Defense Grid: The Awakening

It even saves at checkpoints to respect your time and allow you to go back and try a different strategy midway instead of having to reproduce the same strategy and fast-forward to get to the same point to try something else.

Although competing for high scores isn't for everyone, the game still has a relatively entertaining story mode with a large number and variety of levels for the casual player to enjoy.

Everything about it: the pace of the game in regular and fast-forward mode (and the fact that they have a fast-forward mode), the graphics, the tower abilities, the maps, the enemies, and the difficulty as well as the game balance.

The graphics use 3D models for the towers and aliens which look all right from afar (the default zoom distance) but look much better and are quite detailed when fully zoomed in — it's actually quite satisfying to zoom in and watch your towers kill the hapless aliens who can't fight back.

The audio design complements this well, with satisfying tower effects, enemy screeches, and a sweeping orchestral soundtrack that swells at just the right moments to heighten tension or victory.