Personally, tower defense games aren’t usually my cup of tea, so I approached D.O.T. Defence with no expectations. After spending a few hours with the tutorial and campaign, I found a game that surprised me in some areas while leaving room for improvements in others.
D.O.T. Defence is a 2026 tower defense RTS game, developed and published by Rattleaxe Games. It combines tower defense mechanics with Real-Time Strategy which also visible from its gameplay.
When I first launched the game, it welcomed me with a pixel art style game and an animated background that instantly reminded me of the old, iconic game series, Command & Conquer. The pixel graphics are also a unique choice for a game like this. The game also welcomes you with a simplistic menu UI. On the top side, you can select between the gamemodes, like Campaign, Skirmish and Wave Defence. At first, the game will warn you to not play the last two modes, saying you are not experienced enough. They will automatically unlock once you complete their levels in campaign. Since they are optional, you can totally ignore the warning message and head into them. My main focus was on the campaign, so I wrote this review based on that experience.
INTO THE FIELD
Pressing Campaign will land the player on the tutorial level, which is a quick one to do. Based off of how it looks, the game is based on multiple island levels, which is more of a platformer approach to the game. Clearing each of them will unlock the next level. They cannot be previewed until you unlock them.
The campaign menu features some valuable information. Like the difficult, which can scale from ‘Very Easy’ to ‘Very Hard’, or the Power which is the given ability for the specific level. These power abilities adds a tactical option to the game that changes how you approach the different levels.
Launching a level will welcome you to a nameless military helper who will accompany you throughout the campaign, giving you story context and necessary help. In a level you have to build your base, reinforce it so the enemy forces have a harder time taking it, while maintaining control over the map, and attacking them with your tanks, troops, and power abilities. A level ends once the enemy’s HQ will be destroyed.
CRACKS IN THE FOUNDATION
The game starts off nice and slowly, understandable mechanisms and then suddenly at around level 4, you will get stuck. Level 4 tries to introduce ‘Skirmish’, which is one of the modes you unlock in the menu. It’s hard because of the gameplay. You have to aggressively, non-stop pressurize the enemy, leaving no room for error. Your power ability helps you out here big time, because it bombs the enemy, leaving less of their troops alive. But it’s also hard because of the difficulty scale. I tried it a few times on ‘Medium’ difficulty, and didn’t manage to complete the level once. Then I switched to ‘Easy’, which felt like a huge step as it was very easy to complete the level. It’s one difficulty easier, yet felt like a chasm. The level layout is also messy. It has tons of buildings which are obstructing the line of fire for your turrets, and cannons, forcing them to stand idle. This is a returning problem in later levels as well with other elements like trees and rocks.
Once that level is completed, the games keeps this chaotic pace up, throwing a time-based level at you. You have to complete the level in 15 minutes, otherwise the enemy will destroy your HQ with its nuclear bombs. This is a sudden, huge jump in difficulty scaling. The level itself is not difficult, I did it on my first try, but for new players, it can be a very overwhelming experience. This feature is inspired from C&C where nuclear weapons are also available to use in different type of forms.
Lastly, the game has an unclear movement control. The way you control your troops are that you hold your right click on them, and drag your mouse where you want them to go. But the map is full of obstacles, making a clear, straightforward path impossible to make. The map also doesn’t fit the screen, so you will have to move the screen with it by moving your mouse to the edge of your screen. This can make your path erratic, drawing U-turns, making unnecessary extra steps, which can be really frustrating. Zooming in and out is a solution for this, but doesn’t necessarily solves the issue in every scenario.
HOLDING THE LINE
Next to the drawbacks, we have some positive things as well. The game introduces new designs, like railway turrets, which are available in later levels. This shows that the developers care about the game, and try to make it their identity rather than a copy of another game.
The level-end scoreboard also contains valuable information. The layout of it was inspired by C&C, which is noticeable. First comes the player, then enemies defeated, buildings destroyed. Under the player’s stats are the AI stats, which contains the same statistics. It’s nice, clean, and there’s a progression system with it. This progression system is a level-up system. The game gives XP after every try, and level completion. These count towards the progression system, which unlocks new buildings for each modes. I think it’s a cool addition that makes the level completion more rewarding.
MISSION DEBRIEF
Despite the flaws of the game, it is still a very enjoyable game. It combines two genres, taking inspirations, while making it unique with its artstyle and design choices. If you want to play with friends, there is ‘Skirmish’, if you want the traditional tower defense mode there’s ‘Wave Defence’, or if you are looking for a campaign based RTS like Command & Conquer, this game will provide you with its campaign.
In the end, how you think the game is depends on you. I recommend it for people who likes traditional TD games and to those who are looking for a relaxing RTS experience.
