The most entertaining devious use of AI on AI fun in an NRTS (nearly RealTimeStrategy). Or RTS for those passive aggressive gamers. Setup the conditions for two AI to duke it out to almost annihilation. Should either AI die you fail. Carnage required for certain build options to open.
One expansion available to toy with 2 additional cultural AIs for a reasonable fraction of original purchase price.
Good:
- Lots of depth in trying to balance the two sides while fighting off Woes (think natural disasters in Sim City), bandits, and yourself.
- The way the two sides are intentionally unbalanced is brilliant and adds a lot of strategy in planning your towns, miracles and moves.
- I actually found myself attached to Blue due to their early underdog status and for the entirety of the game I coddled them while destroying Red while still playing as Red. It was a strange but awesome feeling.
- Great music by Pablo
- Lots of difficulty options and many variables
- Low Price
- Great tutorial for an Arcen game
Cons:
- It will never be as good as AI War (making 9 the highest score I give these days)
The core idea of a balancing a strategy game with limited player control is intriguing, but I found the execution of that idea, and the representations it used, unsatisfying. Arcen has made an ongoing and admirable effort to keep tweaking the game (although some patches have rolled out insufficiently tested), but I'm just not sure that anything they can do will address the essential dullness of its opening and closing phases.
Skyward Collapse is unique game where you are against yourself. Even this concept is not fresh idea game does it in new way. Game never give full control to player and you are more like a mapmaker when two AI try to annihilate each other. when you build towns and map and create mythological creatures and gods you have fun time watching a result, but lack of variety that is not so much.
I must recognize Music and graphics that Skyward Collapse has offer. Example main menu theme is peaceful melody with skillful solo singing. Graphics are typical in the bird's eye viewed games and doesn't make anything big and stay in simple things. Even so there is many nice details in sprites and eyes can rest peaceful when you play.
Summa summarum Skyward Collapse is nice game with potential to be something bigger but result is average game. There is nothing bad in this game but after all Skyward Collapse has offer too little from promises
I want to like this game: it's got depth, it's got strategy, it forces yourself to pit your mind vs yourself. However, I just can not get into it. I start the game up, play for 20 minutes, and then get bored. Maybe I'm just not that interesting an opponent? There really isn't as much depth here as I would have liked. Also, the game font is smaller than my eyes can easily read. All said, it just doesn't have what it takes to keep me focused long enough to enjoy this game. I get the impression if I played a little longer I'd really enjoy it. I just can't force myself to play that long.
The game features a "you vs you vs world" scenario: build and manage two empires that attempt to destroy each other at every turn while dealing with such things as floods, bandits, etc. To win, you must achieve a pre-determined score that requires your two empire to destroy each of their bases while you build new ones for them.
The game concept is interesting enough, but does get quite tedious at time. Strategy here is not in-depth and you can quite easily climb the difficulty ladder without really focusing on planning and effeciency.
Only two races are present for you to choose from, and both are required. This leads you feeling underpowered in terms of choice and flexibility. It will always ever be "you vs you vs world", and never "you vs you vs you vs you vs world" or something to that extent.
The game was worth buying for just under $5, however, logging more than 10 hours will probably be impossible for me.
SummaryHow do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The C...