IS Defense

IS Defense is a first-person shooter similar to the Beach Head games, fighting large waves of enemies from a stationary turret that can be rotated. The game starts in March 2020 and describes how the Islamic fundamentalist military group Islamic State (IS/Daesh) has taken over most of North Africa. They shift their attention to Europe, invading from the south, at three locations: a beach landing at the Sicilian shores in Italy, on the docks of the Spanish harbour and in the Croatian mainland. These three locations are the three levels of the game, defending Europe against the IS invasion, unlocked gradually.

In each of these the player controls a single turret and needs to survive as long as possible. Using the mouse it is possible to look around and shoot. Enemies can appear from all directions and as it is not possible to look around in a horizontal circle of 360 degrees, the turret itself needs to be rotated manually as well at times. Enemies appear from the sea, the air, in vehicles or on foot. The sea brings small boats that can be taken out before they reach the shore, but also large landing crafts that can only be destroyed with a large amount of rockets. Enemies gradually start to swarm the screen and will sometimes attempt to get close to blow themselves up, dealing a lot of damage. Red markers help show the locations with the highest concentration of enemies.

The primary weapon is a machinegun with an unlimited amount of ammo. It is possible to zoom and reloading is required. The secondary weapon is a small amount of rockets that deal a lot of damage. By progressing through the game skill points are earned that can be spent in three skill trees: player upgrades (health), machinegun upgrades, rocket launcher upgrades and support upgrades. Using these, the machinegun eventually no longer needs reloading and becomes more stable, firing is done twice as fast and twice as powerfully, explosive rounds are added to the mix and so on. These upgrades are permanent and carried over between sessions and levels.

In a single game an orange meter gradually fills up with each killed enemy. It can reach up to five tiers of support and the player decides when to use it. The first tier calls a supply dropship providing health and repair crates that can be shot. The second tier provides infantry units that help fighting. The third tier calls in artillery support with shots that deal lots of damage, but can be inaccurate. The fourth tier calls in an airstrike that immediately affects almost the entire environment. The fifth and final tier calls in a military helicopter that stays around for a while to help fighting. Using the fourth skill tree many of these support options can be upgraded. Sometimes the action is slowed down with a bullet time effect and there are also explosive elements in the environment.

To fully complete an environment a certain number of terrorists and vehicles needs to be defeated, carried over across sessions. The game also keeps track of the time the player manages to stay alive and provides bonus points for longer times.