Review: Armada-Galactic War

[backtothis]

iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/armada-galactic-war/id370460556?mt=8

Main Thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showth...threadid=54207

Strategy Thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showth...threadid=54295

Alright guys so let's try this again, I got to 1200 words earlier and deleted the whole thing by clicking back on the browser..yes that's how much I love this game.


Prologue
Rts and Rpg's have always been my favorite two genre of games. The idevice has seen a great evolution since the introduction of the appstore: from the painful Strategic Assault to the great Warfare Inc to the demanding red conquest, and now we're here at Armada. Now if you've seen my reviews, you know how long and detailed they are..so it must mean the game is pretty damn good. Or that I'm getting paid a fortune xD, it's not the latter heh.

This rts allows for a combination of the fast, pick and play nature of the idevice with intense strategy that calls for both speed and skill. It allows the usually alienated players who don't want anything too complex to learn to enjoy a great rts. Before I start, let me state that for now, this is strictly online, and reiterate THIS IS STRICTLY ONLINE. Offline play comes with the next update :]. Btw, the devs are amazing xD. Now for my review on it's 4 components: graphics, sound, controls, gameplay. There's a conclusion at the end if you don't have the time to read, along with my rating.

Graphics
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Like many real time time strategy games, there is a function that allows for zooming with the pinching motion. The thing though is that as you zoom in, the pixels actually get more defined and more details pop up and there's not the slightest trace of blurring..amazing. There's also particle effects for the weapons: from the machine gun fire of the mechs to the particle bombs of the tanks to the laser beams of the ships. The lighting of the games 5 very well designed maps also contribute greatly to its theme, which is obviously space warfare. But seriously, these detailed maps and units really blow warfare inc's and even red conquest's animations out of the water. There are three classes that are virtually the same, the aliens, the cyborgs, and the humans. They're all virtually the same, except that they have different designs, which is really unique to each race.

Sound
I didn't turn on the sound until like my 15th game since I generally play games without the volume. But when I did, it was pretty darn great. If you've played starcraft before, you'll be familiar to the upbeat BGM that comes with this package. It often scares me since some of the sound effects in the background music sounds like my enemy coming with the armaggedon xD. Also each unit responds with a different sound when selected and ordered to move. Of course each of the weapons sounds are different as well. The BGM and sound effects that come with Armada: GW definitely adds to the atmosphere the game creates.

Controls
I've always said and thought that the controls of a game, especially for the idevice, make or break the game. And make the game it sure as hell does in this one. It makes robocalypse's action flags seem like a joke, WI's controls seem to be from the stone age, and makes red conquest's complex controls seem like a parody. You select units by holding a button in the top left corner, which brings you into select mode. Then, you can tap individual units as you add them to your select group, or you can make a selection box by dragging. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?..I have no idea. But trust me, as a veteran of rts, you have my word that this one has the easiest and best to use controls on the idevice. Panning of the screen is of course done by swiping, which can be adjusted for sensitivity. Deselecting units is as simple as tapping the selection mode button quickly. Of course you can also aim you units attacks and all.

But here's the best part! This is what really got me, this was the bane of WI. You get to choose between attack move and force move! You single click anywhere on the map to attack move, meaning your units will engage any enemy they stumble upon. You force move by double tapping anywhere, which allows your units to move and ignore any enemies they encounter, very good for running away or micromanaging.

Gameplay
Now here's the core of the review, the very, very, very long section.

You begin each game with 2 level 1 mechs and a mother ship. The mechs are the gatherers, the grunts, the cheaply massed unit, the early explorer, etc. The mother ship is your 'base,' the producer of units, and if it's destroyed, you lose. Yes, that's the objective: kill the opponent's mothership.

Like previously stated, there are 3 races, each have 3 levels of mechs, 3 levels of tanks, and 3 levels of ships. There are no building prerequisites or anything like that, it's just they cost more per level, but of course are better than the former level. Mechs own ships, with their rapid attack and easily massed numbers. Tanks have area of effect attacks that make short work of even the biggest groups of mechs. Ships counter tanks since Tanks can't shoot them! And of course there's your mother ship, it's high on hp and atk, but yeah don't let it die heheh.

Everyone starts with a mine by them, you place a grunt on top of it (any level) and they will light up when in place, then you will steadily gain AP (resource) which is kept track of in the upper left corner. Besides the one at the start by you, the rest are randomly generated around each of the 5 maps. Of course it's your job to expand and grab these before you do and prevent your opponent(s) from doing the same. You can fit a max of 9mechs on each.

Right now you can either use the auto-matching system, like in FAST, or you can host private games. If no one joins within the alotted fifteen seconds of the automatch feature, you will be put up against an AI (Agent Smith) but that should rarely happen anymore, since the community is getting pretty big :]. You can be paired up with a max of 3 other people.

Of course there's an online leaderboard and all. The future update will contain a lobby system which will allow for public hosting, like that in Warfare Incorporated.

So you gather resources, build troops, and go after your opponent's mother ship. Sounds easy? Why don't you try doing it :]? Like all RTS, this one places lots of importance on the micromanagement and positioning of your units, so that should take some training hehe. Offline mode will come soon, like I stated before.

Also you gain credits after each match, which you can use to 'purchase' upgrades for units that will apply to any games where you equip them in!

This review wasn't quite as good as my other one that got deleted, but it should suffice. The devs are very active in the threads and will even privately deal with any issues you have. Just shoot them a pm!

Final Score and Critique
5 OUT OF 5 for: its ability to mix fast paced gameplay of around 5-10 minutes with intense strategy, for its very innotative and intuitional controls (which are crazy simple), its appealing graphics and sound, its promised updates and hardworking dev team, and for its lasting impression of a intense strategy game that anyone can learn in under 30 minutes.

Hope to see you in game soon. Visit the main thread if you have any questions or concerns, and I'll help answer them if the devs aren't there at the time. Also visit the strategy thread once you come up with some crazy stuff on your own or wanna get some tips!

Thanks a ton for reading, really hope this game will get reviewed by TA on the frontpage.