Dungeon Defenders Awakened screenshot of the four playable characters

The original Dungeon Defenders was and still is a pretty awesome game. Despite being the developers' very first major title, it managed to nail a nearly perfect balance between face-smashing difficulty and care-free fun. Dungeons Defenders 2 tried to further improved upon the idea, but unfortunately, it missed the mark somewhat and the series started a slow but steady decline.

There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, however, as Dungeon Defenders Awakened has now landed onto Steam Early Access. Much like the original, Awakened is a co-op focused tower defense game that's all about mowing down hundreds of enemies through the use of towers, traps, blockades, and naturally, your own weaponry.

You can get a bit of an idea of what this looks like in gameplay terms, as well as how similar Dungeon Defenders Awakened is to the original, through the recently posted release trailer. Have a look:

While I would love to tell you that Awakened is a return to form, I'm afraid that it's a bit too early for that. What I'm trying to say is that Awakened currently has a serious problem with bugs and unfinished content, which combined with its €34 price tag, makes it somewhat hard to recommend.

There is real potential in Awakened, it's styled after the original Dungeon Defenders after all, but I have a feeling it'll take quite a few updates to get there. So if you ask me, I'd say keep a close eye on Dungeon Defenders Awakened if you're a fan of tower defense games, but don't jump in just yet.

Either way, you can learn more about Dungeon Defenders Awakened over at Steam.