So I have several hours into this game and have found all the subs, almost all the experimental weapons and am about to embark on the last story chapter (at least I think it is the last). I really like games like XCom and the Jagged Alliance series (plus all mods and unofficials...) so I may be slightly biased. I would actually give this 3,5 starts which I round up to a 4. 3 would feel too low :) The good so far * The different character classes are different enough to offer some different game styles * Simplistic UI and commands make it easy to learn and enough mechanics to allow some level of tactical planning * Good sounds and music * Different setting and various types of enemies (although it takes a while to progress beyond the raiders) * The simple gameplay makes you play just a one scenario more and sucks you in although you know the loot is shit and the map is again a variant of the same map you've seen 100 times before. The Bad: * Gets really repetitive: No matter if you are rescuing a civilian, finding gear (which usually is quite shit tbh), finding fuel or infiltrating a cultist base they all feel the same. You end up killing all enemies and looting the place and you rinse and repeat this over and over again. * Sometimes the AI acts really strangely but luckily quite often it fares pretty well * I felt that the game was actually harder in the beginning than the later sections * Repetitive. Did I mention it? Been grinding those maps and side missions which are all the same so I forgot about the main plot. Was it something about a riled up AI building Androids to kill humankind (Waterworld + Terminator)?
First of all I haven't been a huge fan of platformers since I got rid of my SNES when I was a teen. And secondly I'm not a fan of anime/manga stylish games either. That aside, this here, is a great game. Nice animation & colorful graphics, smooth and responsive controls and satisfying battles. This could get you hooked for hours. And beneath all there's an actual story that's pretty well written. I bought this just to try it out and I was very pleasantly suprised. That doesn't happen too often.
If you like HOMM, Masters of Magic and Age of Wonders, you're likely to enjoy this game also. Prepare to be frustrated though as Eador offers no way to save your game. It saves itself after every turn or when you exit the game. The world of Eador has been shattered into shards that you must conquer and add to your world. Every Shard is a different map that consists of provinces. Build up your castle, explore provinces with your heroes, do quests and ultimately win the shard by defeating the enemy lord (or lords) that are on the same Shard. Winning a shard usually gives you new buildings and units that you can use on your next shard-invasions. The difficulty is rather hard. I managed to conquer 12 shards at a beginner level (and this took hours) until a AI Creator attacked my world (I don't know how he did that). The AI was suddenly at expert level and I made few fatal errors early in the battle that eventually cost me my world and the entire campaign was over. These are the moments when you really miss the save/Load option... Well, I'll probably give it another try later on..
This review is based on the vanilla version of this game which I have on CD. If you liked Jagged Alliance series you will most definetly like this gem. Imagine nice 3D graphics, destructible environment (I mean houses that really collapse), pretty realistic ragdoll physics and a variety of weapons, bombs, traps etc. that give you a variety of options how to finish the missions. Want to go downstairs but cant get to the stairs quickly? Just use full auto with your machine gun on the floor and use the hole to descent. This game has a "Dirty Dozen" kind of feeling to it. It'll give you many unscripted, unforgettable moments: My team got under a sniper fire and was forced to lay down. Only my machine gunner managed to sneak up in to the attic where the sniper was and opened a full auto fire with a MG34 machine gun on the sniper. In result the sniper flew out of the attic window and crashed on to a fence below. Other moments include a ricochet bullet that hit a set of gas ganisters which in turn blew up the entire house my team were in. Frustrating as hell, but realistic. As you progress, your team members gain experience and their stats increase and they gain levels. On every level they you can choose a new skill for them depending on their class (yes, this game has a few classes like medic, grenadier, scout etc.). Most of the new skills are trivial but there's also a few unbalanced skills like the Always Inflict Critical for the sniper. I'll give this a solid 5 stars even though the end game is not as good as it could have been due to the sci-fi nonsense (WW2 Mech Warriors, WTF?). + Realistic physics + Ability to destroy almost anything + Strategy really matters + Decent graphics + Freedom of movement + Character Creation - Those Mech-suits are annoying - AI is not the sharpest guy out there in some situations - Few unbalanced things you can exploit to make the game pretty easy - Team members do not have interactions or even interesting personalities.
