# Defense Grid: The Awakening (PC & XBox) ... anyone playing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [December 13, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032 "2008-12-13T19:15:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032/1 "2008-12-13T19:15:32Z")

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This title appeared virtually unannounced on Steam this past Wednesday. As a fan of tower defense games, I was immediately intrigued and had little reluctance over spending the paltry $20 to download it after seeing some of the gameplay trailers. It is a great tower defense game. So good, in fact, that I’m actually having trouble progressing through it! And I thought I was good at TD …

It’s really only been out for four days and I know there are people playing it because it’s currently one of the top downloads on Steam, but I have found next to no discussion in any forums about it. Clearly there are people playing because the leaderboards are filled with scores, but it doesn’t appear like anyone’s actually _talking_ about the game.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032/2 "2008-12-13T19:19:35Z")

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Too many good games out there right now. Call back when I start playing more games on the PC and when there aren’t so many good titles out for the 360.

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**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032/3 "2008-12-14T23:31:25Z")

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I saw this on Steam but didn’t know anything about it. I do like tower defense games, but there’s a lot of good ones you can play for free. Is this worth spending $20 on? What does it offer that the multitude of free TD games don’t have?

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**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defense-grid-the-awakening-pc-xbox-anyone-playing/477032/4 "2008-12-15T00:06:41Z")

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The production values and Steam achievements are the first things that come to mind. It’s no run-of-the-mill TD, but it’s also more than just fancy graphics as well … if I may say so, it’s considerably more challenging than any TD I’ve played. Later levels also introduce a puzzle element which is guaranteed to make you rethink your strategic approach and the layout and timing of your defenses. Given the various medals, achievements, and difficulty settings, I think the replay value is also much better than average.

As for whether or not it’s worth spending $20 on, I already gave my opinion on that in my first post. And I still think it’s a bargain in this one.