What do you think of when you hear the words “Capture the Flag” “Bombing Run” and “Double Domination”?  To me those words are synonymous with First Person Shooters.  But what about real time strategy games?  Sure these modes are available in some RTS games but in Arena Wars the focus squarely is on Capture the Flag, Bombing Run and Double Domination.  You won’t even miss not having a story mode or a mission based objective. 

Everything in Arena Wars has been streamlined to offer a great playing experience.  You don’t have to worry about keeping a special character alive in the game, or taking over a generator plant.  The goal is simple, just win.  Basic, pure and easy for any gamer to understand.  Score the most points, win the game and move on to the next round. 

As I mentioned earlier Arena Wars offers three different gameplay modes: Capture the Flag, Bombing Run and Double Domination.  Capture the Flag premise is to capture the enemies flag and take the flag to your base.  Once you’ve returned the enemies flag to your base you score a point.  Bombing Run’s premise is to take a bomb and place it in the enemies’ base and have the bomb explode within the base.  Once the bomb explodes at the enemies’ base you earn a point.  Double Domination is where you have to occupy two points on a map for a set period of time.  If you hold the locations long enough you score a point.  For every gameplay mode the goal is the same, to score more points then your enemy.  The number of points might range from 3 to 5 points depending on the type of game. 

Just three gameplay modes might not seem like much but the game is a blast to play.  The game plays amazing well and you won’t get bored with just Capture the Flag, Bombing Run and Double Domination.  The game offers a single player and online multiplayer modes.  The single player mode even includes several different options such as two-player capture the flag mode, where you and the computer team against the computer in a match.  There are even some additional challenges such as a fun tournament and an insane tournament.  The fun tournament is composed of 10 different types of modes with extra items included, you against more than one opponent, and possibly smaller maps.  The insane tournament has you competing in 10 different types of modes but the difficulty is “insane.”

Since Arena Wars is a RTS you’re in control of your army that is composed of several different units.  You start the game off at your base with $1000.00 to spend on your units.  You see which units are available on the side of the screen.  By clicking on a specific unit the unit will be built at your base.  Once the unit is built it’s located at an assembly point where you can then control the unit.  But the great idea that I loved was the fact that you will always have $1000.00 to spend on your units.  This doesn’t mean that you have an unlimited amount of money to spend but the concept is similar.  Once a unit is destroyed you have the value of that unit added back to your account.  If a buggy unit costs $50.00, once that buggy unit is destroyed the $50.00 you spent on the unit is returned. 

Think about that for a minute.  If you’re going up against a skilled opponent this could mean an almost unlimited amount of time spent in the game.  I would say this is similar to a spawn point idea in an online FPS game.  Sometimes those games can go on forever, because you’ve got players that work together to make sure the flag is captured before making it to the enemies’ base.   Well in Arena Wars you can think of your units as different players in the game that you have control over.   Since you never have to worry about running out of money or units the game allows you to focus on actually playing the game and (what a concept) having fun.      

Some additional ideas available within the game are the ability to upgrade your units, the power plants and special items.  By upgrading your units you can have faster and more powerful units available during that particular map.  So let’s say you upgrade a buggy unit, once the upgrade is complete all of the buggy units will be upgraded during the duration of that particular game.  Also during the game you have to pay close attention to your power plant.   If a power plant is destroyed all of your units will be unavailable for 10 seconds, which could be long enough to place a bomb or capture a domination point.  The game includes items that you can use during the game to help or hinder the units.  The items range from armor, invincibility, speed up, slow down or insanity. 

Arena Wars offers gamers a simple, easy to play game that offers some great gameplay.  For RTS fans they might be surprised by how simple and stripped down the game is but they will probably be hooked by the excellent gameplay.  FPS fans that have never tried a RTS game before will probably have a blast playing Arena Wars.  Remember great things can come in small packages and great games can come out of nowhere.

Gameplay 8.2 

The controls are easy and straightforward for anyone.  You’re in control of your army of units that range from a Buggy to an Artillery unit.  You click on the unit you want to control and then right click on the location you want the unit moved to.  If you want to pick up a flag or bomb you just right click on the flag or bomb.  The unit will automatically pick up the flag or bomb.  Then you right click on where you want to move the unit again.  If you want to attack an enemy unit you simply right click on the enemy and your unit will start attacking the enemy.  That’s it!  Simple and easy. 

Graphics 8.2 

The game is presented in a top down view similar to other RTS games.  You can zoom in on your units but only up to a certain point, which I would say is about a 50% zoom level.  The graphics are well done for this type of game since really it’s all about the gameplay anyway.  All of the units in the game look great, are animated nicely and have some nice special effects included as well.  For example the tank unit (the Destroyer) has the ability to teleport to another location on the map and the effect looks good.  All of the maps are very similar to each other and look almost the same.  The explosion effects were well done but not overblown.  Moving around the map I did notice an occasional stutter but it wasn’t a big deal.  This isn’t an eye candy game but the graphics fit the game great and didn’t distract from the game.

Sound 8.3 

The first item I noticed about the sound effects were the voices during the game.  When you capture a flag or a bomb the announcer sounded similar to the announcer in the Unreal Tournament games.  I thought this was a nice touch and added to excitement and atmosphere of the game.  Each unit has their own voices and will confirm your orders when you’ve clicked on them.  Surprisingly the voices didn’t get repetitive during the game.  The sound effects of the explosions and units were nicely done as well with each unit having their own sound effect.  All of the sound effects came through loud and clear and were a nice touch to the game. 

Difficulty Medium 

At first I thought I was going to have to rate the difficulty a medium to high because the computer was having its way with me.  During the single player Capture the Flag mode I kept losing over and over again to the computer.  I was getting frustrated and angry at the game.  But then I started to watch what the computer was doing and started to mimic the computers’ strategy.  Soon after I was able to take out the computer easier than I had before.  But what was strange was I still had difficulty in the Capture the Flag mode but in Bombing Run I was able to smoke the computer in every game.  Since the game is an RTS you will need to practice your strategies to make sure they do work against the computer. 

Concept 9.0 

Games nowadays try to be everything to everyone.  Gamers want a driving game, FPS, RTS, RPG and any other abbreviation in gaming included in every game released.  But what happens when all of this happens?  Quite often gamers end up with a mess of a game that leaves them scratching their head trying to figure out what to do.  Arena Wars tries to blend a RTS game with some popular elements from FPS games (Capture the Flag, Bombing Run and Double Domination).  But what makes Arena Wars so good is the fact that it excels at what games should do: fun and entertaining gameplay.   

Multiplayer

The game does offer an online multiplayer mode that can be played over the internet or via LAN.  All of the gameplay modes are available online as well.  Unfortunately I was unable to test the online mode since there was no one available on the American servers when I would play the game.  Hopefully more players will pick up the game in America so we can try out the online multiplayer.

Overall 8.4 

Remember motto number 1 of games “Games should be fun.”  Well Arena Wars offers gamers a fun filled experience.  Whether you’re an RTS fan or a FPS fan you should give Arena Wars a try.  The good graphics, easy to use control and excellent concept will give players much to enjoy.  However the difficulty and lack of additional gameplay modes might leave some gamers looking for something else.  Gamers shouldn’t overlook Arena Wars when they see it at their local gaming store.  Pick it up, give it a try and you won’t be disappointed.