I don't normally like tower defense games for very long. For such inconsequential strategy puzzles, they take a long time to play, working your way through each wave until you get to that one big guy or merciless onslaught that demonstrates I set up everything wrong. It has to be a pretty good game to make me want to replay the same fourteen waves over again to see if maybe I've worked out how to survive the wave that killed me. But that's simply how tower defense games go.

So why is it that I played Savage Moon, a downloadable Playstation Network game, longer than I would normally play a tower defense game?

Read the review after the jump.

There are six reasons I liked Savage Moon more than the other tower defense games I've played.

1) The graphics aren't cute and cartoony, like PixelJunk Monters or the various Warcraft III tower defense mods I've played. These are grim, hard sci-fi graphics, with a mostly freeflying camera that lets you look around if you're so inclined (there's even a cam view for every turret). The enemies are icky bugs that advance in swarms, as bugs are wont to do. The defenses are imposing looking turrets that change considerably as you upgrade them. A fourth-level mortar is a veritable Big Bertha. There's no pew-pew cutesiness in Savage Moon.

2) There's actually a lot more strategy here than I'm used to in tower defense games. The way units are divided among fast movers, slow movers, fliers, ranged attackers, and burrowers requires a variety of approaches. Whether or not to build defense on raised areas or down in the flatlands. Whether to invest in repair bays and upgrades, or to just go with sheer numbers. I haven't lost a level yet without some idea of what I could have done differently to head off the wave that killed me. "Next time, I'll rely on lasers instead of mortars and I'll make sure to build more mine launchers in the back to pepper the final approach with mines!"

3) In addition to the variety of weapons and enemy types, there are sliders you can adjust among attack power, defense power, and credits earned for kills. If bugs keep getting past your defenses, you can put all the focus into attack power. If you're short on money, put the focus on income. If you've got turrets in vulnerable places, put the focus on defense. And you can quickly do this on the fly. I tend to notch up credits for the early waves, add in power as the going gets tough, and finally back off credits and emphasize power completely near the end of the level.

4) No moving around a little man. I didn't care for the frenzied player character control required in PixelJunk Monsters. There's none of that here. You aren't expected to button mash, shoot your own turrets, or in any way flex your reflexes. It's pure strategy, with downtime between waves to build up and repair (although you get a small cash bonus based on how much of the downtown you skip).

5) Are these not two of the most lovable dorks you've ever seen?

Seriously, it was that picture of the producer and designer, as well as their modest but enthusiastic write-up on the Playstation blog (complete with some cute self-deprecating comments about being Brits) that got me to try Savage Moon in the first place.

6) It's ten bucks and as near as I can tell, there's a lot of content here in the form of progressively unlocking techs and creatures that mix up the gameplay. This doesn't seem to be a matter of adding monsters with more hitpoints and guns that do more damage. The maps also seem to vary nicely. I've only unlocked about two thirds of the entries in the ingame encyclopedia, so there still seem to be some tricks up Savage Moon's sleeve.

It's still "just" a tower defense game. But as far as tower defense games go, if there's anything else this good, I missed out.