Consolation Prize

Rounding off looking at a couple of iPhone games that I recently purchased, today for your perusal we have Galcon by Phil Hassey; an incredibly fast paced real time strategy game of galactic domination. Imagine playing something similar to Risk, which has been given a dose of amphetamines, and is based upon the conquest of planets rather than countries - then in a nutshell you have Galcon.

The primary aim in Galcon, for the majority of the game modes at least, is to obliterate the other player by conquering their planets. Starting with just the one planet you can attack another simply by selecting your world, and then selecting the target. An invasion fleet comprising of a definable percentage (in 25% increments) of the planet’s forces will then blast across the stars on an attack vector. If your force is large enough then the opposing planet’s defences will be annihilated and it will then become a part of your expanding galactic empire.

Each galaxy map in Galcon comprises of a number of planets, some of which are grey neutral worlds, and all of varying sizes which indicates the production rate. The larger the planet the faster it will expand and thus strategically speaking it’s wise to look for neutral planets with a low defence to conquer before tackling your opponent.

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Based in the near future, Tom Clancy’s EndWar is the recounts the desperate struggle for resources between the superpowers of the US, the EF (European Federation), and Russia in the year 2020. Unsurprisingly, the events leading up-to this “clash of the titans” doesn’t feel that unbelievable, and as with all the best fiction it contains some contemporary truths woven into the fabric of the story line.

But enough about the setting, what you all want to know is if this real-time-strategy game is any good or not, and is it worth keeping an eye on? Well, yes. I found it entertaining enough to play and it managed to burn a good hour or two of my time without me even realising.

Of most interest to gamers will be the voice control interface. Indeed I must admit to being a bit dubious about the actual practicality of such an interface, but once the voice configuration is complete, and the dialog and structure of the possible commands learned, then in practice it turns out to be surprisingly good and easy to use. Only on the odd occasion did it not understand my commands - even when I tried to catch it out by speaking faster than normal.

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Released last Wednesday Ticket to Ride, another renowned board-game, swelled the ranks of Xbox Live Arcade and joined the list of other great boardgames which have been given the Xbox Live treatment such as Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne.

Ticket to Ride ranks as one of my favourite boardgames of all time, mainly because it’s so simple to learn, easy to play, fast flowing, and it’s just an enormous amount of fun when played with a group of good friends.

This version is a nigh on perfect conversion and plays exactly the same as the original board-game featuring the American version of the map. The aim of the game is simply to complete “Tickets” across North America, for example “Seattle to New York” by linking cities together. How you get from “A” to “B” is up-to the player but because in most cases there’s only one connection between cities, which when claimed can’t be used by any other player, competition for routes is fierce and claiming strategic positions on the map before your opponents is crucial to your overall success. Instead of going into more depth about the game mechanics I’ll instead just point you in the general direction of my board-game review
here.

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Dr Edgar Herbert is not a happy bunny. He was a top research scientist in the field of Weather Control Enhancements for the AIC but he’s been put out to pasture early. Like any bitter employee Dr Herbert is out for revenge and there’s no better way for a psychotic genius to show his disappointment at his golden handshake then to wreak havoc around the world against his former employees. I’m sure at some-point Dr Herbert may have even cackled to himself and asked for “one miiiiiiilllllion dollars”, and yes that was a deliberate reference to Austin Powers.

Anyway, onto the game. Elements of Destruction is a top down strategy game where the aim is purely to cause as much damage as possible to villages and cities whilst meeting your mission goals, such as “destroy five barns”. At your disposal are the elemental forces of nature enabling you to call down down lightning strikes, topple buildings with earthquakes, or even rip a path of destruction through neighbourhoods with a tornado. The title of the game sums it all up rather neatly really.

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Going back a few years I used to be a fan of Sid Meier, from the early flight simulators like F15 Strike Eagle and F-19 Stealth Fighter to his more strategic games like Railroad Tycoon, Colonization and of course the renowned Civilization. Eventually I just stopped following what Meier was developing but I’ve always remembered his name and his legacy.

I’ve been keeping an eye on how this console centric version of Civilization was progressing with keen interest, and over the last couple of days I’ve been playing the demo, trying to decide if I actually like the game or not and if it’s worth purchasing.

Well, after a shaky start I’ve warmed to the game. To begin with I wasn’t that enthralled; the cartoon-like art design didn’t immediately appeal and the random gibberish spouted by your advisors in place of a verbal language is very irksome. Maybe I was comparing it to the Civilization from old which I remember as being quite a hardcore resource management strategy game where cartoon characterisation and comedic advisors certainly didn’t have a place.

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Although Universe at War: Earth Assault, a science fiction RTS game, wasn’t given an overly impressive reception when it was released I thought it was worth at least playing the demo so I could create my own impressions about the game.

The demo is quite extensive and allows you to try out a few different options from the game. Firstly it’s worth playing through the “Tutorial” mission which will guide you through the controls and the basic principles of unit selection and grouping as-well as some rudimentary building and unit production.

After playing the tutorial you can either jump into a single player game via the “Skirmish Battle Setup” or jump online using the “Conquer the World” option. Both offline and online modes allow you to pick from two maps, Kamchatka or Turkestan and play as either the Novus, a sentient machine race, or the distinctly alien Hierarchy. Each faction has there own inherent strengths and weaknesses and felt comparably different to play.

Universe at War uses what now seems to be an RTS “standard”; An isometric view of the battlefield which can be panned, rotated, and zoomed as the player sees fit and familiar game mechanics (that haven’t changed much in over a decade) which start the player off with a command centre and a construction unit with which to establish a base. The player divides their time managing building and unit production as-well as scouting the battlefield not only for the enemy but also to secure more resources to be converted into credits (when harvested), which are required to purchase everything from new buildings and units to technological advancements.

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The second game to hit Xbox Live Arcade this week, Commanders: Attack of the Genos is a turn based strategy game based in an alternate history. In this timeline the secrets of the atom have been discovered by the start of the 20th Century and by the mid 1920’s the human genome has been cracked and a genetically enhanced race, the Genos have been created. Unfortunately racial division soon arises and the Genos are forced to flee and after a number of years eventually retaliate and attack.

On a basic gameplay level this is an
Advance Wars clone, albeit using a 3D engine rather than a top down sprite based approach. The mechanics of the game are very similar with both movement and attack handled using an underlying grid based system and a selection of unit types available to command which have inherent strengths and weaknesses against other unit types. For example scouts are strong versus infantry but weak against anti-armour units.

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Today sees the release of “Band of Bugs” on Xbox Live Arcade. The game is a turn based strategy game following the story of Maal as he tries to save the Queen and kingdom.

The game is only 34MB to download and it costs 800 Microsoft Points.

The trial game allows you to sample the single player story mode through a series of tutorials and skirmishes but doesn’t allow you to save your progress.

The mechanics of the game are similar to lots of other turn based strategy games such as “Advance Wars”. Each map is composed of many squares of varying terrain types and you have different units (or bugs in this case) available to command. Each bug is is better suited for certain roles and all have individual strengths and weaknesses and it’s up to the player to use them effectively.

The full game allows access to the other single player modes and the multi-player mode. In addition there’s a comprehensive level editor which allows you to create custom scenarios which you can play by yourself or over Xbox Live with friends.

I couldn’t really get into this game, and although I really enjoy games such as “Advance Wars” this just didn’t make an impression. If you’ve tried and enjoyed this game let me know what you thought.