The various upgradable weapons are also more effective on different types of enemies. For example, the sniper rifle becomes invaluable on waves that contain enemies with weak spots which the towers have a difficult time hitting (e.g. the head or back of the head). Players upgrade their weapons with the same resources that towers take to upgrade, so it can sometimes be tricky to balance the two. Upgrading a weapon makes it do more damage and increases the firing time before it overheats and becomes unusable for a short period of time. Upgrading the sniper rifle also adds an extra shot for each level you upgrade it before it forces you to zoom out.
Like any good TD game, there are air phases which tell your maze to go screw itself
I’ve played a good number of TD games, and I have to admit Sanctum is one of the toughest I’ve played. The towers one builds help a great deal with defending the core, but the FPS play of the game is super important for defense as well. It certainly wasn’t tacked on as a gimmick to differentiate it from other TD games; this, here, is a true hybrid of the two genres. The enemies can be real jerks, too. There’s one type of enemy which requires players to hit it in the head to do the best damage, but it constantly wobbles its head back and forth which can make it blastedly difficult to hit. Fortunately, there’s a monster compendium which players can access in the game. It’s particularly handy to consult before a wave containing enemies you haven’t encountered before; it has concise descriptions of enemies’ behaviors and weak spots.
I encountered some very small bugs and glitches in the game (mostly having to do with interface), but certainly nothing game-breaking. All in all, I found Sanctum to be an enjoyable TD game which truly blends TD with FPS. It’s certainly challenging, but not to the point of being infuriating. More maps and the ability to play with more people would certainly be welcome (much of this is already in the works), but the amount of content and enjoyment the game provides is more than reasonable for a mere $15 (or $12.50 if you go in with a friend for the two-pack). If you like TD games and FPS games, I certainly recommend you check out Sanctum.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: The game is playable in 4 player co-op as of the latest update.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.