RATINGS:
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 7
Overall: 7.5
Pros: Lots of things to do right from the start, nice visuals, player interaction is encouraged.
Cons: Graphic engine sometimes slow and heavy, tutorial could be better.
The new browser-based strategic empire building MMO Sparta: War of Empires is developed by Plarium, a software company that is quite familiar with the genre as they already gave birth to multiple similar titles, e.g. Total Domination, Soldiers Inc. and Stormfall. We thought that it was about time to give their latest creation a try to learn what it has on offer for players.
Sparta: War of Empires thrusts players into ancient Greece where the proud Spartans are facing the ever-growing threat brought on by the malicious tyrant Xerxes and his huge Persian army. As common with this kind of games, players are put in charge of their own thriving city-state and it’s up to them to make it flourish or be responsible for its downfall. Under the guidance of King Leonidas himself, who offers help during the game’s early stages, they learn the ropes and prepare to make a stand against the Persian Empire, finding priceless allies or new foes along the way.
Since it is a browser game, the registration process is rather quick and simple and it only takes a few clicks to enter the game and admire your newly created town. This is where the tutorial begins, which consists of a number of quests that familiarise players with the various gameplay elements and features. Although indeed useful and principally clear, we felt that we were presented with way too many of them thrown at once and were just compulsively clicking pop-up windows to go on, grabbing rewards and advancing in the game on a fixed track, rather than actually playing and building a mighty empire. It’s obviously possible to decide not to follow them and play your own way; however, one would miss a lot of useful rewards and XP. We know that this kind of games is complex and there are a lot of features to learn and remember. Yet with a slightly slower pace, it would perhaps be a bit simpler for players to actually have fun and absorb information in order to know what click will trigger which action.
The visuals in Sparta: War of Empires are surprisingly good for a browser-based management/ strategy game. They offer a very pleasant and polished 2D style with a few minor animations which, without being confusing, certainly help to make your town look a bit more alive. There unfortunately aren’t any battle animations, just reports presenting the combat results.
A justified criticism we would like mention is the insufficient optimisation of the graphic engine, which sometimes just feels slow and heavy (which is intolerable for a game that players should be able to play on the fly), and moreover goes off-screen with certain resolutions, making it impossible to activate certain buttons while in full-screen.
The sounds deserve a word or two as well; there’s a quite enjoyable background music and a very good dubbing for Leonidas and some of the main quests, which actually is exceptionally rare in this kind of games.
The core gameplay is exactly what people would expect from a stategic empire building MMO. Players have to collect resources such as lumber, wheat and bronze, construct multiple buildings for various purposes, such as lumberyards, farms and mines, which yield the already mentioned resources, an infantry camp to recruit infantry troops, a stable to hire scouts, an oracle to find new camps to protect or attack each day and much more.
Building and production times are rather short, at least in the game’s early stages, which contributes to keeping a fast and entertaining pace with a lot of things to do right from the start. Players will also engage in their first battle very soon, and find themselves pillaging, defending or conquering enemy AI and player-controlled town within the first hours of gameplay. This was one of the highlights for us and we’re convinced that Plarium managed to find a very good pace that evokes the feeling in players that they are actually doing something without having to wait to have fun, as it is often the case with other browser-based strategy titles.
This furthermore makes it easy to understand the importance of the social features the game offers right from the start. In order to survive in this harsh world, it is highly recommended to interact with each other in order to help others with their neighbours, trade with others or join a larger alliance to find loyal companions and protection.
Conclusion
Sparta: War of Empires is a fun and entertaining strategic management browser game that tries to offer the best and most popular features of the genre without taking the risky route of innovation. Its nice visuals, pleasant sound as well as its variety and quantity of features make for an enjoyable game for casual and hardcore gamers alike. The game’s social aspects encourage players to interact with each other since the very beginning. The MMO is, of course, all but perfect, but for fans of the genre it definitely is even with a few flaws still worth a try.
Deja tu comentario
You must be logged in to post a comment.