Swords & Soldiers comments

[shams]

Now that I have finished S&S, time for some comments:

Initial score: 7
Final score: 7.5

Pros:
- visually very nice, clean style
- easy to understand and play, nice 'point and click' controls
- gameplay is simple to understand, and its a nice idea
- sound and music are excellent, fits in well
- generally feels quite polished

Cons:
- story/dialog is a little "too" ridiculous
- levels are unbalanced (some very easy, some very hard - no real progression)
- gameplay can be random, and is "sort-of" broken (see below)
- game seems to 'cheat' in places (rules that govern player do not govern AI)
- for RTS fans, its not really a (2D) RTS
- if a level drags out, it can drag out indefinitely
- limited control over your destiny/success in places

I become interested in S&S the second I heard the concept - a 2D RTS. It seemed a very smart way to get a RTS onto a console, and make it more accessible - and for the most part I think it has succeeded.

There are some issues though.

The biggest for me, is the complete lack of control of individual units. Once they get build, they rush off towards the enemies base (always the one direction) - and you can't make them stop, go back, etc. In a traditional RTS, most of the strategies revolve around forming a group of units - and sending them off to battle another group of units. You can't do this in S&S - the best you can do is build each of your units at the same time, so they get created in a bunch. But - they move at different speeds, so the time at which they actually engage the is effectively randomised.

It might sound minor... but it deeply changes the very fabric of the game.

The game does get around this in places - one of the races has a spell that makes one type of unit 'charge', and pull up any units they pass on the way. All races have (defence) towers - which block all opponent units. This means your units have a change to build up behind the tower, and attack the group in front. But towers cannot be built anywhere - only in selected locations.

In the end, the core gameplay comes down to clicking the GUI buttons for building units - as quickly as possible. Gold never runs out, so you can build units indefinitely. Every build action (or spell) has a recharge time to prevent people clicking them like mad. Click like crazy for a while, and there is a reasonable chance you'll build a group of fighters... maybe.

Anyway, the game is reasonable fun - it just lacks the strategy that a RTS really has. In fact, S&S really is a casual RTS - there is rarely any need or way to apply any form of strategy.

[LonChris]

I think S&S was the best MSRP $10 videogame I've ever purchased (I got Plants Vs. Zombies for $6.99 on BigFish but I consider that a MSRP $20 game.) And yes I agree it's almost more of a button masher than an RTS but it is fun and family friendly - my 7 and 4 yr. old boys play vs. mode together. And while it's not a true RTS there are good beginner elements here - gold does run out so you have to choose multiple smaller units vs. 1 big one; do you all out attack, play defensively or build up gold reserves?
I'm looking forward to Flowerworks.

[shams]

I think S&S was the best MSRP $10 videogame I've ever purchased (I got Plants Vs. Zombies for $6.99 on BigFish but I consider that a MSRP $20 game.) And yes I agree it's almost more of a button masher than an RTS but it is fun and family friendly - my 7 and 4 yr. old boys play vs. mode together. And while it's not a true RTS there are good beginner elements here - gold does run out so you have to choose multiple smaller units vs. 1 big one; do you all out attack, play defensively or build up gold reserves?
I'm looking forward to Flowerworks.

Like most PC adapted, 'point and click' games it does have elements which make it playable by anyone - which is great. Timing is one of the harder things to explain to a newbie in gaming, and S&S doesn't really require it at all.

I haven't tried multiplayer, but I can see how it could be fun (and more fun, given that the AI tends to cheat :>).