[Watch] Aegis Defenders is a mix of Action-Platformer and Tower Defense

Indie developer GUTS Department has announced their debut game called Aegis Defenders on the PlayStation Blog today. While featured on PlayStation's site, the game will also be available on PC through Steam.

As described by Game Director Bryce Kho, Aegis Defenders is a "genre-mashup" of action-platformers and tower defense games. According to Kho, the game has three main principles: Explore, Build, Defend. Check out the trailer and our breakdown of the game below.

The exploration segments look like classic platforming, but with up to four characters that can be switched on the fly. Each character has different platforming skills. Make them work together to reach their destination. The exploration of a level leads to finding a base at the end of the level. This is where the defend portion happens.

Once you reach the end of the stage, you find the base and begin building fortifications and collecting resources before waves of enemies attack. Not only is setting up buildings important but also placing and switching between characters will help your fortifications. You can play as 3-4 characters at a time, switching when needed.

Lastly, the base defense begins. The enemy attacks in a large wave, attempting to take your newly acquired base. Like the exploration and build phase, this is a side-view tower defense of multiple fronts, so switching characters and multi-tasking is a must.

If it proves too much to control 4 characters, LOCAL drop-in/drop-out co-op is an option. The art style and the inclusion of local co-op are very reminiscent of Towerfall Ascension, although the gameplay is totally different.

Aegis Defenders doesn't have a release date yet, but they're quoting "winter 2017" as their release window. Hopefully, we get our hands on it before Christmas.