The Good:
I like this game a lot - really fun co-op with friends. Small community which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. You can share weapons you craft with friends which is pretty cool. The game has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see where the developers take it. I like that you can instantly reorganize your defense between rounds (if you misplace a turret or wall, there is an "undo" option which can be used immediately or in any round after).

The Bad:
That said, it takes way too long to unlock useful items in this game - they should probably swap the model and make it so a win gives a USEFUL item and a level up gives a cosmetic. I've put in 30 hours and I still don't have level 2 or level 3 tower barricades. At level 29, I need to win 3 solo hard-mode games to earn an arsenal unlock... and I have about 35 items left to unlock. That's pretty crazy for a RNG based loot grind... Also, you don't get as much exp for playing solo.

It takes too long to upgrade turrets and walls (9 swings of the wrench when you have ~30 seconds between rounds). Also, why can't I jump on my barricades or overtop of them - what is the point of jumping? It takes 15 seconds to craft a mine... Crafting should be instantaneous in a game with limited time between rounds - or you should provide an option to delay the start of the round until we are ready and defenses are built.

I've got about 30 hours so far, it's pretty fun. Easy is very easy, I usually solo on Hard and play on Apocalyptic when I have 3 other friends to chill with.

Thank you for not making us pay for lootboxes - an automatic 10/10. I've paid less for lunch... I think the game has great fun per dollar ratio.

I like how there is separation between cosmetics and actual in game earned gear. They are clear that cosmetics do not affect your characters stats in any way. Lootboxes are fun when you don't have to pay for them. They do seem to take some time to earn though and it can make it a grindy experience - this can be frustrating if you want a better weapon because you can't simply go and buy a better weapon, you have to get lucky and win it!

It feels impossible to herd enemies in the direction you want, which I feel is imperative to this genre. It would be nice to be able to force enemies to walk in certain directions to maximize turret power. Right now, the turret shoots them and they smack the turret until one of them wins.

Turrents have no depth, you place them and upgrade them. If your turrets are destroyed, you lose due to the amount of enemies that spawn in the later rounds. I like that barricades around the turret absorb damage when the turret is shot directly.

It's fun to shoot stuff, but there's room for improvement here. The different weapons are really neat... I just unlocked the Shotgun and it is deceptively powerful vs the big Trolls - it's really saved my bacon a few times! Admittedly though, It does feel a bit lame to be shooting at hordes of enemies with a pistol in the first round, I think you should be able to buy weapons before the first wave.

When you're actually hitting your target you don't feel like the bullet strike really matters. You can't impede them by shooting them, it just subtracts from a health bar and there is no register that you're hitting on your crosshairs like other FPS. There is no stagger which feels weird when you use powerful weapons like the shotgun. Crowd control effects on weapons should probably be considered by the development team. Right now the only way you can crowd control is to aggro the enemies and let them chase you around while your team mates deal with the other threats.

Should you buy?: Yes
A lot of fun for 9 bucks.

1: Lots of content - Maps, cosmetics, guns, seems like this game has lots of stuff on launch and room to grow. I'm always excited to see what I unlock.

2: UI is clean - I was surprised by the polish of the user interface.

3: Teamwork is required - if you don't build correctly or pay attention to the map you will lose. That's a good thing for these types of games!

1: Definitely not enough time between waves. I feel incredibly rushed to do my repairs and build my turrets. It shouldn't take more than one hit to repair a wall or a turret if this is going to be so limited.

2: Needs to be a different strategy than spamming tesla turrets.

3: I'm doing most of the work with my guns and not with my turrets, not sure if that is intended or not - because the turrets are way more expensive than the guns. Maybe this is a lower difficulty thing, if so I'll update the review later.

[h1]Initial Reaction:[/h1] [b]The Good:[/b] I like this game a lot - really fun co-op with friends. Small community which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. You can share weapons you craft with friends which is pretty cool. The game has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see where the developers take it. I like that you can instantly reorganize your defense between rounds (if you misplace a turret or wall, there is an "undo" option which can be used immediately or in any round after). [b]The Bad:[/b] That said, it takes way too long to unlock useful items in this game - they should probably swap the model and make it so a win gives a USEFUL item and a level up gives a cosmetic. I've put in 30 hours and I still don't have level 2 or level 3 tower barricades. At level 29, I need to win 3 solo hard-mode games to earn an arsenal unlock... and I have about 35 items left to unlock. That's pretty crazy for a RNG based loot grind... Also, you don't get as much exp for playing solo. It takes too long to upgrade turrets and walls (9 swings of the wrench when you have ~30 seconds between rounds). Also, why can't I jump on my barricades or overtop of them - what is the point of jumping? It takes 15 seconds to craft a mine... Crafting should be instantaneous in a game with limited time between rounds - or you should provide an option to delay the start of the round until we are ready and defenses are built. [h1]Hours Played:[/h1] I've got about 30 hours so far, it's pretty fun. Easy is very easy, I usually solo on Hard and play on Apocalyptic when I have 3 other friends to chill with. [h1]Price: 10/10[/h1] Thank you for not making us pay for lootboxes - an automatic 10/10. I've paid less for lunch... I think the game has great fun per dollar ratio. [h1]Loot: 9/10[/h1] I like how there is separation between cosmetics and actual in game earned gear. They are clear that cosmetics do not affect your characters stats in any way. Lootboxes are fun when you don't have to pay for them. They do seem to take some time to earn though and it can make it a grindy experience - this can be frustrating if you want a better weapon because you can't simply go and buy a better weapon, you have to get lucky and win it! [h1]Defenses: 7/10[/h1] It feels impossible to herd enemies in the direction you want, which I feel is imperative to this genre. It would be nice to be able to force enemies to walk in certain directions to maximize turret power. Right now, the turret shoots them and they smack the turret until one of them wins. Turrents have no depth, you place them and upgrade them. If your turrets are destroyed, you lose due to the amount of enemies that spawn in the later rounds. I like that barricades around the turret absorb damage when the turret is shot directly. [h1]Gunplay: 7/10[/h1] It's fun to shoot stuff, but there's room for improvement here. The different weapons are really neat... I just unlocked the Shotgun and it is deceptively powerful vs the big Trolls - it's really saved my bacon a few times! Admittedly though, It does feel a bit lame to be shooting at hordes of enemies with a pistol in the first round, I think you should be able to buy weapons before the first wave. When you're actually hitting your target you don't feel like the bullet strike really matters. You can't impede them by shooting them, it just subtracts from a health bar and there is no register that you're hitting on your crosshairs like other FPS. There is no stagger which feels weird when you use powerful weapons like the shotgun. Crowd control effects on weapons should probably be considered by the development team. Right now the only way you can crowd control is to aggro the enemies and let them chase you around while your team mates deal with the other threats. [h1]Overall: 7/10[/h1] [b]Should you buy?[/b]: Yes A lot of fun for 9 bucks. [h1]Best Features:[/h1] [b]1: Lots of content[/b] - Maps, cosmetics, guns, seems like this game has lots of stuff on launch and room to grow. I'm always excited to see what I unlock. [b]2: UI is clean[/b] - I was surprised by the polish of the user interface. [b]3: Teamwork is required[/b] - if you don't build correctly or pay attention to the map you will lose. That's a good thing for these types of games! [h1]Top 3 Improvements Needed:[/h1] [b]1: Definitely not enough time between waves.[/b] I feel incredibly rushed to do my repairs and build my turrets. It shouldn't take more than one hit to repair a wall or a turret if this is going to be so limited. [b]2: Needs to be a different strategy than spamming tesla turrets.[/b] [b]3: I'm doing most of the work with my guns and not with my turrets[/b], not sure if that is intended or not - because the turrets are way more expensive than the guns. Maybe this is a lower difficulty thing, if so I'll update the review later.