Base Invaders

I don't mean to insult anyone in saying this, but as I'm playing more and more of these games, evidence is leading me to postulate that there are three different classes of games in this catalog:
1) Lines of code and design documents that were strewn about in an effort to scrounge together a passing grade (e.g. A Series of Tubes or Aether)
2) Games made with limited time and resources made for the same purpose as class 1 but with genuine attention to detail and care for video games as an artistic medium (e.g Astrobunny or Amaia)

Base Invaders belongs to the third class:  Games with the same kind of spirit as those in class two but with the time and resources that come from being designed to win a prize or gain extracurricular prestige.  In fact, Base Invaders took home the 2007 IGF Student Showcase award and was also a finalist in the Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition of the same year.

Indeed, Base Invaders must have had a good amount of time spent on it for this kind of quality.  Caveat: when I say "quality" I'm referring to the kind of polish that makes it seem like it was made by professionals rather than students.  That does not necessarily make it a better game than other games without this polish.  For example, I enjoyed playing Arc Angle much more than I enjoyed playing Starfox: Adventures, even though the latter is far more polished.

I've gone on the record saying I don't really like tower defense games, and Base Invaders is literally a tower defense game.  I still found it to be really enjoyable, though.  Why?  Simply, it doesn't force you to sit by and watch your defenses fail.  See, in most tower defense games (and really strategy games in general), either you're  restricted from modifying your defenses once the battle begins or building up defenses costs money, leaving you defenseless once the green well dries out.  Base Invaders fixes this problem by giving you a base attack which costs no money to utilize.  You pick up and throw your enemies, much like in Defend Your Castle.  This keeps gameplay fun and tense, as not only are your strategic skills tested, but your reflexes are too.

In addition, there are a wide variety of baddies to fling about, each with a particular ability, meaning each enemy must be disposed of uniquely.  This adds many layers of depth to the game, which left me frantically clicking around and running a million calculations in my head after just level 3.

The graphics are pretty and stylized, showing off not only a good amount of aesthetic sense but also that much touted polish that I raved about mere paragraphs ago.

Sound direction is competent.  The music is enjoyable and the high-pitched monster voices are more adorable than they are annoying, giving the game a cutesy kind of charm like a kitten with a little pink bow on its head.

I think what I like most about this game are the little things.  Little things that let you know that the game cares about you.  Like enabling a stage select from the get go but still including all the story/tutorial elements or the fact that the little monster guy on your team shouts "hey, where are you going?" when you exit the game.

And that's pretty much all there is to say about Base Invaders.  I'll be honest, in my effort to play these games as swiftly as possible in order to meet my schedule, I didn't have time to play the whole game.  However, the parts I experienced provide me with enough evidence to support a hearty recommendation.  Enjoy.

Until next time, stay safe (use lasers).

Links
Invasive Base: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=441