Base Defense – Tower Defense Game Loaded with Levels
by Paul Wilks
Sep 20, 2011 10:33 AM –
Install
Base Defense is a cool tower defense game that lends quite a nod to the mighty Fieldrunners. Featuring an unlimited number of difficulty levels, a huge variety of upgrades, good graphics, three maps and three modes of gameplay there is lots of fun to be had here, and it’s completely free.
Base Defense is no longer available in the Google Play Store 
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Three different modes: Classic, Extended and Endless!
- Countless upgrades, achievements and bonuses!
- Cool graphics & weapons!
Cons
- Limited maps.
- Very similar to Fieldrunners, it begs to be compared. Unfortunately it’s just not as good.
Features:
Base Defense is a brilliant free tower defense game. It has loads and loads of upgrades; from boosting the amount of cash you start with to ‘bullet power’ and ‘faster reload’- so there is lots of scope to boost your towers. These each have 50 levels of upgrade, meaning a staggering amount of gradually improving gameplay. Additionally to this you have the 87 different achievements to complete. By any games standard that’s a lot! Unfortunately these are not OpenFeint-based achievements it’s still pretty impressive.
This ‘behind-the-scenes’ arena is where the game excels the most. There really is such depth to the game via the achievements and upgrades the longevity is truly immense. If you want a tower defense game with a lot of playability- this is it. However, you really can’t play the game without a significant comparison to the recently reviewed Fieldrunners. While Base Defense is a really good game, it’s just not as complete as the game by Subatomic Studios. This is such a shame, but you really can’t play both games and come away with any other opinion. While Base Defense has so much in the way of upgrades; gameplay and graphics just aren’t as good as those in Fieldrunners. Even the modes: Classic, Extended and Endless exist in both games.
This shadow is made lighter however by the fact Base Defense is absolutely free. In this context, it makes the game really quite remarkable. The graphics are still great, the depth of gameplay is superb- even smaller touches like being able to zoom into the action, and the way the panel of towers disappears when you are trying to place a new tower, it’s all very good. One unique feature of Base Defense is the ability to speed up gameplay by up to 8x, meaning once your lines of defense are set up you can breeze to the end of the level without having to witness every gunshot. While you can fast forward in Fieldrunners, and other tower defense games, it doesn’t seem as fast as this.
Another cool feature is, in Extended Mode, the ability to send the next wave is great, and earns you extra bonus points. Base Defense is a superb game, but it comes across like a younger and more immature sibling to Fieldrunners. It’s a shame, but there’s no getting away from the similarity. Where Base Defense should be proud is in the upgrades it offers and the difficulty levels. For a free game it’s certainly worth checking out, but if you have its older brother, it’s not going to impress you too much. Perhaps another way of looking at this would be that if you have completed Fieldrunners, and thoroughly enjoyed it, this represents a familiar yet different challenge to get your strategic head around.
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Base Defense – Guard Zone, in-game view (1)
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Base Defense – Guard Zone, in-game view (2)
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Base Defense – Guard Zone, in-game view (3)
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Base Defense – Dusty Field in-game view (1)
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Base Defense – Dusty Field in-game view (2)
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Base Defense – Dusty Field in-game view (3)
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Base Defense – Dusty Field in-game view (4)
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Base Defense – Level complete
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Base Defense – Guard Zone map
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Base Defense – Upgrades screen
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Base Defense – Upgrade or sell towers
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Base Defense – In-game awards
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Base Defense – Game over
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Base Defense – Main menu
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Base Defense – Modes (1)
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Base Defense – Modes (2)
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Base Defense – Map selection
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Base Defense – Instructions
Fun Factor:
Base Defense is inescapably fun. There is huge scope there too with all a range of achievements, upgrades and levels not really seen before in tower defense games. If you get into it, it will definitely have you coming back for more.
Addictive:
If you place value on attaining the levels, achievements and upgrades this should be very immersive and addictive for you. Therefore, for the completists out there, this would be a must-have. If you’re more of a casual gamer who like things to amuse you, this might not have the longevity of other games.
Graphics:
The graphics are quite cool, but look dull and dated compared to Fieldrunners, and doesn’t dazzle in the same way that HexDefense does. The graphics are good, and on their own you’d probably be quite impressed, but tower defense games are getting better graphically and this doesn’t blow you away like some games do.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
The sound is quite limited. There is no music and the sound effects are restricted to continuous gunfire and throws of agony as someone dies. The vibration is quite useful- coming on with each baddie that gets through, as well as providing feedback when you place a tower.