AI War Collection

There are two kinds of RTS players: The competitive multiplayer crowds and the more comfortable single-player gamers who like to sit back and try out new strategies against a challenging AI opponent. Modern RTS games have almost exclusively favored the former group, but if you're in the latter then AI Wars is the best post-Red Alert 2 RTS game you could ask for. Almost every aspect of each randomly-generated campaign can be tailored to your style, from the map size (which can get pretty massive) to the AI's personality to the presence of third-party factions, so the result is a single-player (or co-op) experience that can scratch almost any RTS itch you have. Keep in mind that even experienced RTS players will need to spend a good chunk of time in tutorial campaigns. AI Wars is complex, and sadly its spotty documentation and interface don't offer much help. There are key tactical options that you have to learn almost by accident (like the fact that Champion frigates can warp back to your home base at any moment) and other hotkey functions that require multiple keys to do routine maneuvers. In fact one of the key factors in AI Wars' challenge is figuring out what weapons work best against what ships, and the intel reports that offer such information on each ship are horribly messy. The graphics in this game are oddly schizophrenic too. While I don't expect an indie game to look impressive, AI Wars is loaded with assets that look as though they came from 5 different games. You'll see meticulously-modeled home bases surrounded by pixel-art frigates and some rather cheesy nebulae in the background. The soundtrack is great in that 80's sci-fi sense, but has way too many melodramatic piano tracks for a game that almost completely lacks a story. As good as AI Wars is right now, I can't help but feel it would be a much, much better game with a redesigned UI and consistent art direction. That said, it's still one of the best single-player RTS experiences in recent memory.

AI War is one of those games that describes its own arc of fanaticism. On first play, it's a graphically underwhelming, but mechanically overwhelming mess. You lose the game in a frustrating way. You know it's a good game, and maybe you stop playing it rather than dial down the difficulty, because that would harm your ego. On second play, you get the basics, the thrust of the game, and might walk away at this point, thinking you understand it. And you probably do. But you lose anyway, and though it's clear why, and you're pretty irritated about it. Unlike first play, you're itching for a rematch. On third play, you up the difficulty, sprinkle in the little additions of the expansions, and tune the game to your desire play style. And you lose again, but you realize why and what you were up against. And it was much more interesting this time. By the fourth play, you already know that you love the game even though you were wrong on play 3: you don't understand it, but it remains within your grasp. And you lose again, or you win, but only because you made it too easy. So, back to the lobby, to add more resistance... By the fifth play, you may already know that you're going to stop playing it for a while, but that you'll pick it up again in a couple months. You aren't sure if you love the game or not, but you know you'll be back. The end result is what I call a "career game," a game that you never completely master, never finish, never uninstall, and never stop playing. It's like Sid Meier's Civilization, or Chess, or a good stiff roguelike: a continual challenge that's as hard as you want to make it, and the most fun when you're not sure whether you're going to survive or not. Humanity needs saving again, against terrible odds. Time to start another game.

I read a few review from GOG players about this game. THey convinced me to give it a try. And her goes the wow... I took me 10 hours to finish the tutorials. And I just scratched the surface of the complexity of this game. The strategical mechanism are here, if you play smart, you win, if you just press attack, you lose. For one situation there are a 10 ways to react, and each one offers 10 other gameplay possibilities. The best 4X game I have ever played, with so much to discover that it continues to surprise the gamers that started it when it was first launched 5 years ago. A living community, with a real proximity with the developpers. A real challenging game (the developpers say that if you beat the hardest level, it must be a glitch). The AI is incredible, totally parametrable. Ton of expansions have been applied over ther years, the game is rebalanced every now and then to make sure the experience is still enjoyable. You should definitely give it a try.

I truly HATE this type of game usually. I made it through Supreme Commander 1 & 2 about 3 levels each before uninstalling. The micro/macro zoom back and forth here and there just irritates me no end. That said, this is the first one of those games I've even come close to liking. I'm now at 26 hours of in game time, also having spent maybe 4-5 hours watching video, reading online to figure out how to play it, finishing a couple of failed matches I just bailed on after realizing I'd misunderstood some key game mechanic, and then reading more. This game has one nasty learning curve. I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but I'm still going back to I guess that's a sign. What made me stick with it this far is that AI Wars is set up better than most any RTS game I've ever played when it comes to limiting the amount of micro you have to do on each world. Once you learn some of the faster ways to check things, it becomes far less tedious. Even still, the 80 map ones were getting irritating after the initial fun expansion push. I think I'll try a 40-60 map one next time. Looks more pleasant to get a grasp of what's going on.

Normally, I'm not one to enjoy playing against computers in a game. They just are too predictable, and either cheat or are a pushover. This game however, is different. It's the one game I can really enjoy facing off against the AI. The thing is though, while it's fun in single-player, it really shines in multi-player (even with just one partner). All resources are shared, as are the various unlocks you can capture from the AI. In addition, one player can play as a real player, and the others can simply fly around in capital ships wreaking havoc upon the galaxy. Alternatively, they can control one or more planets, and let their partner(s) control the rest, and have no loss of power. Lastly, it must be acknowledged that these games (appropriately named "campaigns"), can go on for many, many hours. On average they seem to last 15/16, but if it's your first few games, can easily reach 20+ hours. Don't let that last part deter you! The game is great, as is playing it multiplayer. If anything, the time investment is extremely rewarding when you managed to pull together a victory, and if you can't, make losses that much more hurtful.