Unreal Engine game Dungeon Defenders out December 16th for iPhone and iPad

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave, the second iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad game leveraging Epic's Unreal Engine, will debut this Thursday, December 16th.

Developer Trendy Entertainment relayed the news to us this evening during a hands-on preview, having been informed that the game has been approved for release by Apple.

A unique blend of real-time action and tower defence, Dungeon Defenders has you protecting magical crystals inside a sprawling castle from waves of enemies.

In addition to building towers to defend crystals, you're granted full control over a hero that can attack enemies directly, repair towers, and collect items on the battlefield.

Depth comes from an array of power-ups, upgrades, and equipment with which you can customise your hero.

Mana acts as experience, which you can accumulate by defeating enemies and opening treasure chests within each stage. You then are free to use mana to heal, repair towers, and improve your equipment.

Additionally, you level up when defeating enough enemies, which allows you to increase your core attributes, your base tower stats, and unlock new action abilities.

As if that wasn't enough, there are multiple character classes such as the squire that focuses on direct attacks and towers with loads of hit points. There's also the huntress who can lob ranged attacks and cloak herself to avoid enemy attacks.

While the 8 stage campaign promises several hours of play, multiplayer via Game Center is a big selling point. You can join up to three other players online for cooperative matches. Items and mana carries over between single and multiplayer modes.

There are also two additional modes: Endless and a separate strategy mode in which you can only build towers and aren't able to attack enemies with your hero.