Metacritic Games

Pocket Kingdom: Own the World (N-Gage)

The Map of Ulgress is in absolute chaos and advancing forces threaten the peace of your modest Pocket Kingdom! With only a handful of loot and a few trusted advisors, you must gather an army. The world’s first massively multiplayer mobile online game – only on N-Gage. Command over 100 fantasy units, from golems to lycanthropes to high elves. Equip your units wisely, choosing from over 250 items. Over 400 castle configurations. Explore Ulgress to collect the valuable resources you’ll need to forge devastating weapons and impenetrable armors. Build up funds in the N-Gage Arena auctions by selling off what you don’t need, and find a deal or two while you’re there. Gain experience in 1-player mode by defeating AI enemies; then, when you’re ready, enter the N-Gage Arena and declare war on the castles of players from across the globe. "N-Gage Arena Bosses" guard the way to higher levels of play, so you’re not pestered by those wet-behind-the-ears wannabes – until they outclass you, that is! [Nokia]

Nokia
Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, Empire Building
Players: Thousands
T (Teen)
Developer: Sega
Released November 8, 2004

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

70 / 100

Critic Reviews

92 Warcry
On sheer addictiveness alone, PK deserves the title of MMOG, and it's full of the "just one more" gameplay elements that make it incredibly hard to put down.
92 Just RPG
One of the most addictive games I’ve ever played on any platform. Building up a powerful army full of vampires, dragons and demons is a lot of fun, and there’s something enjoyable about totally slaughtering your opponents.
90 GameSpy
Pocket Kingdom is truly unique and truly exceptional. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying, habit-forming game experience anywhere.
90 1UP
Some gamers may initially be put off by the notion of computer controlled combat, but once players start to make use of the combination of items and begin to discover the depth of gameplay, Pocket kingdom quickly becomes a daily addiction. It's certainly done so for me.
90 eToychest
There are just so many different ways to build up and tackle this game that players naturally develop their own strategies and make the entire experience their own.
88 Console Gameworld
Despite the fact that the whole system may get boring if you play it for a long time in one sitting, it is a great game for those who are on the bus or in an airport terminal and want to get a quick shot of online mobile gaming.
82 GameZone
It's not revolutionary, it's not graphically advanced, nor does it offer a new type of gameplay. What it gives you is a different take on a genre that hasn't been promoted as much as it was in the late 90s.
80 Game Informer
The game's "leet"-speak dialogue is some of the funniest I have read in a long time. [Feb 2005, p.125]
80 AceGamez
With a host of strategic battle options to select, over one hundred unit types to choose from and thousands of fully customisable items to equip your armies, Pocket Kingdom: Own The World offers an almost endless array of tactics to try out and remarkably deep gameplay to keep even the most discerning gamer playing for a long, long time.
68 GameSpot
Although there are also some design choices here that are simply poor, the game gets enough right that you can at least see what Sega was aiming for.
60 GamerFeed
It's funny, because while you can't directly control your troops (you watch them fight), the game is still highly addictive. I just wish the menu navigation wasn't so monotonous.
60 Thunderbolt
A game that could be judged harshly for its clumsy interface and overuse of net-slang, but then again its depth and online mode stand out as a beacon of hope.
60 Modojo
While certain flaws make the game extremely frustrating at times, I still found myself picking it back up. You can be sure I will still be trying to "own the world" long after this article is published.
55 Electronic Gaming Monthly
Satisfying and addictive, even with the laggy menus and tedious item management. [March 2005, p.134]
50 Edge Magazine
The problem is that the menu design and control scheme is simply to cumbersome: requiring you to scroll endlessly back and forth through hypnotically slow menus screens, the game fails to take advantage of the N-Gage’s 12-button layout to offer any shortcuts. [Feb 2005, p.80]
50 Pocket Games
It has plenty of personality, but that doesn't translate into instant fun. [Spring 2005, p.81]
30 NTSC-uk
Far too often Pocket Kingdom is an uphill struggle. Though it takes its inspiration from the football management genre, it does not have the equivalent of the league table to make players feel like they can still claw their way back to the top after a defeat. An overwhelming sense of despair follows each defeat instead.

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