FORTS Review
Genre: Action, Strategy
Developer: EarthWork Games
Publisher: EarthWork Games
Release Date: Apr 19, 2017
Price: $14.99 (As of Release)
(Information from Steam)
FORTS! PATRIOTISM! REFERENCES! MORE FORTS! This game has them all! But seriously, this entry into the RTS Genre is both light and complex. EarthWork Games has done a solid job in this entry. It places you in control of building multiple forts across the world. Why are you building forts across the world? Well, I suggest watching their trailer. It is funny and gives you good insight into the game.
So how accurate IS the trailer? Well, pretty good. It demonstrates the "pop" that these games tend to end on. It also shows some of the offbeat humor that pokes at current political events and fervent nationalism.
So, what is the set up for the campaign? Well, if you didn't watch that video I linked for some crazy reason, I'll reiterate it for you. Sometime in the future, all the oil and metal in the world is scarce. In fact, oil has been depleted to the point where there is only one rumored source left, and the three world powers left (proxies for the United States, Russia, and China) are fighting over it. As the campaign starts, it is very simple, but it quickly ramps up until the point where it took me the better part of 20 minutes to figure out how to overcome campaigns. This is great, because it actually helps improve your game play for when you decide to tackle multiplayer. By the way, you should totally dip your toes in multiplayer, if only to experience the chaos.
However, I spent most of my time in single player, because that's how I roll. I gotta say, I loved it. It has the small simple levels that reminded me of games like Angry Birds. Even the mechanic of "Shoot to the right and destroy things" carries over. However, this is where the similarities end. The whole game revolves around building a base, stocking it with weapons, then using them to destroy the enemy base and prevent them from doing likewise. This becomes a game of balancing your objectives (which unlock more levels) and building to the powerful weapons so you can quickly destroy your enemy.
To build that, it is a fairly simple interface. You have 3 types at the bottom: Materials, Devices, and Weapons. Materials determine with what you build your base, such as the bracing and doors. Devices are for non-weapon sub-buildings, such as mines and the factory. Finally, weapons are the items you point at the enemy team to make them go away. You start the game with a reactor you have to protect. If it goes nuclear and explodes, you lose. You can either manually add to existing joints, or drag sections to automatically let the game handle connecting things for you.
As you build, you run into increasingly convoluted situations you have to build around, like a maze of tunnels you have to build in while avoiding the walls. Since physics are a factor, your building starts to sag and might randomly explode if joints or connectors have too much pressure on them. So, no biggie to build a reasonable base.
Overall, I would say this is a great game. It is quick to learn, and it is challenging to overcome the game scenarios the further you progress. However, there are some issues where the difficulty of missions fluctuates and you will ace some while needing to spend several attempts to finish others.
PROS:
- Tight gun-play
- Super rewarding to get the final volley off and finish a match
- Interesting maps keep the race to the laser different.
CONS:
- Each match seems to finish with with the Canons or Lasers
- Difficulty isn't as smooth as an upward trend as it could be, leading to some frustrating moments
- Finding an online match can be spotty, but it is definitely there.
Thanks to EarthWork Games for providing us the Steam codes to use for this review!