Software:Defender (2002 video game)

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Short description: 2002 video game
Defender
Defender 2002 box art.jpg
North American box art
Developer(s)7 Studios (PS2)
Inevitable Entertainment (GC, Xbox)
Outlook Entertainment (GBA)
Lavastorm (Mobile)
Digital Eclipse (Xbox 360)
Publisher(s)Midway Home Entertainment
THQ (Mobile)
Director(s)George Collins
Producer(s)Matthew Candler
Christine Thomas
Designer(s)Robert Berger
Richard Bisso
Jeffery Gardiner
Michael Kirkbride
Programmer(s)Brian Hawkins
Artist(s)Miguel Lleras
Writer(s)Robert Berger
Michael Kirkbride
Margaret Stohl
Composer(s)Michael Cohen
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, mobile, Xbox 360
Release
  • NA: 21 October 2002 (PS2)[2]
  • NA: 4 November 2002 (GC, Xbox)[1]
  • NA: 7 November 2002 (GBA)[1]
  • EU: 24 March 2003
Mobile
13 June 2003
Xbox 360
15 November 2006
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up

Defender (subtitled For All Mankind outside North America) is a shoot 'em up video game developed in October 2002 for the PlayStation 2, and Xbox, and was ported to the GameCube the following month, followed by a port to the mobile phone version published by THQ in 2003. The game was also rereleased for Xbox 360's Live Arcade in November 2006. It is a remake of the 1981 game of the same name. Featuring three-dimensional (3D) graphics, the game is set on multiple planets and moons within the Solar System where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts.

A separate version of the game was released for the Game Boy Advance. Despite sharing a name, box art and a release date with the console versions, it is a different game.

Gameplay

The player picks up humans, who are in danger from aliens, and brings them to a drop zone for extraction. The enemy landers are attacking them, and will constantly try to pick them up for themselves. Once a human is stolen, the player has a short amount of time to blast the lander and catch the slowly falling human. If the player fails to free the human, they are absorbed into the lander and the lander is transformed into a much more difficult enemy. If the human hits the ground from falling they will die. The enemies are a handful of other alien craft, including some ground units that can turn humans into zombies.

Game Boy Advance version

A separate version of the game was released for the Game Boy Advance. It contains a faithful recreation of the 1981 Defender, and an updated version with digitized sprites and new game modes.

Development

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GBAGCmobilePS2XboxXbox 360
AllGame2/5[14]N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
EGMN/AN/AN/A6.5/10[15]N/AN/A
EurogamerN/AN/AN/A6/10[16]N/A6/10[17]
Game Informer2/10[18]N/AN/A7.75/10[19]8.25/10[20]N/A
GameProN/AN/AN/A4/5[21]N/AN/A
GameSpot4.9/10[22]6.9/10[23]N/A6.9/10[24]6.9/10[24]6.6/10[25]
GameZone5.5/10[26]7.8/10[27]N/A8/10[28]6/10[29]N/A
IGN2/10[30]7/10[31]2/10[32]7.5/10[33]7.1/10[34]5.5/10[35]
Nintendo Power3/5[36]3.1/5[37]N/AN/AN/AN/A
Nintendo World ReportN/A6/10[38]N/AN/AN/AN/A
OPM (US)N/AN/AN/A3.5/5[39]N/AN/A
OXM (US)N/AN/AN/AN/A8/10[40]6.5/10[41]
X-PlayN/AN/AN/A4/5[42]N/AN/A
Aggregate scores
GameRankings36%[3]68%[4]53%[5]74%[6]66%[7]57%[8]
Metacritic37/100[9]66/100[10]N/A73/100[11]69/100[12]58/100[13]

The game received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms except the Game Boy Advance version, which received "unfavorable" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9][10][11][12][13]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Midway Press Release: PR 2002-11-04 A". 2006-11-11. http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_1056.html. 
  2. "Midway Press Release: PR 2002-10-21 A". 2006-11-11. http://www.midway.com/rxpage/mpr_1061.html. 
  3. "Defender for Game Boy Advance". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/gba/562106-defender/index.html. 
  4. "Defender for GameCube". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/gamecube/561638-defender/index.html. 
  5. "Defender for Mobile". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/mobile/920867-defender/index.html. 
  6. "Defender for PlayStation 2". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/ps2/561519-defender/index.html. 
  7. "Defender for Xbox". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/xbox/561465-defender/index.html. 
  8. "Defender for Xbox 360". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/932211-defender/index.html. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 "Defender for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/defender-2002/critic-reviews/?platform=game-boy-advance. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Defender for GameCube Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/defender-2002/critic-reviews/?platform=gamecube. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Defender for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/defender-2002/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-2. 
  12. 12.0 12.1 "Defender for Xbox Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/defender-2002/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Defender for Xbox 360 Reviews". Red Ventures. https://www.metacritic.com/game/defender-2002/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox-360. 
  14. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Defender (GBA) - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=41798&tab=review. 
  15. "Defender (PS2)". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (161): 202. December 2002. http://www.egmmag.com/article2/0%2C2053%2C1488889%2C00.asp. Retrieved 10 August 2022. 
  16. Reed, Kristan (5 December 2002). "Defender (PS2)". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/r-defender-ps2. 
  17. Reed, Kristan (25 November 2006). "Defender (Xbox 360) [date mislabeled as "November 28, 2006""]. Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/eg-rev-def-xb. 
  18. Kato, Matthew (February 2003). "Defender (GBA)". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (118): 110. http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200302/R03.0730.1631.51807.htm. Retrieved 9 August 2022. 
  19. "Defender (PS2)". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (115): 126. November 2002. 
  20. "Defender (Xbox)". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (118): 105. February 2003. 
  21. Pong Sifu (11 November 2002). "Defender Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro (IDG Entertainment). http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/games/reviews/27046.shtml. Retrieved 10 August 2022. 
  22. Provo, Frank (2 December 2002). "Defender Review (GBA) [date mislabeled as "December 5, 2002""]. Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/defender-review/1900-2899162/. 
  23. Gerstmann, Jeff (18 November 2002). "Defender Review (GC)". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/defender-review/1900-2897901/. 
  24. 24.0 24.1 Gerstmann, Jeff (31 October 2002). "Defender Review (PS2, Xbox)". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/defender-review/1900-2896357/. 
  25. Gerstmann, Jeff (20 November 2006). "Defender Review (X360)". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/defender-review/1900-6162096/. 
  26. Code Cowboy (30 November 2002). "Defender - GBA - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/defender_gba_review/. 
  27. Knutson, Michael (22 November 2002). "Defender - GC - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/defender_gc_review/. 
  28. Hopper, Steven (10 November 2002). "Defender - PS2 - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/defender_ps2_review/. 
  29. Bedigian, Louis (18 November 2002). "Defender - XB - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/defender_xb_review/. 
  30. Harris, Craig (19 November 2002). "Defender (GBA)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/19/defender-2. 
  31. Roper, Chris (27 November 2002). "Defender (GCN)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/11/27/defender. 
  32. Buchanan, Levi (21 April 2003). "Defender (Cell)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/04/21/defender-6. 
  33. Roper, Chris (22 October 2002). "Defender (PS2)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/10/22/defender-3. 
  34. Roper, Chris (31 October 2002). "Defender Review (Xbox)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/10/31/defender-review-2. 
  35. Brudvig, Erik (16 November 2006). "Defender Review (Xbox 360)". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/11/17/defender-review. 
  36. "Defender (GBA)". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 165: 160. February 2003. 
  37. "Defender (GC)". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 165: 156. February 2003. 
  38. Nation, Justin (29 November 2002). "Defender (GC)". NINWR, LLC. https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/4002/defender-gamecube. 
  39. Baker, Chris (November 2002). "Defender". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (Ziff Davis) (62): 184. http://www.playstationmagazine.com/article2/0%2C2053%2C1501195%2C00.asp. Retrieved 9 August 2022. 
  40. "Defender (Xbox)". Official Xbox Magazine (Future US): 92. January 2003. 
  41. "Defender (X360)". Official Xbox Magazine (Future US): 75. January 2007. 
  42. Gallaway, Brad (13 November 2002). "'Defender' (PS2) Review". TechTV. http://www.techtv.com/extendedplay/reviews/story/0%2C24330%2C3406243%2C00.html. 

External links