Hello there! As a brief introduction, I'm a HUGE fan of RTS. I've played a lot of them during my lifetime (Age of Empires, Starcraft, Empire Earth, Command and Conquer, Homeworld, etc.) - I can write paragraphs of lots of info and opinions here and there, but I'll attempt to structure somehow via pros and cons (and "neutral"). Oh, and I'm also just a casual RTS player, I don't do much multiplayer on any of those and just like to chill and do AI stomping (I've done a bit of competitive in the past, but it got way too stressful for me lol) PROS: + Solid gameplay: Not gonna lie, most of it is from Age of Empires 2, but there are new things that are introduced here though (such as the more simplified upgrade into tiers and hero units). And yes, I'm aware that some people see this as unoriginal and "copying", but you know what they say, you don't fix something that ain't broke. They're taking Age of Empires 2 core stuff and improving upon it. We don't have to reinvent the wheel each time. The civilizations and core gameplay of each of them are similar, but they have enough individual characteristics, that they don't feel like you're playing the same game over and over (what with different heroes to choose from, civilization passives/active abilities, and difference in gameplay and techtrees) + Visuals: Okay, I know that in terms of pure gaming experience, visuals isn't absolutely essential in terms of gameplay and mechanics, but it IS an important factor. While the aesthetics of it being polygon-y is surely a matter of taste (I like it to be honest), it's cool to be able to enjoy a good strategy game while enjoying the scene. I like how the civilizations are presented visually, while not entirely new, they definitely feel very different from each other. + Music: I'm not like a musical guru or anything like that, but man the music in this game is awesome. From the menu music all the way to the music in the game itself (general or civ-based themes are so good to listen to while you do your own thing! :D) CONS: - Incomplete Game: Now I haven't followed everything that the devs are doing or whatnot, and when I purchased this game, it didn't indicate that it is "Early Access" or anything - but regardless of the reasoning (intentional or not, time constraints or not), the game feels incomplete. First of all, there's no campaign. Secondly, even the repetitive content in the game doesn't seem to give you an awful load of options (not a lot of maps to choose from, etc.). But it seems that the devs are quite active and might release some huge updates or even DLCs, but as of now... you have the core game that RTS player wants (which is good), but not a lot of other stuff (which, most other players want, RTS fans or just casuals - which is bad). - Replayability: Competitive games and RTS can be inherently replayable depending on your interest in it, since it's the kind of game you want to get better at and keep on playing and playing, but... as I've said before, there's no campaign and it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot else to do, so that in turn makes the game less interesting (what holds you back to this game?), thus the replayability suffers. - Pricetag: Now okay, pricing and "what's worth to you" is mostly subjective and depends on the person buying. But we live in a day and age where there are games out there of amazing quality that costs much less (or even free sometimes). And while that might seem an unfair thing to say, it is relevant here, because the pricetag seems to be way too steep for what the game currently offers (as of this review). NEUTRAL: - Copy-paste Game: As I've mentioned above, it's no secret that this game is VERY similar to Age of Empires 2. While I've stated that for me it's a good thing, it might not be to some. Honestly I don't mind that they took something amazing and improved upon it (both mechanically and visually) - but to some people it might not be worth a whole new game. I've put it here again as neutral, just because it really depends on you if this is something important to you or not. CONCLUSION: I am still putting this game as recommended, because if you're a fan of RTS and have some money to spare or a casual, this might be a good game to look into if you like the RTS genre. Why do I say this? Well, as I've said above, it is VERY similar to Age of Empires 2 yes, but it's an "updated" one, so visually it's better and the mechanics are also better (my opinion - this isn't fact, lower the pitchforks). BUT, the pricetag and the lack of content (other than the core RTS skirmish mode) is off-putting - I sincerely hope that they somehow lower the pricetag and/or release contents on this game rather soon - otherwise people might start jumping off ship. Which would be unfortunate, because this game has the potential to be something amazing.
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