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In Praise of Armagedon Empires
SammyF
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Never commented on these forums before and I might not ever post here again, but I wanted to register and drop a quick note reiterating Tycho's comments regarding Armagedon Empires in some of his recent posts. I haven't had quite this much fun with a strategy game in a long time. The resource collection mechanic, when coupled with the unit acquisition/production mechanic, creates some truly compelling gameplay choices by severly limiting what you're able to field in any given turn, or even over a range of turns. This limiting is important: because you can only construct and deploy approximately 50-60 units over the course of a given game, you're never going to be able to ramp up your production enough to simply overwhelm an opponent through sheer numbers. This shifts a lot of gameplay focus away from R&D or production and instead places a lot more emphasis on how you get the most operational mileage out of your very-limited force pool.
The ultimate consequence is that throughout the game you will find yourself with a limited number of options and an even more limited supply of resources to prevent you from simultaneously pursuing every option at once. But while limiting player options often makes some games feel like they are themselves limited or unimaginative, on every single turn of Amagedon Empires, any decision you make is compelling and strategically significant--precisely because of the possibility behind the option you decided against and the potential that lies just out of sight down the road not taken.
I would also add that the game is, in a weird way, humane. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to throw my computer out the window because I played a map on Civ IV for three days only to find out I had actually already lost and that one of my opponents had already advanced a couple units past my tech level before declaring war on me, and there was basically nothing I could do but shift the deck chairs on the titanic and click "next turn" until I was finally and utterly defeated. By contrast, in Armagedon Empires, when you've lost, you'll know it. And when you've won, when you've just emerged from the decisive engagement where you finally met with and defeated the the bulk of the enemy's army, again, you'll KNOW--and a few turns later, the game will end, either with a parade through your opponent's HQ or (if you're like me), with a mushroom cloud.
Tycho's right, I spent all of my Sunday playing it, too, and I agree, I can't believe it exists. I encourage everyone to give it a try.
The ultimate consequence is that throughout the game you will find yourself with a limited number of options and an even more limited supply of resources to prevent you from simultaneously pursuing every option at once. But while limiting player options often makes some games feel like they are themselves limited or unimaginative, on every single turn of Amagedon Empires, any decision you make is compelling and strategically significant--precisely because of the possibility behind the option you decided against and the potential that lies just out of sight down the road not taken.
I would also add that the game is, in a weird way, humane. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to throw my computer out the window because I played a map on Civ IV for three days only to find out I had actually already lost and that one of my opponents had already advanced a couple units past my tech level before declaring war on me, and there was basically nothing I could do but shift the deck chairs on the titanic and click "next turn" until I was finally and utterly defeated. By contrast, in Armagedon Empires, when you've lost, you'll know it. And when you've won, when you've just emerged from the decisive engagement where you finally met with and defeated the the bulk of the enemy's army, again, you'll KNOW--and a few turns later, the game will end, either with a parade through your opponent's HQ or (if you're like me), with a mushroom cloud.
Tycho's right, I spent all of my Sunday playing it, too, and I agree, I can't believe it exists. I encourage everyone to give it a try.
SammyF on
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http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=48934