If you haven't played a game in the Tower Defense category, its a simplified sort of strategy game where players must place protective towers (among other structures and defenses) to guard a set location.  A game usually begins with a wave of enemies that will either try to penetrate, destroy, or simply pass by your defenses.  The strategy comes in to play when players must decide where to place their defenses, what types of defenses to use, and when to upgrade those defenses.  Normally, the more enemies and waves that are destroyed, the more resources the player will have to allocate, establish, and upgrade their defenses even further.  However, with every new wave of enemies the difficulty and speed at which they move will increase forcing players to think and work faster and more astutely.  If too many enemies get by your defenses it's game over.

WidgetTD is an elementary but fun Tower Defense game that plays very much like any other Tower Defense game with one exception; Players can actually take control of their "Towers" and manually target and destroy enemy waves from a 1st person point of view.

The player is only able to control one tower at a time using this 1st Person ability but all other tower placements will continue guarding and shooting automatically when they aren't being controlled.  This is a welcome feature and one of WidgetTD's greatest strengths as a Tower Defense game.  When in 1st person view, players can target any enemy they wish as long as that enemy is within reach.  A small bonus to playing in a 1st person view is that you're able to shoot slightly farther than the computer controlled towers which can be a real life saver.  There aren't many other uses for the 1st person view but it is an incredibly handy feature especially when you find yourself in a sticky situation and need to target a specific enemy before its completely out of reach of your defenses.

There's a good selection of tower types to choose from, provided you can afford them.  Some towers simply shoot at a single enemy as it goes by, others will fire large cannons that act like mortars causing spash damage that can wittle away at multiple enemies at once.  Each tower has its own pros and cons, for example one type of tower might shoot extremely fast but have very little power, another type of tower might be extremely strong but has a lower rate of fire and accuracy.  There is a strong trace of strategy involved with a little bit of trial and error to it.

WidgetTD has generic graphics but they are decent enough and are rendered in 3D plus the 1st person view mode looks pretty good and plays smoothly.  The design is sleek and I found everything to flow evenly.  Even when controlling a tower in 1st person, I felt as though I was more a part of the game than most other tower defense games which are usually about setting up a defense and then watching and waiting.  I liked being able to participate a bit in the battles knowing that my actions also had an affect on weakening the enemy and in-turn, the outcome of each stage or level.

Music and sound both do their job, but they are forgettable.  There wasn't really anything worth writing about aside from the fact that they worked and fit the game.  None of the sound was annoying and it did enhance the experience ever so slightly.

Tower Defense games aren't for everyone.  They do require a kind of patience and strategic thinking even though they are generally a more casual strategy type game.  I would definitely recommend WidgetTD to people who are interested in this sub-genre and even to people who have never played a Tower Defense game because it's easy to pick up and play and offers a number of challanging difficulty levels for beginners and veterans alike.  The 1st person mode adds a new element that I haven't seen in other Tower Defense games before and it works extremely well.  It doesn't really evolve the Tower Defense genre but the 1st person feature does enhance the experience for added fun and is a useful strategic tool.  The game is also very approachable for newcomers and the harder difficulties will keep the veterans challenged for a while.