Ratchet573 Speaks Out: AoG
I should first of all put out in the open the fact that I am not the greatest fan of strategy games, so there will be no comparisons to any others, and this is based purely on the opinion of a guy who would play the latest Carebear game if I had to.
The game has you choosing from four sides, Zamorack, Neutral, Saradomin, and Guthix. Each one has different creatures to choose from and as you gain favor for your god, you get more and more powerful beasts to command. You can also try to keep all the gods (and keep neautrality as well, I don’t understand that much) happy, which will give you a wide array of beasts to help in your conquest of your enemy.
Armies of Gielnor is not the kind of game you can play by yourself. This game is a multiplayer experience more than it is a single player. Which is disappointing, because going into it I was hoping to see a bit of story, maybe explaining a part of Gielnor’s history.
Instead, we get a somewhat lengthy and boring tutorial, followed by continual games of multiplayer. I say continual because this game is very addicting. I also say that because it is rare for you to ever finish a game. Most games take hours to play, some could be shorter but going in to most games, there’s the risk that the team you are fighting will give up half way through either because you are beating them, or because the game is taking too long.
Which brings us to another point, playing as a team. Your team mate is usually pretty stupid, and at the first sign of defeat, leaves the game. While this is all fine and good (Because now you control his army as well) it is also somewhat annoying.
Here is a more comprehensive list of the options found in this game:
-Hotseat Game/ Tutorial: The tutorial is boring, never too exciting. The hotseat games are only for people with a friend over. There are no computers to play against here, a big disappointment.
-Multiplayer Lobby: Multiplayer is not too lousy, but could do with quite a bit of help. If games were a bit shorter, it might prompt people to not give up in the middle of a game. I’m not sure that will happen though.
-Coat of Arms: This is kind of like Halo 3’s multiplayer, where you can create your own insignia. It doesn’t affect anything, it’s just there. You get different shapes and things depending on how good you do on multiplayer.
-Being a Member: It adds more things for your Coat of Arms (not that exciting), more achievements (again, not exciting), extra equipment (eh..), and new gods in monsters (eh..).
-Achievements: There are quite a few for you to collect, but if you are going after them all, you better be prepared for a lot more games than you expect though, since most people you play against are sore losers.
The game is fairly balanced, though it is somewhat annoying that only the barbarian can take over a town or tower. It is somewhat easier than some strategy games I have rented, but I am guessing that is so anyone can play it.
Overall, this game can provide something to play when your starved for a moderate gaming experience, but it won’t satisfy a lot of people searching for a single player experience.
6/10
