Age Of Darkness: Final Stand

As I write this Age Of Darkness: Final Stand is in early access and it is one of the most interesting real time strategy games to be released this year. I thought it would be fun if we took a little look at the game and had a look at what I feel are some of the features that make this one of the more interesting RTS games to be released this year.

The Fog!

No, I am not talking about the epic movie made by John Carpenter (and the remake was not as bad as people said by the way) the fog in Age Of Darkness: Final Stand is like an entity! It engulfs the land and causes damage and worst of all, conceals the nightmare creatures that want to rip and tear your troops apart. There can be a new dawn, but you must fight and survive for it.

I love the whole premise of what is going on here and think that the bones for a great story are certainly here. I just hope that in the final build of the game the story is fleshed out as I really want to know what exactly this fog is and where it came from.

SwarmTech!

One of the things that made me most interested in Age Of Darkness: Final Stand was this technology called “Swarmtech”. What this does is allow for up to 70,000 enemy units on the screen at any one time. When you see these creatures swarming in motion it is an amazing sight and something that will make you extra nervous about the decisions you are making on the battlefield.

Surviving The Night

This game features procedurally generated battlefields and has many rogue-like elements as well which is something many RTS games are doing these days. The whole idea is to fight back the fog with light and you do this by organizing your units, making use of specific heroes’ abilities, and trying to make the right decisions at the right time. If you do survive the night, you get to pick from one of three blessings which can then be added to your army to give you some kind of buff.

While you have various heroes that you can use in battle in Age Of Darkness: Final Stand, so does this nightmare force! They have elite roaming champions that can cause extreme damage with their own powers and abilities. However, when you do slay one of these you are rewarded with some resources that can come in really handy.

Progression Is The Key

I already touched on the heroes, but these can be made even more useful by leveling them up and micromanaging them to make sure you are getting the best out of them. There is also a skill tree system here that allows you to upgrade your various units to make them stronger, learn new moves, and so on. There is a real sense of progression here and even when you lose, I am sure you will be able to take something from it to use in your next battle.

Pros:

• The premise of the story is very interesting
• I love the Swarmtech and how the enemies move
• You have a nice selection of heroes and units
• This game is sure to be challenging, but it also looks a great deal of fun too

Cons:

• I really do hope that the story lives up to the great premise they have created
• I do worry that the sheer amount of enemies may be overwhelming at first