Ratings Gameplay 7 Graphics 7 Sound 6.5 Difficulty Medium Concept 7.5 Multiplayer N/A Overall 7

Gameplay Screenshots

Description

First off, lets get the silly acronym out of the way. This is a 4X strategy game, which means “eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate”.

Armageddon Empires is a computer turn based strategy game that takes the best elements of collectable card games (don’t worry there are no cards to chase you get them all, board games, and computer games and brings them all together to provide a unique interactive strategy war game experience. You can choose a normal size map and battle in a death match with a single AI opponent finishing within an hour or select a huge map and slug it out with the other 3 factions in a game of epic proportions.

Features

# Turn based strategy game in a post-apocalyptic setting versus 1 to 3 AI opponents.

# Hexagonal maps depicting the ravaged wastes of earth circa 2345 featuring 3 map sizes ranging from normal to huge.

# 4 playable factions each with unique units, art and playing styles.

# Over 75 faction heroes lead your armies into battle. Heroes allow for larger, more effective armies and have their own special abilities that can change the tide of battle or even create new weapons and technology cards.

# Over 200 unique units wage battle across the savage landscape; command infantry, cyborgs, robots, powered battle armor, armor, artillery, mecha, biomecha and many more.

# Over 80 unique special abilities for heroes and units; abilities like multi-targeting, shock attack, double attack, fanatic, military genius and valor allow you to find exciting combos of play just like you would in a collectible card or miniatures game.

# Collectible card game flavor without the expense. Each hero, unit or facility is a card that can be added to your play deck.

# Board game mechanics. Roll a unit’s attack die versus another unit’s defense die and play special abilities and cards to alter the results.

# Assassinate enemy heroes, sabotage enemy facilities, gather intelligence through espionage and stealth, hunt down enemy heroes and hold them prisoner.

# Drop thermonuclear weapons on your enemies or load out your units with tactical nuke cards created by your leading technologists.

# Challenging goal based AI agents see the same game you do and must gather intelligence, build armies and formulate plans just like you: “No cheating.”
Graphics
The card artwork is fantastic. A number of professional artists have helped give each deck a unique feel. The game itself is presented as a hex tile board game so consists mainly of menus and buttons, which are well done. This isn’t a 3D tech demo.

Sound
Sound effects are functional, but few. The classical music is extremely well done and I just wish there was more of it.

Game play
Three years in the making and it shows. It’s a wonderfully balanced and deep game that presents endless meaningful choices to the player. I’d have loved to play it with a few friends, but sadly there’s no multiplayer.

Value
It’ll take you a few hours just to work through the well-presented manual, never mind mastering the game itself. What about building your own deck? Then there’s the free add on “cults of the wastelands” due out soon. Not forgetting playing through the game with each of the 4 factions (they each have unique card decks).

Concept
Wonderful. Imagine Civ2 mixed with Magic and then set in a Mad-Maxian post apocalyptic world.

Fun
Fans of card games like Magic and fans of the 4X genre will love this game. I’m not sure how many of those people there are, hopefully enough to justify a sequel.

Overall –
There are a tiny number of excellent indie 4X strategy games catering to this hardcore niche: Galactic Civilizations, Space Empires V and Sins of a Solar Empire. Armageddon Empires is a worthy addition to the canon. If you love 4X games then just buy it now. If you’ve still no idea what 4X means, but you’re intrigued and have a few evenings free then give it a try.

System Requirements

Memory: 256 MB RAM. Video: 32 MB RAM (1024×768). Processor: 1.2GHz or faster.

The entire game is only 75MB or so, so there’s no need to worry about a premium account.

Download Links

Fileserve Links

http://www.fileserve.com/file/uSNJsDJ