Armageddon Empires (PC)

Have a turn-based apocalypse party with cards, dice, dinosaurs, and man-eating aliens.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

Once you've played a match or two, you can't help but dig into the deck-building, where you'll have to brave a horrible interface that presents the cards in unsortable virtual piles. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to wrap your brain around each faction's cards. This is where the game's personality really starts to burble up. This is where you'll build your own story and come to know the dramatis personae. What's the best way to meet the aliens' voracious need for human flesh? Dare you build an alien deck without the Cyaeg Queen and a complement of her Xenopod Larvae? Which are your mutant dragons of choice? How much mileage can you get out of a Machine deck built around their considerable airpower? Can Imperial artillery behind a screen of cheap infantry win the day? It's a paradise for fans of collectible card games, and it's a primer for those who haven't yet discovered them. However, it's worth noting there's no collecting; all the cards are included in the game.

In addition to a better deck-building interface, Armageddon Empires could use a few more interface improvements. It's hard to get an overview of the map with the same tiny icons representing massive armies and lone scouts, each of which you'll have to click on to remind yourself whether it's already moved. To the developer's credit, the interface has come a long way since the game was released, and each patch has included a few welcome new features. Also, there's a free expansion in the works that will add new cards. This feels very much like a living game, evolving with feedback and still giving even after you've paid your $30.

There's no multiplayer support, which is a shame since this is exactly the sort of game that would benefit from human quirks and insight. But Armageddon Empires doesn't really suffer for it, thanks to an excellent artificial intelligence that plays by the rules. It can take full advantage of all the game's features and it's perfectly capable of surprising you. Thanks to the rules for stealth and recon, Armageddon Empires is rarely over until it's over. For a truly epic game, set up a huge map with all four factions present and carefully make your way across the wasteland. A high score list arranged by the name of the deck you used is plenty of incentive to try again and see if you can do better -- and, of course, there's always the desire to tweak and improve your favorite deck.

Armageddon Empires recalls those great turn-based games from QQP, or those boxed Steve Jackson games, or the best of board gaming and collectible card gaming. It's a shrewd formula of bits and pieces of gaming -- dice, cards, pieces on a board, ones and zeroes, what have you -- infused with vision and personality, equal parts smart design and geeky imagination. With a hard drive footprint of only 100 MB, here is a reminder that great things still come in small packages.

This review was based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.