Armada 2526
Review
Turn-Based fun, the old-fashioned way
by Sergio Brinkhuis
reviewed on PC
Running an empire (cntd)
While some research branches make complete sense, others are utterly confusing. The shield research tree is riddled with ships and has absolutely nothing to do with shields. If you consider a ship to be a weapon, then it is logical to research ships in that area, but personally I’d have expected weapon types and upgrades there. And if you would think that Hyperspace Research has something to do with engines, but you’d be wrong. You’ll mostly be researching ship types here too. Engine upgrades are also absent from the roster. If your ship is born with an engine that travels 4 light years now, it will do so forever. These odd tech trees are probably my only real gripe with the game. Let’s hope that Armada 2527 will introduce more rational tech trees.
Your population loves clean air and low taxes. Bad luck for them, as you need loads of cash and production facilities churning out new ships with every turn. Happiness is derived through entertainment and environment enhancing buildings such a Terraformers and Weather Control Stations. These have to counteract the effects of pollution and bureaucracy, the latter of which can have a major impact on larger empires. So much in fact that it is likely to strangle the economy of larger empires up to the point that they’ll have to take severe measures like destroying research centers and decreasing the fleet. And all that just so that your planets can be turned into virtual Vegas planets with tons of expensive Entertainment Centers to keep the population happy. Who said it was easy running an empire? Not me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
War!
When the fleets of two or more species meet, the game offers the player a chance to declare war, fight a manual battle or go straight to the results of an AI-controlled one. Manual battles offer more control, but only slightly. Combat consists of pointing your forces towards the enemy you would like them to attack and that is all there is to it. Your only other decisions consist of pushing the retreat button, putting a group of ships under AI control and landing your ground troops on the planet.
With no weapon or shield upgrades and very little tactical or strategic decisions to make, one would think combat would be a ‘numbers’ only game where having the bigger army determines the outcome of a battle. This is true, for the most part. Psychic abilities are used automatically by your forces and being skilled in this area – can – make a difference. Other than that, ordering your ships to take out particularly dangerous adversaries first may also tip the balance. Being as limited as it is, manual combat quickly becomes boring and I expect most players will simply push the ‘auto’ button unless they are up against a particularly well defended planet.
Even without ships to protect them, your planets are far from being helpless when an enemy fleet arrives. Missile stations, devastating Sun Beams and Guardian space stations can exact a heavy toll on any fleet. While there is no limit imposed on the number of planetary defenses, they do require maintenance and the high upkeep may not always match the strategic value of the planet itself.
Thumbs up?
I would have preferred combat to be turn based like in the Master of Orion games. Not because I don’t like real-time battles but because it would have been easier to create a fulfilling combat experience. It’s just too simple now. Research is a major concern and I would like to really impress upon the developers that they fix this in a future release, possible even in a patch. Technologies should fit with the area of research and the game should have a few unique ones to every race.
You may have noticed that I have thus far neglected to mention the graphics, and for good reason. They’re simplistic, sometimes boring and often in dire need of attention. Paper-dolls with different colors to depict what species populates a planet just doesn’t cut it in this day and age.
Ultimately, however, these things do not detract from a generally pleasurable experience. The game may be a bit old fashioned and could have been released in 2002 but it offers the ‘good old fun’ gameplay so sorely missed in many strategy titles today. And if you are wondering if the game is a match for the Master of Orion games, the answer would be no, but it comes close. With good Turn-Based Strategy games being as rare as they are, Armada 2526 deserves some brownie points for doing what so few dare.
Now, if you will forgive me, I need to get back to the game. There is a nasty Klurgu fleet pounding on my colonies and I need to scramble to their defense.
7.8
fun score
Pros
You will be playing this into the wee hours of the night.
Cons
Odd tech trees and simplistic battles.
