – way better than Orcs Must Die, if only because the game offers a genuine challenge.
The RPG elements help as well, it has a Diablo-esque item fever combined with all the good stuff that makes TD games so addictive.
Bought it yesterday, already played 6 hours. And that’s on a working day :(
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Really? You completed Nightmare mode of Orcs must Die no problem?
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I’m halfway through on nightmare, but I can already tell that the early levels of DD on insane difficulty offers a bigger challenge.
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You know what else makes it reminiscent of Diablo?
RSI.
Having to spam attack, on the LMB for minutes on end is terrible interface design!!!
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How long has it been since the pc has split-screen gaming? Greatly enjoying playing this with my brother. There are promises of cross-platform co-op, as well.
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They just need to work on their stability of their “TrendyNet” platform – I tend to get disconnected around 21:30 CEST at which point I can’t be arsed to continue and call it a night :P
Otherwise it’s a fun, and challenging game.
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Is this worth getting for someone who has no friends? And hates playing public co-op?
Single player goodness?
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Reading reviews of the Xbox version, it doesn’t look very singleplayer-friendly.
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The game can be enjoyed in solo, but it’s very challenging. You will have the mana of the whole team, so no problem for towers, but you fight alone. Most reviewers so far recommend to play the solo in easy mode until your character gains levels and better equipment. Because indeed, the early damage you do is quite small.
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Looks like the demo is out on Steam, too, which generally is a more reliable way to download a 1.5Gb file.
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steam://install/201680
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I finished OMD, now I tried this. And I must say that combat is way better in OMD. In OMD there is that nice satisfaction of seeing an orc falls appart or get a headshot. DD is just clicking on enemies and seeing colorful fontains.
Havent tried it co-op yet, but I’m not really amused with the single player experience.
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Bought it just before release, I’m quite hooked as well. They really included all the addictive gaming elements to the TD gameplay: levelling, loot, spells, smashing hordes of ennemies down, and all this with coop.
I wasn’t expecting it to be so addictive, to be honest. Compared to OMD, it’s really a different kind of game. OMD is really about finding optimised ways to lay out your traps, and here it’s much more messy and action rpg like. Not to say there is no strategy in dungeon defenders, but you have to fight, it’s important to pass the waves.
In OMD, if you have a huge wave of orcs passing your traps, you usually did something wrong and won’t be able to hold them off, as you feel a bit powerless. In DD, you can still fight with teammates and hold most of them. But it is still challenging, though, and will prove a hard task. But while it’s challenging, it’s more “forgiving” for a bad trap layout, than OMD, I think.
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for the love of god, do not buy this until they fix all the issues. Yes, they are busy working on it, we’re on the 3rd patch already, but I have had 2 days of character wipes, CTD randomly, and “Trendynet” disconnects – just a bit ago we go to very near the end of an epic level, and boom, kicked to main menu. The latest is loads of people having “game type mismatches” even when people are the same game version.
Another buggy POS PC release, that will be awesome soon…
http://forums.trendyent.com/forumdisplay.php?7-Technical-Support
edit: get the Steam version, the other digital version are NOT being supported yet with patches…
also, there seems to be very little trap layout skills, it’s mostly an enemy spamfest as it gets closer to final wave. Still fun though even after all these probs! Plus, full mod support in “open” games
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I was surprised to read about these issues, because the game runs flawlessly for me. No crash, nothing.
Hopefully they seem to be quite fast to deliver patches, so it. I’ll be sorted out soon
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Is there a matchmaking service?
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Both, you can quick match, or select from the list of current games.
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Anyone else find the menu layouts clunky and cumbersome?
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The game crams a massive amount of stuff into a small space (remember that it has to work with a controller which limits how it can be layed-out)
It could have done with a polish for sure – the shop interface, in particular, is a bloody mess tho.
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Half the fun for me is checking the Innkeeper after a match, to find an insanely powerful weapon/armor or parrot.
As a Squire nothing feels so good as jumping in a group of 20 mobs and performing a circular strike with a newly purchased weapon.
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I was actually put off a bit by the demo. Nothing like leftover voice work from the Xbox version to ruin your fun.
I’m sorry but where is the right trigger on my keyboard?
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The latest patch lets you rebind keys and use additional mouse buttons.
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From all the positive feedback here I thought I’d give the Demo a go. Sadly it appears that there is no invert mouse option in the Demo (think it has been added to the main game though). So disappointingly I won’t buy it if I can’t try it. It still suprises me that after all these years games come out without Invert Mouse options.
Any clever RPS readers know a work around?
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I still can’t work out, in this day-in-age, why people care about Inverting the Mouse.
I got used to switching my head around that years ago – one day I was playing a game and decided I needed to invert the mouse, so I did, then I decided I was still wrong and so I realised I’d conquered that particular bugbear.
Man up and get used to it – you’ll be playing from trad. third-person ‘behindcam’ most of the time anyway :)
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@johnpeat – It is quite simple really, I have always played with the mouse inverted and any game without the option is unplayable to me. I’ve been gaming for 30 years and I don’t wish to start training to play a different way. Firstly as a family man I don’t have the same time to game as I used to and secondly it would mean that I would get zero enjoyment out of the games I did play while I “trained” myself up.
Almost all games released these days have invert mouse as an option (This game has quickly coded it in already) so to ask for it in the demo so their customers can potential try the game then give them money for the full game does not seem too much to ask.
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The full version does have a configure menu with the option to “Invert Left(or Right) Stick Axes” which is probably what you want.
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Dev here! We patched in the ability to invert the mouse as well as bind mouse keys 4 and 5 yesterday!
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Invert Mouse is nothing – NOTHING I tell you.
Ah hell I used to play FPS’s (mostly original Doom) with cursor keys but I made myself learn WASD because – well – because people laughed at me otherwise :)
Relearning stuff is fun :)
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@pmasher@trendyent Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate you have put this into the full game but I was talking about the Demo. The Steam Demo still does not appear to have the ability to invert mouse. Do you know if this will be updated?
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Is there an RPS community growing around this? I literally have NO mates who play PC games so would need an RPS crew to play with, as you lot tend to be politer than Joe Public. Then comes the ‘John Walker’ multiplayer commitment fear. I’d like to play when it suits me without feeling I’m letting someone down if I’m not on. Can you just jump into a game casually?
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Excellent idea. Can’t someone make a RPS DD Steam community?
Joining random games is a bit hit and miss for me. Had a great game yesterday with a nice guy from Sweden, but also had some games where angry kids went insane because someone else was killing mobs on ‘their’ side.
Fine RPS people, group together!
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I’ve set up a steam group here so that people can find each other.
As a parent with a wife who will brook no pleading for ‘imaginary worlds’, I make no promises about my own commitment. I’ve never created a group before – this one’s public. Another admin or two would be good.
Here’s URL:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/RPSDD
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Great, I’ll check once I’m back from work (approx. 8pm GMT + 1)
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So anyone who has the iOS version of the game and has played the demo – is there any difference in the PC version or is it a straight up port? (controls aside)
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I played the Android version – well I tried to but you cannot cram this sort of game into that sort of platform.
I then played the 360 version which gives the controller a massive workout but is just about playable.
I then played the PC version and it felt much. much, better – it felt like the game had found it’s proper home.
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I’ve played it on my iPad 2, but the PC version is a bit more fleshed out (more options) and looks better.
The biggest ‘improvement’ is keyboard/mouse movement for me. I kept struggling with the iPad controls.
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I’d like to field the DD vs OMD thing, if I may…
DD takes more from Action RPGs in terms of character classes, equipment and all that stuff You have Diablo-style loot issues, choosing to use or sell or whatever – there’s a shop and so on.
OMD follows the Plants vs Zombies model of following a set progression through arenas, handing you new toys as you go.
Both are great but I find OMD (and PvZ for that matter) to be just a BIT of a grind at times. OMD isn’t quite as bad as PvZ in terms of making you work through stuff just to unlock things but it’s certainly guilty of that.
DD allows you to change your character between waves which opens-up more interesting single-player strategies (start with a wizard and lay his traps, then a knight and lay his and so on).
OMD is a bit more polished and a bit less migraine-inducing in the graphics department!
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And DD got some kind of “closed bnet” – online srv site chars.
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I guess technically the graphics are good, but the visuals/art style/lighting or whatever…I just can’t get over how the game looks. I hate it. It’s unfortunate because it looks good otherwise.
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I seem to have been hasty. Bought the game (even set up a steam group) and I can’t run it.
The whole game moves like a slide show (both video and audio) at under 1 FPS.
PC:
i5 CPU
4GB DDR III
SSD
RADEON HD 6850
Windows 7 64bit
I should be chewing this game up. Is it a 64bit problem?
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I don’t think so, I have the following and it was working fine for me last night.
i7 CPU
8GB DDR III
SSD (OS, the game is installed on a SATA II drive)
RADEON HD 5850
Windows 7 64bit
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These preview ATI drivers seem to have fixed it:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU122AMDCat1110PreDriverV2.aspx
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Given the time frame for their release, and the similarities between the two games it is almost impossible to mention Dungeon Defenders without referencing the recent Orcs Must Die. The comparison between the two is something of an ‘Ogre in the Room.’ A big, green and red Ogre, preferably impaled on a spike trap or barrier.
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Tower defense is the heart and soul of both games. Except when it isn’t. Both games also feature role playing aspects. Orcs is a challenging and bloody single player affair. Players upgrade traps using rewards earned from each level. The graphics, while slightly cartoon-esque, are more mature than in Dungeon Defenders. Combat is satisfying though not complex but it isn’t the point, in either game. Shooting the crossbow is satisfying, but the sword – converted to a Warhammer by the preorder bonus – is a little weak, and melee is risky in Orcs. Nonetheless Orcs must die is an extremely fun, single player tower defense/RPG hydrib, and for the price I highly recommend it.
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Despite its similarities Dungeon Defenders is a very different Ogre. First it features co-op for up to four players. Online, split screen local even on PC. Full Steam support, up to and including invites for private games integrated with your Steam friends list. Dungeon Defenders proves that Tower Defense is even more fun with friends.
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But the fun does not stop with co-op. Dungeon Defenders features fully persistent characters. Single player, online, drop in/out – doesn’t matter. Your character progression, trap upgrades, weapons and items all remain with you, no matter where or how you got them.
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And you will get them. In Dungeon Defenders you do not just place traps and then help fight off enemies a la Orcs and Sanctum. You also collect loot, level up your character and tower/trap skills, and earn Mana. This mana can be used as to place and even repair traps during waves. But it also serves as currency in between dungeons. You can use it to buy weapons, armor and pets from a tavern merchant when you are not defending dungeons from perhaps the same hordes which keep raiding the Towers in Orcs.
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Both Orcs and Dungeon Defenders are immensely fun games. Both combine two, or even more, genres for fantastic experiences. The addition of co-op and persistent, looting, leveling characters, pets and items gives Defenders a slight edge in my book, but this only matters if you are weighing one game against the other in terms of which to buy.
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To be honest, given the relatively low cost of both games, I just recommend getting both of them. The experiences are sufficiently different that I doubt you will tire easily of either game. Provided, of course, you like the hybrid of Tower Defense and RPG at all. If you do enjoy this sort of thing, you cannot go wrong wither either Orcs or Defenders. And for the price, you can’t go wrong supporting both of these indie game developers at the same time, either.
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I saw this on Steam the other day and so nearly made a “Why aren’t you giving any coverage to Dungeon Defenders – CONSPIRACY” joke post….
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Been trying to post but lost my login. Apologies for late reply
For an even more lovely game enable vsync. Unfortunately there is no menu option (Craaazy) but follow these simple steps (thanks to theukmoog at overclockers forums):
1. Go to ‘Steam\steamapps\common\dungeon defenders\UDKGame\Config\UDKEngine.ini’ and edit file.
2. Search for ‘UseVsync=False’
3. Change to ‘UseVsync=True’ and save file.
4. Run your lovely non-tearing game.
Aside from the trendynet connection drops (trendynet is cloud stored, unmodded version which allows steam achievements) the game just keeps getting better. Controls seem a bit clunky at first but swiftly running about holding off the masses after just 3-4 games. As I love my strategy I’ve avoided too much of the manic but entertaining pug mayhem to set up some private groups allowing more specific placement plans. Seems much better to tailor heroes to pure melee or pure tower with switching as required. Fun alone, even better with more. Learning curve definitely not as fun alone though.
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