![]() There’s no need to discuss strategies and build orders when players can secure victory from using a single type of unit for an entire game. And since there is only one type of resource, there are no drawbacks for players who pick the simplest strategy and run with it.īecause of this, I can’t imagine Conquer Mars developing the same kind of online following that gathers around games like Starcraft. I never quite felt rewarded for experimenting with different combinations of attack and support units because at the end of the day simply rushing with the more powerful attackers seemed to work just fine. That being said, it’s entirely possible to win a game using only tanks with no support the balance at this stage needs work. The developers have also promised a range of unlockable units in the future, which will be something to look forward to. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, although finding out which unit is appropriate for which situation requires a good deal of trial and error. There are currently eight classes of units available in the alpha, with five being attackers and the rest serving support roles such as healing or shielding. The game is simplified enough that there’s nothing to spend in-game money on aside from military units, some basic upgrades, and towers to defend your mines with. Each game of Conquer Mars degenerates into an exercise of “capture all the mines, defend your own mines and then attack your opponents’ mines”. ![]() ![]() Mines serve every imaginable role in an RTS game: they create and upgrade units, provide stationary defence and also automatically generate resources for you to use. In fact, the closest parallel to buildings Conquer Mars offers are mines, which are capture points scattered around the map. The gameplay is most easily compared to the Company of Heroes series, as it’s more focused on manoeuvres and tactics instead of resource management and creating buildings. Even though the game is still in a very early alpha build, the core experience is very clear. So when a game like Conquer Mars comes along and promises to cut down the play time of traditional RTS games, I couldn’t help but assume that some strategy will be removed along with it. By necessity, these games are inaccessible, but through perseverance and some careful studying of the metagame players are able to earn the sweet taste of victory. Being rewarded for playing intelligently and creatively should be enough of a positive that audiences can ignore the fact that the average RTS game takes a matter of hours to play out, if not weeks if you’re playing a Total War or Paradox Interactive game. The main draw towards the strategy genre is depth, where players are provided with a wide variety of tools to overcome constantly evolving challenges. In essence, the idea of a simplified strategy game is oxymoronic. I’m a big fan of the genre and yet many RTS games aimed at casual audiences abandon strategic depth for accessibility. Let me begin by saying that I’m always a little wary of browser based Real Time Strategy games.
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