Armageddon Empires

[Alan Bolte]

I downloaded the demo when it was recommended by Penny Arcade, and at first I thought it was pretty awesome. You've got your Magic-style card game component, the post-apocalyptic environment, a hex map strategy game, and fairly intuitive if slightly clunky interface. But then I beat the game on my first try in just 21 rounds. The demo allows 30. A fluke, right? Nope, the AI really is that bad. It doesn't seem to be utterly retarded, it has yet to make any really glaring errors, it just isn't challenging at all. My primary obstructions in beating the game in 30 turns are difficult terrain or bad luck in drawing recon cards into my hand.

Already I had decided not to buy the full version unless they add internet multiplayer. That it isn't already a component is understandable in an indie game, but still irritating. The lack of other networked multiplayer (PBEM wouldn't work for combat) is also understandable. What I can't understand is the lack of hotseat - I had a lot of fun with hotseat multiplayer in Space Empires II's demo, which is what prompted me to buy Space Empires III and play PBEM games. On an unrelated note, I found SE4 and 5 to be too complex for my taste, or perhaps just poorly executed.

Anyhow, you'd think I wouldn't like Armageddon Empires. That's simply not true. I absolutely love the demo, both because the system itself is awesome, and because the 30 turn time limit actually makes the game challenging in a weird way. Buying the full version would actually make the game less fun, because it would be too easy to beat.

At this time I cannot access the web page, but if it were up the demo could be found here.