Defender: Top-Down Shooter Template is a fully modular and highly educational twin-stick action RPG framework — battle-tested and showcase-featured twice on FAB! With over 530 well-commented Blueprints, this all-in-one project includes everything you need to build immersive single-player or local co-op top-down shooter with firearms, melee combat, abilities, modular characters, vehicles, dialogue systems, upgrades, and much more.

Showcased twice:

First Showcase: Sept 6–20, 2022

Second Showcase: Mar 5–19, 2024

All assets you see in trailers and screenshots are included in the project file.

Watch the trailer & try the demo to see all systems in action! (Full links at the bottom of this page)

Why Developers Love Defender:

Step-by-step video tutorials to help you integrate new characters, weapons, objectives, and more

Growing Discord community to get help, share feedback, and see how others use Defender

Designed for rapid prototyping and scalable game development – from game jams to commercial releases

Plug-and-play local co-op (up to 3 players) with full UI and input support

UE4 & UE5 skeleton compatible – import your own animations and meshes freely

Use it as a full game framework or cherry-pick individual systems into your own project

Core Features:

100% Blueprint, well-commented and beginner-friendly

Firearms & Melee Combat with upgrade system

AI with Behavior Trees

Dialogue System with branching, stats & cinematic control

Player Stats & Progression (XP, Critical Hit, Toughness etc.)

On-screen messages, HP bars, damage text & interaction indicators

Modular Character System with swappable parts (torso, legs, head) – easily extend your character’s visuals and stats

Partitioned Save/Load System

Vehicle Possession System

9+ weapon types, grenades, laser sights, ability system & more

Trailers

Main Trailer (2:49): https://youtu.be/UEy-6VP6PWE

Coop Trailer (1:12): https://youtu.be/712BijLEo9Q

Single Player Gameplay (20:44): https://youtu.be/lmHOlxTxaPs

Useful links

Discord link: https://discord.gg/tuu9dFDg

Defender Documentation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aLBocBDtd-2tljdh3zZyf1xffAKVqAYIoBZMqAwo75M/edit?tab=t.0

Playable Demo Download: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YcSe6_3udhfdrWtugQuULRQHGGp6gB2n/view

Tutorials

How to create a level from scratch?: https://youtu.be/lacmaY72_Ac

How do I add a character to my project?: https://youtu.be/FvMYLju9SdY

How to make modular character setup?: https://youtu.be/P3hGPooOdKA

How to use Objective Manager?: https://youtu.be/8Y7KDQ9yy0Y

Build faster. Learn smarter. Expand your game's potential with Defender.

Perfect for solo developers, educators, and Blueprint enthusiasts.

Version Note:

UE 4.27: Supported in project versions v1.0 to v3.0.1

UE 5.x (5.0 to 5.6): Supported in all project versions

Disclaimer: For demonstration purposes, this product uses some assets from "Lyra", "Showdown VR Demo", "Infiltrator Demo", "Soul City", "Subway Sequencer", "Action RPG", "Blueprints", "Shooter Game", "Paragon", "Content Examples", "Infinity Blade: Weapons", "Realistic Rendering", "Animation Starter Pack" distributed free of charge by Epic Games