Mushroom wars

[Reaperman]

 

 

I've had this little gem for a few days now, and it's doing pretty well. It's a quick, simple rts with local multiplayer, campaign and skirmish modes. And when I say simple, I mean it. None of this micromanagement stuff, it's all mid/high-level. The only rts I've played that was simpler was Lord Monarch--and if you've played that one, you'll know about what to expect for simplicity and pacing. Life moves quickly.

 

Controls are about the best I've seen in a console rts. joystick moves from building to building, holding R1 brings up the troop movement menu (there's a face button for 25/50/75/100%), while holding L1 brings up the upgrade menu (a face button changes the structure type to one of the others available, or upgrades current). No need to even think about controls they're so intuitive that thinking about them only makes them seem harder.

 

object is to manage your attack/defend populations a bit like risk or master of orion. Defend buildings you've got while capturing more. There's only one unit type in the game, but 3 building types. a little house that grows people, a tower that shoots people, and a hut that makes everybody you have fight a little harder. Aside from the ranged towers, combat is handled inside the buildings and monitored by watching the numeric troop counter outside (except for hard mode where there are no counters). Also, there's a morale componant where if the enemy starts winning battles against you, it gets easier for them to do so for a while (naturally it works the other way too).

 

There's no demo available, and while the preview movie shows the game well, it also makes the game look real complex, where the whole beauty of the thing is that it just isn't. Have another look at the preview movie (link) and don't be afraid to pick this one up if this sounds like you. If you lean toward action that needs more than one screen to happen, or are a fan of deep stories, $10 may be a bit rich for this one. There is also no internet play

 

I'm going to have to steal some locals so I can get this local multiplayer going. The interface is so quick and simple nobody is going to step on eachother's toes and there's no need for any crazy split screens. (the top pic is a local 4-player match) Learning curve is probably about half an hour for a beginner to be up to the level of annoying a vetran.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Reaperman