In full disclosure I haven't played many real time strategy offerings on the iPhone. RTS is one of those genres that requires quick decision making on the part of the player and an equally speedy interface to execute those decisions. Understandably, a 3.5 inch screen and the somewhat imprecise method of controlling via finger (as opposed to a mouse) adds up to a serious hurdle for RTS game developers. Game Resort does a fair job of simplifying their interface to make Castle of Warriors a playable game. However, that simplification ultimately handicaps the player and (ironically) ramps up the difficulty to the point of frustration.Castle of Warriors features a Warcraft-esque duality between Orcs and Humans, wherein the orcs have violated an ancient peace treaty and are now bent on messing up the human's shit. So not much of a story, but the between-level text cards are refreshingly well-written. They inject some humor and context into an other-wise basic narrative.
For each level, the player is given a certain amount of days to annihilate the enemy. This annihilation is achieved by holding castles and taking new ones until no orc castles remain. To be clear, it doesn't matter if you kill all orcs present on the battlefield. The objective is purely to capture castles. This doesn't bode well for gameplay variety.
The strategy in CoW is derived from allocating your troops. You can send some, half, most of, or all of your strapping infantry to enemy castles, or to fortify your own. The number of troops in a particular castle is displayed on its flag, and naturally the higher number of troops you plop into a castle, the better likelihood you'll have of winning a battle. Exceptions to this rule include upgraded towers and more powerful troops. Each day of battle undergoes a cycle. At the end of the day, all of the infantry in the field return to their castles, regardless of whether they're in the middle of a siege. This can be quite annoying when you are seconds away from capturing an enemy castle, especially seeing as the more "captures" you manage to rack up during the day, the more reinforcements you are awarded the following. You can view each day's results by clicking on "view" or "recap."
Sidenote: I'm not sure if it was an intentional move on the part of the devs to have two buttons perform the same exact function, but in my version this was the unfortunate case.
The recap menu displays any bonuses you received for holding or taking new castles, winning skirmishes, etc. and the corresponding number of reinforcements awarded. I see tremendous potential for the inclusion of a money reward system, wherein you can purchase castle upgrades, new men, new buildings, etc. As it stands, castle upgrades are rewarded according to the number of troops you have in a castle by the end of a day. There are several different upgrades, from towers that scare away approaching hordes, to others that spray them with arrows, but there is no user control over the upgrade system.
For each level, the player is given a certain amount of days to annihilate the enemy. This annihilation is achieved by holding castles and taking new ones until no orc castles remain. To be clear, it doesn't matter if you kill all orcs present on the battlefield. The objective is purely to capture castles. This doesn't bode well for gameplay variety.
The strategy in CoW is derived from allocating your troops. You can send some, half, most of, or all of your strapping infantry to enemy castles, or to fortify your own. The number of troops in a particular castle is displayed on its flag, and naturally the higher number of troops you plop into a castle, the better likelihood you'll have of winning a battle. Exceptions to this rule include upgraded towers and more powerful troops. Each day of battle undergoes a cycle. At the end of the day, all of the infantry in the field return to their castles, regardless of whether they're in the middle of a siege. This can be quite annoying when you are seconds away from capturing an enemy castle, especially seeing as the more "captures" you manage to rack up during the day, the more reinforcements you are awarded the following. You can view each day's results by clicking on "view" or "recap."
Sidenote: I'm not sure if it was an intentional move on the part of the devs to have two buttons perform the same exact function, but in my version this was the unfortunate case.
The recap menu displays any bonuses you received for holding or taking new castles, winning skirmishes, etc. and the corresponding number of reinforcements awarded. I see tremendous potential for the inclusion of a money reward system, wherein you can purchase castle upgrades, new men, new buildings, etc. As it stands, castle upgrades are rewarded according to the number of troops you have in a castle by the end of a day. There are several different upgrades, from towers that scare away approaching hordes, to others that spray them with arrows, but there is no user control over the upgrade system.
Controlling CoW is simple. You navigate the battlefield by swiping your finger in the opposite of your desired direction (i.e. swipe down and you'll jump to the area above you) and select a castle by tapping on it. From there, you can scroll through the number of troops you want to send out and then tap on another castle to send them off. Scrolling through the various options is a time-consuming process in a game that requires quick move execution. I feel that the player would have been better served with a 4-option pop up stack (much like documents are viewed in Mac OS Leopard's Dock) to shave time off of this process. In addition, quickly scrolling all over the map is often slowed by sweaty fingers that accompany fast-paced RTS gameplay. The control simplifications, as friendly as they initially appear, end up strangling the fun out of the game by making it much more difficult than it should be. A couple semi-saving graces include on-screen pop ups that alert the player to actions on the field. When one of your castles is under attack, or reinforcements have arrived, simply tap on these pop ups and you'll be transported to the source of action.
You can choose between three difficulty levels, but I found myself mostly sticking to Normal, which provided more than enough challenge given the control quirks. Castle of Warriors features 12 single player missions, which can take anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes to complete. Thankfully Game Resort included a mid-level save function, though if you fail a mission it must be restarted from the beginning, and an hour of play is a lot of time to dedicate to one mission of an underwhelming game. Game Resort missed another opportunity in online play, which would have countered some of the control issues seeing as human players would be evenly handicapped.
Presentation in Castle of Warriors is a lovely change of pace. The 3D battlefields are endowed with a spherical curvature that orients the user as if he is spinning a globe in space. The character models (while not 3D) are still fun to look at, as are the skirmishes between races. The whole game has a very polished medieval visual aesthetic, and the accompanying music and sound effects blend in nicely. Game Resort can be commended for their visual and auditory design chops.
TS Recommendation:
You can choose between three difficulty levels, but I found myself mostly sticking to Normal, which provided more than enough challenge given the control quirks. Castle of Warriors features 12 single player missions, which can take anywhere from 10 - 45 minutes to complete. Thankfully Game Resort included a mid-level save function, though if you fail a mission it must be restarted from the beginning, and an hour of play is a lot of time to dedicate to one mission of an underwhelming game. Game Resort missed another opportunity in online play, which would have countered some of the control issues seeing as human players would be evenly handicapped.
Presentation in Castle of Warriors is a lovely change of pace. The 3D battlefields are endowed with a spherical curvature that orients the user as if he is spinning a globe in space. The character models (while not 3D) are still fun to look at, as are the skirmishes between races. The whole game has a very polished medieval visual aesthetic, and the accompanying music and sound effects blend in nicely. Game Resort can be commended for their visual and auditory design chops.
TS Recommendation:
As most long-time gamers can attest, gameplay is what makes the game. As pretty as Castle of Warriors looks, it's hampered by simplified controls and a lack of user customization. As the price of CoW has just risen from $.99 to $1.99, this is a tricky recommendation for Thumb Spree. Hard core RTS fans will most likely squeeze enjoyment out of the game as a nice-looking challenge. For those simply looking for a new addition to their library, I'd hold out for a future price drop. The bottom line, Castle of Warriors is a conditional Try. Don't say you haven't been warned.Lite Version: No
Compatible Devices: All Devices Supported
Test Device: iPhone 3G
Compatible Devices: All Devices Supported
Test Device: iPhone 3G
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