Of all the map mods that spawned from Warcraft 3, it’s the
Tower Defence game mode that has seen the most variety in the titles that have come
from it. I usually prefer those that stick close to the original formula,
placing towers to make a gauntlet that waves of enemies have to brave in an attempt
to beat you. A perfect formula for arm-chair generals who like to sit back,
plan, and watch.
However Sanctum 2 mixes that up immediately. It’s a genre
crossbreed of Tower Defence and FPS, so not only are you responsible for the strategic
placements of towers, but you’re also relied on to take down the enemies; a
hostile and varied alien race known as Lumes . Each genre takes it’s turn in
the gameplay, every wave alternates between first placing your towers and then
gunning down your foes.
The game is spread across sixteen levels linked via a story
campaign. Sanctum 2 is set on a planet that has been colonised by humanity. You
play as one of four core guardians tasked with protecting the colonists from
the invading hordes of the Lumes. The story is told through a series of comic
strips between levels and does a reasonable job of explaining why the characters
need to keep moving from one location to another. But there is no link to the
first title and no description of the planet you’re on or the history of the
world. I had to read the backstory on a wiki; it’s not vital context to the
story although it’s a silly omission.
The levels themselves represent a wide variety of Tower
Defence game design. Some have plenty of space for construction, allowing you
to build brilliant mazes. Others have a clear path for the Lumes to run down
that you can’t obstruct in any way. On these maps your towers are very much
relegated to a support role, firing from the side lines as you have to run
around like a headless chicken trying to stop the Lumes at every turn.
In single player, I felt that the towers really didn’t play
a big enough role in the gameplay. Even on maps where I was able to build a
complicated maze to maximise their effectiveness, they lacked the hitting power
to be really useful in the ten waves or so of enemies. You’re presented with a
stats screen at the end of a level and almost every single one showed that I’d
personally done around seventy five per cent of the damage and kills. Things
improved somewhat when I switched to survival mode. Instead of a set amount of
waves, the game keeps ramping up the difficulty until you lose. It was fun to
reply my favourite levels to see how long I could last, and that longevity gave
me a lot more resources to construct more towers and make them a bigger part of
the gameplay.
I found a similar improvement in multiplayer as well. Each
player gets their own pool of resources to face much larger waves of Lumes. This
meant there was a much greater amount of towers playing their part in the game
and with just two players, it reached a nice balance. Although trying to get a
random person to agree with my plans for the maze was tricky.
The FPS side of the game is a solid experience in its own
right. It clearly takes inspiration from Borderlands with floating low gravity
jumps and a collection of crazy weaponry. The Lumes are quite varied enemies,
all with a prominent weak-spot that can be hit for extra damage. Each of the
four characters has their own signature weapon and a passive bonus such as
double jump or extra health. You also get a choice of secondary weapon and
there’s enough variety for you to pick something that complements your character’s
build and play-style.
The AI of the Lumes is clever and consistent. I only noticed
an enemy get stuck once trying to navigate the maze. They’re also capable of
making a quick priority decision between either attacking you or going to
destroy the core. If a group of them gangs up to hit you; you can very quickly
be killed and have to wait an agonising ten seconds to re-spawn. It requires
you to be aware of your surroundings so you can jump over your tower wall to
safety.
There is one large problem with the enemies that I wish the
developer Coffee Stain Studios would change, and that’s the boss enemies are
too powerful. They make sense from a game mechanics point of view, there needs
to be big threats that you have to deal with. Yet it’s stupid to see a boss
enemy that is immune to towers soaking all their damage. Also, there are a
couple that can destroy your towers. They are the most frustrating enemies
every created. As soon as they put a hole in your maze you end up having to
kill everything yourself. Then spend your time repairing everything before the
next round. The levels they appear in I’ve only played to advance the story and
to never return as they just break the gameplay.
Oddly a progression system has been shoe-horned in. It’s a
simple system with level-ups granting access to more towers, secondary weapons
and passive skills. It provides a little extra replay-ability and incentivises increasing
the difficulty for extra experience. As it’s such a short levelling curve, I
feel it would have made more sense to use a more traditional unlock system; linking
progression to completing each level or beating specific challenges.
Also worth mentioning is the soundtrack which provides a fun
selection of futuristic sounds. The music switches between relaxed, laid back
tunes for your strategic planning and up tempo beats for fighting the Lumes.
Sanctum 2 doesn’t take long to complete on normal difficult
and there’s an easy option for a more relaxed experience as well. The game
really gets it’s playtime from replay-ability, which is unfortunately
handicapped by certain levels really minimising the impact of towers or
throwing the irritating boss enemies at you. That being said I’ve still enjoyed
plenty of hours with Sanctum 2 already and as a budget title, it’s ultimately
delivered on value for money.
