Mankind has been fighting over natural resources for decades. We’ve evolved to a point where we can settle most of our differences through diplomacy and trade, but a time will come in the far (or near) future when certain resources will be endangered. I wonder how civilized we would be as a race and how well we’d truly react under pressure?
Greed Corp (PC, Mac, XBox 360, PS3)
Greed Corp follows along those lines, taking place in a time and place where resources are almost depleted. Players will be competing against other AI bots or human players, trying to be the last corporation standing. Up to four players can play at once, either locally or online.
This is a turn based game, that is, players will be taking turns moving their armies around and placing various buildings. The mechanic that makes this game stand out is the way players collect resources. Maps are in the shape of hexagonal tiles that are in the sky, each with their own preset starting “level”. Some tiles start out higher than others. When a harvester is placed to collect resources, it “pounds” the ground every turn and lowers the tile it is standing on, plus all adjacent tiles surrounding it. After enough turns, the tiles (and anything on them) break away into the grand below and the map becomes that much smaller.
Destroying land is necessary to get ahead in Greed Corp.
I didn’t think I’d like that mechanic, but it turns out that it forced me to think about what land I wanted to give up so that I could fund my war effort. In effect, it became a turn based puzzle game, at least for me. I had to determine where I was going to go after said land was unusable and ensure that I could continue harvesting somewhere else to keep bringing in the dough. This game requires the user to think ahead, reminding me a little of Chess and Khet in that regard.
Helping you to be the last corporation standing are a few buildings that you can purchase to bring the hurt to everyone else. You can build armories that allow you to build more troops, cannons that allow you to purchase (and fire) ammunition, and transporters that allow you to ferry troops across a great distance. All of these things require money, and you’re limited on how much money you have since the primary method of acquiring it is by destroying precious land. Harvesters can be used as an offensive tool, if placed in the right spots, as they can destroy land and cut off the enemy from expanding.
Cannons allow you to snipe enemies from afar, while destroying their land in the process.
The key to winning a match is simply to outmaneuver the other guy. You’ll often be on equal footing for a while until the tiles begin falling away, in which case, one of you will make a mistake that will set you behind far enough to lose. There are some maps that really punish players for making mistakes, but it’s all part of the learning experience. If there’s one thing that you should take away from this game, it’s the importance of location, location, location!
I appreciate the game’s ability to play locally. Normally you’d have to buy two games and own two separate computers to play games with people in your household, which can get expensive. With its campaign mode for single player and its skirmish modes for multiplayer, the game continues to have high replayability, even if at times it feels like you’re doing the same thing every match. I purchased the game during a Steam sale and was happy I did. I don’t play it very often as I have a lot of other things to do, but I occasionally come back to this for when I need a quick strategy / puzzle game fix.
As always, check your PC specs and the game requirements before purchasing, if you go the PC route!
Final Verdict: 8/10
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You can view video play sessions here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JST_cdYEj9Y
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