Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Defender

Written by John Scalzo on December 10, 2002

Full Review: Defense! Hoo! Hoo! Defense! Hoo! Hoo!

Before R-Type, there was Defender. Before Gradius, there was Defender. Defender is the granddaddy of them all. The first side scrolling space shooter has been updated for the next generation systems. The question is, is this just another remake that uses a classic title and nothing else? Or is Defender an honest to god updating of a true video game classic? The answer is that it's somewhere in between those two extremes somewhere in between the beginning and the end of this review.

Just like the original, an alien swarm called the Manti has invaded Earth colonies across the solar system and declared war. And just like the original, you are a Defender pilot, charged to destroy the Manti and rescue colonists that are in danger and bring them back to safety. Also just like the original comes the fact that if the Manti capture a colonist before they are rescued, the colonist will be mutated into a more powerful Manti creature. It's a baptism by fire as the game places you in the shoes of Kyoto, a rookie Defender pilot that quickly rises up through the ranks to become the last line of defense against the Manti.

The difference comes in the form of Defender now being a 3D space shooter and many of the game's levels are mission based. This of course changes everything and it bings out the one piece of the game that I just can't quite get over: the controls. To get right to the point, the controls aren't very good. Everything feels way too loose to be effective in controlling the ship at all. For a game dependant on hitting small, fast moving alien targets and picking up small colonists or health packs the controls just can't respond quick enough. You'll either overshoot something you have to pick up by a good long ways or stop right in front of it, line yourself up perfectly, and get shot of the sky by the Manti. Everything is just too small for the game design. In open spaces, the movement and control are fine. And barrel rolling with the right analog stick, while difficult at first, is great fun when you get the hang of it. It's unfortunate then that most of the game are dogfights in confined corners. It gets worse when you add in the noticeable slowdown that occurs when a lot of Manti are on screen.

Where Defender loses points on the substance side of things, it tries to make up for them on the style side. Before and after each mission you are given a mission briefing from your superiors. Each mission also includes at least one cutscene to set the stage for the mission you're about to start. The voice acting is pretty good with Colonel Adams coming off well as the appropriately hardass commander. I also liked how Memory, the AI computer that controls your ship, sounds in the game. I just wish I knew the voice actors names so I could give credit where credit is due. Defender even goes so far as to include a lot of the classic Defender sound effects. The generic techno soundtrack however did nothing for me. The cutscenes themselves are also fairly nice but they seen to highlight the game's style over substance... er, style. It feels like a lot more care went into the cutscenes than most of the missions.

It probably sounds like I'm bashing Defender, but I'm not really. It's a decent enough game. Fans of the space shooter will not be totally disappointed, but they won't be rushing out to buy it either. It's just for every moment of pure, fun gaming, there was another moment where I felt like I was forcing to play this game. And I still can't really pinpoint why. I think that by playing Defender and Sub Rebellion back to back really brought out many of Defender's flaws. I realize the sub shooter and the space shooter are two very different animals, but they feel very similar. And just everything Defender does, Sub Rebellion does better. The controls are better, the combat is better, the mission structure is about equally lame (Defender's missions revolve almost entirely around protecting (or defending) bases as Sub Rebellion's revolve almost entirely around blowing up bases). Although Defender does one up on Sub Rebellion in the sound and graphics department.

I've already mentioned the sound and while the graphics aren't mind blowing in Defender, they're colorful and unique. All of the buildings and terrain have a nice sharp detail to them. And the Manti even have their own distinct look in the world of video game aliens. Most of them resemble the aliens from Starship Troopers, but a few have a more cartoony look that is definitely a throwback to the original Defender.