Introduction and Game:
Planetary Defense is an up to date version of those old favorites Missile Command and DCon. To defend your planets you have 2 types of rocket, a fast rapid-fire missile which explodes ahead of your target and uses it shockwave to destroy incoming rockets, but which is also itself destroyed by other rockets blast waves, and a slower 'shielded' missile which is not destroyed by other missile shock waves. (You use the right and left mouse buttons respectively for this). The game is fully mouse controlled, though you can also use the WSAD keys to move your cursor around the playing field. You’ll need to pick the right missile for the right enemy. As with Missile Command and DCon you only have a limited supply of each missile. The latest version of the game also includes flaming meteors that crash into your worlds (you have to hit them dead-on to destroy them) and radar bases that let the aliens knock out your radar. You also have the option to have shields made by hovering shield-generators, which allow you to accidentally knock out small portions of your own shields if you don’t fire carefully
The main menu is different to what you are normally used to in that the choices such as options and help are represented as pictograms instead of the written word. You can see what the main menu looks like by following the link to the images below.
The options menu enables some control over the graphics so if you’ve got an old machine and find that it’s not running very well you can toggle off some of the graphics modes such as planetary shadows and hi resolution fireballs, though I doubt many will have problems running this one. You are also able to control the games speed via a handy slider as well as unlock all the levels. There’s also the usual music slider as well as a full screen/windowed toggle and another toggle for camera shake and simple shields. The help section is several pages long with descriptions of all the enemies and rockets found in the game
When starting the game you are first taken to the level selection screen where you can find information about each level (planet) by clicking on it. If you’ve toggled on the levels unlocker you should be able to play any level in any order. There are also three difficulty settings accessible from this screen. You’ll find high scores for each of the 21 levels and each difficulty setting. Each planet is different and you will see other smaller symbols within each planet symbol, denoting shields, shuttlecraft and the number of moons the planet has. The planets with moons have extra defenses to protect your planet. The shuttlecraft denote levels where you will be evacuating a planet and besides having to protect your cities from bombs, multiple-warhead scatter packs, meteorites and laser equipped point defense satellites. There’s more to discover, but I’ll not spoil it by telling you everything.
The difference between today’s giveaway and the original Missile Command, is you have a whole planet to protect instead of a small horizon. However there are several types of ship and asteroids to destroy. This is definitely a must have if you don’t already own a copy of missile command. I can see this being played over the next few days in my household and I’m going to put a copy of it on the lap top which I’m loading up with games to take on holiday with me (yeah I’m that sad). :lol:
It’s not as easy as the original either. I’ve played it all three difficulty settings and did not get through to the second level because I kept losing too many of the populace. :)
There's no shortcut placed onto the desktop. You will find a shortcut in the start menu programs list, where you can right click on send a shortcut to the desktop.
Images:
As a slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Planetary%20Defence/?albumview=slideshow
All on one page:
Googled:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?gbv=2&ndsp=20&hl=en&q=Planetary+Defence+positech&start=0&sa=N
Music:
The music track is a 35 second wav track that is easily exchanged for something else; though it is an ambient sound that fits with the games theme. If you want to exchange the file you’ll find it in the sounds folder labeled music. You will need to convert the track you wish to use to the WAV format and then rename it to ‘Music’. You can download a couple of audio converters from the freeware library by following the link below:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/cat/Audio_Video_Audio_Encoders_Converters/
Conclusion:
I’ve not played a Missile Command style game for many years, partly due to the fact that I played the game virtually none stop for months. Today’s giveaway is a much improved version of that game {or DCon (Def Con)} with better graphics and better game play (though missile commands simple game play was very addictive). There is an even newer game called Darkside (I purchased it last Thursday), that has some vague similarities to this game, though Darkside is more like a modern day asteroids game. Still I recommend both to anyone who loves anything remotely connected to space.
Personally I think today’s game is well worth 7.5 out of 10. It’s a great take on an original game that I’m sure many will love. Don’t tear your hair out though.
Alternatives
Anyone with a Linux based system can download an open source version of Missile Command from the following address:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=3504
and there’s a browser based version of Missile Command available from the following address, though I had problems loading the page:
http://www.spikeopaths.org.uk/games/mc/games_missile.php
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References used in writing this review: http://www.positech.co.uk/planetarydefence/ Accessed 26th June 08
You can read the authors post mortem of the game by following the link below:
