Artificial Extinction 2

I'm downright shocked by how good this game is. I'm still in the early game, but both the tower defense and the fps sides work great (just, keep your expectations in check, this is very much tower defense with limited (but critical) fps mechanics), yet it manages to be simple enough to not overwhelm you. And even the campaign story is intriguing even though I've never played the first one. The voice acting especially is absolutely superb. And all this from a solo dev. Really, thanks, I'm loving it.

This game is a fun and unique blend of tower defense and first person shooter. There are some things that I either don't like or just need to get better at, but the developer seems very receptive to player feedback and offering options to play the game the way that you find most enjoyable. The only thing I could really ask for is more of what they're already doing. Compared to the first game, there is more of an emphasis on base building. You aren't forced to play in first person mode and switch seemlessly to top-down view for building. There is a new tech screen, so turret don't need to be upgraded individually (although generators can be). Compared to other tower defense games, your turrets are both sword and shield, so placement is less about maximizing firing arcs and more about concentrating fire at certain natural chokepoints in the terrain while minimizing exposure to enemy fire. It can be challenging and frustrating at times, but I think that's mostly down to the learning curve.

Highly engaging, alot of fun. Its like infinity siege, if you could pilot additional RTS units, besides the singular player unit, and also massively limited in what you can build and collect on the field. Outside of that, it is alot of fun, very engaging, and its incredibly easy to forget the loss of time. Personally want faster build times, cool that dev listens, but i prefer heavy automation, and fielded support in any RTS game i play. Some things i'd like to see, additional expanded builder drone, additional repair drone, additional drone that collects dropped resources on the field, player supported drone that follows player to assist in combat. Ability to print out more 'player' units as RTS soldiers with limited AI when in overview/command mode (for better RTS strategy) still consuming resources BUT with a cost (vs your unit). When player unit dies, you take over the nearest unit (or are brought to the command menu to quickly cycle to the unit you want). Also needs additional player unit upgrades (individual unit upgrades not just weapons, but shield generator for the player unit, additional health regeneration or repair at the bunker/base station) of some sort, some ki…

A hearty recommendation from me. For full transparency, I've been a playtester for AE2 for a long while now and have enjoyed every minute of it. I got into the original AE years back and enjoyed its fun change for the tower defense genre by adding free-form tower placement and FPS action. AE2 takes it even further. Now there's more terrain to deal with, more enemy types to overcome, more types of turrets to work with, and more resource management to handle. Tech improvements keep things going changing, and the enemies can and will push your limits. By design, this game isn't meant to be super easy. It's not designed to make you throw your computer out a window, it's not Dark Souls after all. But it still aims to present a real challenge to the player. The dev has been great to work with. Responsive, dedicated and hard working, and willing to try out some different things. There's a definite goal in mind, a vision being worked on, but player feedback both before and after launch has been and continues to be taken seriously. Changes have been made to help adapt to player needs while not turning the game into a no-challenge-zone. I highly respect that. And with how active the dev i…

as a player who adored the first game, i just find this no where near as fun, for me the first game was a spectacle as much as a tower defence, i just felt fun, this game feels way too hard right now. The first person feels not very fun, and i would love to play just the tower defence part but this just feels forced because if i am not actively pushing in fps mode i just lose, one builder even without a expensive upgrade also feels bad for how fast this can get. right now i wish there was a middle review i don't hate it but i don't enjoy it right now, played a hour in the main game, and a lot in the demo. gonna give it some time before i come back to this, just too frustrating right now. if i come back and love it i will change my review for this

Would give a neutral if that was a choice. I like janky games, they always have a freedom to explore creativity. If the UI was a much better experience, and a bit more depth to the tech and gear, I would say this would be a winner. Needs more work.