Gaming Target - GameCube: Defender

Written by Kyle Williams on January 06, 2003

Full Review: Another (welcome) blast from the past.

Defender. A pinnacle of video game evolution. When it was released in the early 1980s it revolutionized the video game industry. To date it stands as the best selling Midway arcade game, moving over 60,000 of the coin-op units. Defender was huge and pushed the limits of what anyone had seen. The story was simple: You must save the earth from invading aliens and rescue colonists from their menacing clutches. The key is that the execution was a breakthrough. With that kind of success to work from, it goes to say that a modern remake of the series was inevitable. The question that stood was, "Would a new Defender do it's namesake proud?" Two decades later, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!"

The November release of Defender for the GameCube, PS2 & Xbox is more of a sequel to the original game than it is a remake. The game takes place when a second swarm of Manti envelop our solar system. The Manti, an alien race that feeds off of human DNA for survival, have taken Earth from the human race. The remaining human population has fled to various colonies scattered across the system, their only hope resting on the shoulders of the Galactic Space Authority and their Defender pilots. It becomes your job to confront the Manti horde and to reclaim Earth in the name of mankind.

To draw a quick comparison, the game is similar in style to the Star Wars space combat titles that have graced consoles in the last few years. However, to stop there is to do Defender a great injustice as the scope of the game is much broader. Defender's missions are an effective balance of shooting alien craft, rescuing hostages and strategically locating your ground forces to defend your base. While there is always the goal of devastating the Manti hordes, many of the missions are based upon more complex objectives. Often, it is your goal to rescue colonists from the aliens, protect transports and hold facilities against enemy onslaught. By successfully rescuing hostages and completing mission objectives you earn credits that you can use to upgrade your various spacecraft. The various laser cannons, missiles, shields and cloaking devices that you can buy become vital to your success.

One of the greatest features of Defender is the cooperative campaign mode that allows you and a friend to take on the Manti hordes together. Cooperative gameplay is too often overlooked by game designers and is often replaced with the standard deathmatch frag-fest. While Defender does allow you to dogfight with one of your buddies, it also allows the two of you to take up arms against the Manti together. This is a fantastic feature as the game's difficulty can, at times, feel overwhelming when you are on a mission alone. Therefore it begs the question, "Why can't I have a wingman during single player missions?" We'll leave that one to Midway and hope that they can come through with a few of them in a sequel.

Another fantastic feature within Defender is the variety of aircraft. Each of the six available craft in Defender handle uniquely and have their own upgradeable arsenal. In addition to your munitions, you have several acrobatic maneuvers at your command. With a flick of the "C" Stick, you can perform evasive barrel rolls, quick one-eighty turns and enemy baffling loop-the-loops. Fortunately, performing these acrobatics never puts you into jeopardy as you can't damage your craft by running it into the ground. As such, the only danger that you must worry about is the onslaught of enemy fire that you will face. On your side in this conflict is a control scheme that is solid and effective during even the most heated firefights. The only noticeable drawback is that cycling through your weapons is not as efficient as it could be.

While the original Defender was a graphical breakthrough in it's day, it is almost laughable now. The development team at Midway has done an excellent job at redefining the look and sound of Defender. Excellent models and textures are complemented perfectly by a colorful array of particle effects that grace both weapon fire and explosions. The soundtrack is also a solid package and even pays tribute to the original game as the sound of the main gun firing hearkens back to the arcade classic. In addition to the in-game sights and sounds, Midway filled Defender with entertaining and well produced cut scenes and voice acting. Sure, there isn't a lot of radio chatter during the missions, but the briefings and debriefings feel a lot more personal because of the dialogue. I have to admit that while I was watching the cutscenes and taking in all of the graphics and sounds that my mind did wander to the idea of a Defender movie. Not everything in the game is perfect, but being able to evoke those thoughts says a lot about the production value of this game.

While it is a heap of fun, Defender is not as big of a breakthrough as the original was. On the plus side of things, being able to pickup and deliver colonists, tanks and missile crawlers does add some strategy to what could have been a mindless space combat game. However, the game could have been made more intense simply by adding three or four wingmen to your side. Having ground forces helps but they are your support, not your comrades. Perhaps Defender II could throw in a few wingmen and maybe even a branching storyline. As much as I enjoyed Defender, a little something more would have made this a stellar title.