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of the formula. Bungie certainly championed this with
their superb Myth titles, and TimeGate Studios has done so more recently
with their Kohan franchise. But Armies of Exigo does not do anything
new. The much-touted underground feature is nothing more than a set of linear
dungeons in single player, offering a bit of hack-and-slash-like variety with
players picking up potions and rescuing prisoners, and a slightly more engaging
experience in multiplayer. Dragon Throne had touched upon multi-tiered
combat, as did Metal Fatigue, so this aspect is not new, nor very exciting.
Although the spells allowing for above- and below-ground attacks do make things
somewhat interesting, the strategic usage of the underworld is limited by design.
Since few people are playing this online, it means that the underground feature,
which would really blossom here, is relegated to single player via the campaign
or skirmish mode - the latter is tucked away in the local multiplayer option,
along with a nifty chess
game - providing either a limited or lonely experience. With the only off-the-beaten-path
feature not being all that fulfilling, what gamers are left with is essentially
Warcraft 2.5.
Unlike
Reign of Chaos and the Battlecry series, which seems to be one of
the new avenues the genre is taking, Armies of Exigo is not littered with
the RPG-lite aspects that the hero-focused strategy games are. Here, there are
heroes who have magic and whose life depends on the mission being a success, but
they do not gain new spells or points after leveling up to be allocated to learning
new skills. Instead, they are just stronger variations of the units on the battlefield.
With much of the units feeling like a mixture of Warcraft II and III
(footsoldiers, elven archers, magical dark elven cavalry, flying gnome units that
can attack, valkyries (re: gryphon riders), insects, summoners, priests, dragons,
etc.), but the main difference being their designs are on the more realistic end
of the high fantasy scale with they having slightly more detail. Now it goes without
saying that there are umpteen titles on the market that have knights, footsoldiers,
archers, dragons and the like, but here, there is a certain characteristic that
just seems similar to Blizzard titles. Aside from the basic designs of the characters,
their mannerisms are also similar. I have played few other strategy games in the
same vein that feature the character mixture as similar as this one. There are
also stronger similarities, for instance, the Fallen can only summon buildings
on deformed terrain like the Undead, and their Zerg-like insect minions are under
their control because they have taken over their Hive; the Fallen ally themselves
with Dark Elves; the Fallen's voidwalkers (summoners) are essentially Undead acolytes;
the Horde beasts look and act like Orcs; and unit structures also take on a similar
appearance. A case can be made that it just seems similar to any one of the hundreds
of fantasy strategy games on the market, but those who have played Blizzard's
titles will undoubtedly recognize the finer similarities.
Armies
of Exigo does do some interesting things, though. It uses the experience system
to allow units to become veterans in different ways, the one in which I particularly
enjoyed was the Fallen's ability to trap the souls of slain enemies so that they
go towards the experience of new and old troops - instead of leveling up, the
units come out of training with the experience already factored in. Also, the
few missions that allow for more liberties with underground strategies tend to
be pretty fun. There are also potions that can be found to use on allied troops
and enemies, as well as buildings on the maps that can be garrisoned to allow
the use of a powerful spell or a bonus in resources. Each group also has a particular
spell that is activated by multiple magical units working in tandem. The story,
while not anything special itself, is told in such a way that it is still entertaining.
It is also a beast, coming in with thirty six missions, with several of those
taking hours to complete. The game also has a nice sheen to it. Aside from polygon
seams that can be seen in dark areas, the graphics are phenomenal, with cutscenes
that can claim to be the only ones able to rival those found in the Warcraft
titles. The sound is similar - I swear I heard a "work, work, work"
from a pesant - to its inspiration, but the music is very good and one of the
more pleasant surprises. The sound effects and voices both are of good technical
quality, but some of the sounds are irritating (high pitched noises for attacks,
which are fine until there are ten or so units making the same noise) and the
voices do not always match their onscreen avatars, although I found those involved
in the Beast campaign to be fairly solid throughout.
The problems are
not all from its lack of originality, though. For starters, the AI is not very
bright. The computer does not seem to know how to lay siege, nor does it ever
take advantage of problems that form in the player's strategy. In general, its
policy is to sit back, send a contingent or two in hopes of a lucky victory and
just wait to fight off the player's inevitable attack. With the Fallen, that strategy
can be pretty fun, because of their voidwalkers able to work their magic quickly
on enemies above and below them, as well as their ability to take the form of
other units, which allows for some imaginative tactics. The player's units tend
to get jumbled up, with the formation feature - which puts ranged and support
units in the back - breaking down during combat, resulting in weaker units wondering
into the thick of things and not coming out alive. The flow of the missions could
also use some work. In the midst of a good mixture of tasks and story will be
a timed mission that only serves to force the point home that much of the game
is trial-and-error, requiring many scenarios enough to know when to do what, because
of the computer's limited ambitions - though it tends to get inspired when it
has only a few minutes to win. There is also a tendency to pile on upgrades and
enhancements; for a while, the game will explain new units and upgrades, then
there will be a mission when those one or two turn into seven or eight, and all
explained only by their popup description box, which is not always the best way
to convey information during conflict.
The old formula is also wearing
thin. Companies like TimeGate, Creative Assembly, and Bungie have taken the strategy
genre in new directions by mixing turn-based and real-time or by refining real-time
to where it feels fresh and new again. Going back to having to sit for half an
hour to gather enough resources to attack, then repeating until the computer's
defenses are worn down enough for the final blow, feels long in the tooth. Longer
missions can become so tedious that any excitement built up by the story or previous
engagements is gone, making it tough to maintain even mild interest at some points
and dragging down the proceeding good missions.
Overall:
6/10
Even though I have complained significantly about the lack of originality
and its other shortcomings, I was also caught up in it as well. For fans of the
strategy genre, think of this as the perfect average game. Those who are heavily
invested in real-time will not find anything new or exciting here, in fact, many
will not find it interesting at all; but those who only dabble in it here or there,
whether they prefer other genres or are casual gamers, will find this a fine experience.
The ideas and daring of others have been taken and stripped down to fit a formula
making up a game that will not inspire envy amongst other developers but will
provide some with a solid recap of what the genre has been through while giving
them the feeling of familiarity to make them comfortable and not going the extra
step to represent its true evolution. Regular readers of the site will have a
reaction of 'meh' more than anything else. So, while it is not a bad game, it
is not a very good one either. [
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