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Tower defense is an addictive genre, but the last time it was ever really ‘reinvented’ to feel fresh was in Q Entertainment’s PixelJunk Monsters. But now, someone’s finally stepped up to the plate and done the most obvious thing to totally jack the idea to new heights: space aliens, and stuff.

Unveiled pre-PAX, Hidden Path’s upcoming desktop tower defense title is slated for a PC release in November of this year, and an unannounced (but assumed similar) date for Xbox Live Arcade. Defense Grid: The Awakening is being headed by Age of Empires II lead designer Mark Terrano, and will make use of the Gamebryo engine, which powers Civilization IV and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Needless to say, the game has got serious potential to be big on top of awesome.

The lone screenshot (above) shows mechs and robo-spiders tearing up a Halo-like industrial area while being roasted by various laser beams of certain death. We don’t yet know how it’s all going to work out, but they’re touting the control scheme as being outta-this-world.

Only a hands-on demo can back up the claims.

Keep your eyes locked on Nukoda this weekend.

Hidden Path Unveils Defense Grid: The Awakening at PAX 2008
Addictive Tower Defense PC Strategy Game Challenges Players with Deep Gameplay

Bellevue, WA (August 28, 2008) - Hidden Path Entertainment, an independent developer based in Bellevue WA, will be unveiling their new PC game Defense Grid: The Awakening during this week’s Penny Arcade Expo.  Defense Grid: The Awakening, due to release in November 2008, is a unique spin on tower defense gameplay that will appeal to players of all skill levels.  This PC game, built on Emergent’s Gamebryo engine, features beautiful environments, spectacular effects, and a dynamic, engaging soundtrack.  The controls are intuitive and the gameplay is deep - the special attacks and properties of each tower work together to provide many ways to succeed.

“Defense Grid: The Awakening redefines tower-defense gameplay, introduces new concepts, and uniquely captures the full excitement and fun of this genre,” said Jeff Pobst, CEO and co-founder of Hidden Path Entertainment. “Defense Grid: The Awakening is as fun for the core gamer pushing their skills as it is for the novice just trying their hand at a strategy game.”

A horde of enemies is invading, and it’s up to the player to stop them by strategically building fortification towers around their base.  This highly replayable game features more than 8 hours of storyline gameplay and many hours of challenge modes that give players unique starting conditions and objectives.  There are many different ways to solve each level with increasing rewards for improved efficiency.

“We have spent a lot of time studying the emotional curve of the game and worked to ensure that the challenge of each enemy wave creates an enjoyable pace and progression throughout the campaign,” said Mark Terrano, Design Director and co-founder of Hidden Path Entertainment.  “We added a number of game mechanics in each level to create a large dynamic range of emotion and strategy so that we can engage both the hardcore gamer and the novice through one shared emotional experience.”

Defense Grid: The Awakening has 20 unique environments, each with a different placement of roads, tower build locations, and open areas to plan a strategy around.  Each level encourages a different strategy, such as trying to find an optimal path to redirect enemies, making the best use of limited space, and breaking up individual enemy waves to avoid being overwhelmed, all while planning ahead for future waves.

There are 10 different tower types with 3 levels of upgrade for each.  Each tower has unique tradeoffs that affect ideal placement, such as line-of-sight attack or ballistic trajectory fire; a large area of effect or damage over time; and minimum and maximum ranges.  Over the course of the game, players battle 15 different types of enemies, each with their own unique capabilities and strategies.

About Hidden Path Entertainment

Hidden Path Entertainment is an independent video game development company established to develop and produce interactive entertainment software for current and future generations of video game consoles, as well as other computing platforms.  Hidden Path’s team is made up of industry veterans who have each contributed to highly successful titles in multiple genres and on multiple platforms.  Hidden Path is currently developing fun and innovative titles for some of the most popular companies in gaming and their respective platforms. Hidden Path recently released the family party and trivia game Wits & Wagers on Xbox LIVE Arcade, but returns to their core gaming roots with Defense Grid: The Awakening.   Hidden Path Entertainment can be found online at www.hiddenpath.com.