Element TD 2
- February 28, 2020
- Element Studios
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam"Element TD 2 is a standalone sequel to the popular mod, offering 6 elemental types and 59 unique towers. Cooperate with up to 8 players to create elemental synergies and strategically place towers against increasingly difficult waves, culminating in an endless boss fight."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Great nostalgia for fans of the original Element TD from Warcraft 3.
- Fun and engaging gameplay with a variety of tower combinations and strategies.
- Active development and regular updates from the developers, improving the game continuously.
- Performance issues, especially in later stages, causing significant frame drops.
- Multiplayer experience can be lacking due to a small player base and connection issues.
- Some players find the campaign frustrating due to the need to constantly respec and adapt to changing maps.
- gameplay106 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this tower defense game is generally praised for its engaging mechanics, strategic depth, and variety, offering players hundreds of hours of entertainment through both single-player and multiplayer modes. However, some players find certain mechanics frustrating or unbalanced, leading to a mixed reception regarding the overall experience. While many appreciate the nostalgic elements and polished design, there are calls for deeper mechanics and more tower options to enhance replayability and challenge.
“Engaging gameplay: with over 300+ hours, I find myself coming back to the game periodically for quick, enjoyable 30-minute sessions.”
“Its captivating gameplay, strategic depth, and polished design make it an absolute gem in the genre.”
“The gameplay makes you want to learn so you can do better next time you play and keeps you wanting to come back to try something new.”
“Tl:dr: if you played Element TD 1, it has far fewer towers compared to that game. Most changed mechanics just feel punishing/annoying, and it has an extremely unbalanced feeling.”
“Gameplay is boring.”
“This causes gameplay that has limited variety and is very one-dimensional.”
- graphics82 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the vibrant and unique visuals that enhance the tower defense experience, while others criticize them as outdated or sub-par, likening them to early 2000s designs. Many appreciate the creativity in turret designs and the overall aesthetic, but some feel that the graphics do not significantly elevate the gameplay. Overall, while there are commendable elements, the graphics are seen as needing improvement and refinement to match modern standards.
“The graphics and layout are incredible.”
“Graphics are next-level, elements inside the map are also next-level (portals/enemies etc) (10/10).”
“Beautiful graphics, plenty of depth and strategy, and the map will throw you curveballs right about the time you're feeling comfortable and thinking 'I got this' to make you adjust your strategy.”
“It also has graphics from the early 2000s and an interface from the 90s.”
“It's basically a collection of old Warcraft 3 assets, which means sub-par graphics and a clunky UI.”
“The graphics need lots of work, but everything else seems to be in place.”
- story50 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The game lacks a cohesive story or character development, with many players noting that it feels like a collection of levels rather than a narrative-driven campaign. While the single-player missions offer challenging puzzles and tactical gameplay, they do not provide any narrative context, leaving some players feeling that the experience is purely about tower defense mechanics without any engaging storyline. Overall, the absence of a story is a significant point of criticism, though some players appreciate the strategic depth and multiplayer options available.
“The campaign offers various different puzzle-like challenges and allows you to redistribute your skill points before every mission, which keeps things fresh.”
“There’s some story, which comes in pieces.”
“Has neat multiplayer mechanics and a story mode as well.”
“Absolutely no story or characters to it. I don't mind this personally, but some people might.”
“There is absolutely no story or narrative, only colorful towers that spit fire at silly mobs.”
“My main complaint is that the campaign is just a collection of levels; there's no story or anything.”
- music33 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its beautiful and immersive quality that enhances the gameplay experience. However, some find it repetitive and stale over time, suggesting a need for more variety. Overall, while the soundtrack is praised for its fitting medieval theme and ability to create a relaxing atmosphere, there are calls for additional tracks to keep the experience fresh.
“The mix/match component of the elements, the colorful levels and medieval-type music, the intelligent difficulty ramp-up in single player... it just really works together.”
“Had a lot of fun with the game, loved the music and the whole feel and pacing of the game.”
“The music makes you feel like you are doing majestic things even if you fail by wave 10, makes me think of Bob Ross 'happy little accident'.”
“Music is okay but gets same/stale after a while.”
“Bad music, most stale music on the planet, only 1 tune.”
“The music is boring and the same every time you play, the game itself becomes quite boring because of the limited amount of buildings and the upgrades change nothing but damage points.”
- replayability31 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The reviews on replayability are mixed, with some players praising the game for its high replay value due to diverse strategies, tower combinations, and multiplayer features, while others criticize it for limited replayability stemming from a lack of variety in maps and towers. Overall, many players find the game offers considerable replayability, especially in co-op and PvP modes, though some express concerns about repetitive gameplay.
“The game has a ton of multiplayer features I'm not into, but depending on your taste, it could add another world of replayability.”
“A good blend of tower diversity, tower strategies, balance, and maps allows for a considerable amount of replayability.”
“It offers strategic and enjoyable gameplay, and with several different game modes, as well as customizable game settings, the ability to play with or against your friends, and the many different ways of playing and strategizing with the towers yourself, the game offers much replayability.”
“No replayability.”
“With only 5 co-op maps, it has limited replayability.”
“There are an underwhelming amount of towers, and only a handful that feel exciting to work towards, which drastically reduces the game's replay value.”
- optimization17 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is widely criticized, particularly in later stages where performance significantly drops, leading to frustrating experiences even on high-end PCs. While some players report smooth co-op gameplay and decent performance in certain areas, many highlight the need for substantial improvements in graphics, UI, and server performance to enhance the overall experience.
“It runs smoothly, without lag, and I didn't encounter any bugs.”
“It still needs a little more polish and optimization, but overall an excellent tower defense.”
“Veteran players of the original custom maps will feel right at home - the general gameplay is the same, but greatly optimized.”
“Unbelievably poorly optimized.”
“There is a huge amount of work around optimization required here to make this game mode worth playing.”
“It needs some improvement to performance for late game (I have a beast of a PC and I produce 7 frames per second: i7 10th gen and RTX).”
- grinding10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Reviews on the aspect of "grinding" highlight a mixed experience; some players appreciate the lack of mandatory grinding for upgrades, while others find the repetitive nature of progressing through levels and managing tower placements tedious. The campaign's expanding map and multi-lane mechanics add complexity but can lead to frustration, as players often feel stuck and overwhelmed by the need to grind for advancement. Overall, while some enjoy the strategic elements, many express that the grinding can detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“What I like most: there is no grinding involved to get all towers or upgrade them or something like that.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“I've spent hours and hours playing and re-playing (grinding) and I'm only at level 15 and have been stuck on chapter 3 for many days.”
“Downside of the campaign - the ever-expanding map adds no difficulty but only ever-growing tediousness to slowly trace the path.”
“I almost have it unlocked finally, but the past 6 hours have been tedious...”
- stability10 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with users reporting frequent crashes, especially in multiplayer modes, and persistent bugs that affect gameplay. Many players experience issues such as freezing, desynchronization in co-op, and graphical glitches, leading to frustration. Despite its fun elements, the overall performance is deemed unreliable, suggesting that potential players may want to wait for further updates before diving in.
“Looks great too and runs smoothly, even when filling a 365-tile map with howitzers and changing the speed to x10.”
“The multiplayer lobby is pretty buggy; if 1 out of 8 players goes AFK, the ability to 'kick' the player just isn't possible right now, so I need to create a new lobby just to get a game going.”
“The game is very fun but buggy as hell; it's been out for quite a while now and it still crashes almost every time I sit down to play.”
“Edit: a year after I wrote the original review, the game is still buggy as hell and crashes my entire PC fairly regularly.”
- monetization8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is highly praised, with users noting the absence of microtransactions and intrusive ads, allowing for an enjoyable gaming experience without constant upselling. Players appreciate the straightforward approach, highlighting it as a refreshing change in modern gaming.
“Best part; when I last played, it didn't hound you for content purchases or microtransactions.”
“Best part; when I last played it didn't hound you for content purchases or microtransactions.”
“Modern gaming must be giving me dementia, because I opened the game and there weren't any microtransactions at all!”
“No microtransactions!”
- emotional5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong emotional connection to the game, highlighting its nostalgic elements and heartwarming evolution from a classic mod to a standalone title. The combination of simplistic gameplay and charming graphics evokes feelings of zen and fond memories of childhood gaming experiences.
“Playing Element TD since Warcraft 3, seeing this game flourish into its own standalone game is truly a heartwarming sight for me.”
“Induces wholesome amounts of zen.”
“The simplistic gameplay and cute graphics made me feel like I was playing some old-school game from my childhood.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is polarizing; while some players find it genuinely funny and a highlight compared to other AAA titles, others feel it falls flat and detracts from the overall experience.
“Quite funny.”
“Compared to some triple-A titles, this is hilarious.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in this re-imagined classic is described as unbelievable, effectively capturing the essence of the original while enhancing the overall experience. Users appreciate the immersive quality that elevates the game's environment and mood.
“Unbelievable atmosphere in the reimagining of a classic game.”
