What happens when you take an action platformer and combine it with a tower defense game? Well, if you’re the developer, GUTS Department, then the answer would be Aegis Defenders. Being dubbed a “Co-op Plaformer”, Aegis Defenders attempts combine the two unlikel genres. Honestly, I don’t believe I’ve seen a game like this before and from what I’ve seen, it works.
In Aegis Defenders, you play as Bart, a machinist capable of reviving lost technologies, and his granddaughter Clu, an ace hunter and trapsmith, as they search for the one thing that can save their village from an encroaching empire – an ancient weapon known as Aegis. Humanity has been brought to the dark ages by a great calamity but remnants of a once highly advanced civilization still exist. In this world where control over lost technologies equals power and nations worship humanoid robots like gods, two explorers from a small village have just discovered Aegis, the legendary weapon said to have brought on the calamity. Although its true purpose remains mysterious, one thing is certain – powerful people will stop at nothing to obtain it
It also looks like the game takes some cues from the games of the 16-bit era. That’s not all, as some of the art design reminds me of the anime, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In fact, the character with the beasrd and red sand suit looks like he was pulled directly from the anime. You could probably say the same for the rest of the cast as well.
Aegis Defenders Features:
- Play through the game in either single-player or split-screen coop.
- Build blocks, turrets, and traps to defend an area from hordes of enemies in our Tower-Defense inspired combat.
- Learn the secrets of the ancients and the origin of an empire in our extensive story mode.
- EXPLORE – Discover the world of Elam, a beautiful yet dangerous place lost to time. Brimming with dangerous beasts, forgotten ruins, and powerful relics, Elam is brought to life with uniquely handpainted pixel art style.
- BUILD – Level up your items and weapons in the shop to take in bigger and badder enemies. Adjust your strategy on the fly with the “Fusion Build” system. Try fusing different combinations of items together to change your defensive setup.
- FIGHT – Fight off enemies from all sides – but you won’t have to do it alone. With Dynamic Character Swapping you’ll need to switch between multiple characters on the battlefield, position your characters carefully, and utilize their passive abilities effectively to survive. Various Tower Defense Scenarios – Defending one point can be hard enough but that’s just the beginning. As the game progresses, you’ll need to defend moving targets, targets that have dynamic abilities like activating doors/weapons, and even targets that don’t want to be protected…
The title is being published by Humble Bundle and is being released for the PS4, PC (Steam), and Nintendo Switch. It will be available as of Feb. 8th, 2018. Be sure to look for our review of the game.
For more information on Aegis Defenders, check out the offiical website.
