There's a reason people like me don't play Collectible Card Games: lack of imagination. We just can't transport ourselves to another realm while sitting at a kitchen table with some dude screaming, “Where's the Mountain Dew?” When we want strategy, people like me play real time strategy games because they give us the graphics, the sound and the explosions we need to get our blood up. Coming March 24th from EA and German developer Phenomic is a game that satisfies the craving for strategy and just might eliminate the CCG-phobia. That game is BattleForge.
BattleForge is a cleverly designed RTS/CCG hybrid, a new take on the RTS genre that removes the notion of resource management in the interest of promoting more exciting combat. While it's true that winning an RTS game largely depends on managing your resources well, I for one am not sorry to say "buh-bye" to the wood-gathering grunts. Without peons to manage, you should be able to focus your energy where it belongs; on giving your opponents a good trouncing. I got to play BattleForge for a few hours this week at a special hands-on event at EA Redwood Shores near San Francisco and I can say without reservation that the game looks impressive.
The fiction in BattleForge focuses on an ancient battle between the immortal Gods and the earthbound Giants. Mortals sided with the Gods in that battle and once it was won, the greatest of these mortal heroes were made immortal Skylords and were taken to the floating “Forge of Creation” to live with the Gods. Harmony is always short-lived however, and when the world's sun suddenly vanishes for a year, much of humanity is driven underground. Those who do not retreat beneath the planet's surface mutate into a race of abominations called the Twilight, whose only purpose is to destroy humanity. That's a gross oversimplification of the storyline but you get the idea.
You play a Skylord helping humanity defeat these abominations and you do that by using a magical twenty-card deck. These cards represent units, structures and spells which can be used on the battlefield as long as you have the required resources. Yes, resource management has been removed from BattleForge but two very important resources still exist: Power and Orbs. Each card in your deck has a power and orb cost needed to use it and you gain these two resources by capturing and activating Power Wells and Monuments. Activation is an easy right-click but won't work with enemy units or structures nearby. Once activated, Monuments allow you to create one of four types of orbs representing four elements: Fire, Frost, Nature and Shadow. Each type operates like a different race and has its own offensive and defensive cards. The cool thing about BattleForge is that unlike other RTS's, you don't have to pick one race; you can play them all. You create your own custom decks by choosing cards from all four elements.
RTS players are a curious group, so like a little kid asking about the birds and the bees, you're probably wondering, “Where do BattleForge cards come from?” You start with a basic deck and add to that deck by playing through Story mode and ranked PvP scenarios. Cards, gold and upgrades are given as rewards for completing these modes and you can use the in-game Marketplace (which functions just like Ebay) to buy, sell or watch card auctions. You can also purchase cards from the online store if you've got some real-life gold burning a hole in your pocket. I hear it now—the objection that buying cards is unfair because it gives an advantage to people with more money to spend. Not so. If you aren't good at creating strategic decks, no amount of money can help you. I found that out right quick during my hours at EA.
Now granted, I had access to every card in the book so in my excitement I randomly grabbed the coolest looking ones, strategy be damned. I tried three single player PvE maps that way and got schooled on every single one. That made me seriously rethink my deck so I went back to a testing ground called the Forge, one of the coolest features of the game. The Forge allows you to upgrade cards and try card decks out before you jump into an actual battle. This lets you see how cool each unit looks, lets you spawn enemies with the click of a button and shows you just how well your unit combos would do against them. All in all, there's an incredible mix of light, medium and heavy units including archers, infantry, giants, juggernauts, moving constructs, bombers and defensive/offensive towers. That categorical listing does no justice to what's really an overwhelming collection of custom-made units: Ogre Enforcers, Fire Dancers, Dark Elf Assassins, Unstable Demons, Shadow Worms, Kobold Engineers and Energy Parasites to name only a few. (My personal favorites are the Giant Slayers, burly humans who walk around with giant-toe trophies strapped to their backs.) In addition to the large variety of units, many units have special abilities that can be activated by click or hotkey and some also have the ability to change weapons to suit the situation.
The structures and emplacements are just as varied and custom as the units. Healing Gardens, Armored Towers, Kobold Laboratories are some of the many support structures available in the game. Oh and spells—let's not forget spells! Spells are some of the most fun you'll have in the game and can be cast anywhere as long as any friendly unit is nearby. Spells like Rolling Fire, Aura of Pain and Nasty Surprise can be cast as long as any friendly unit is nearby and they look incredible. Speaking of looking incredible... BattleForge is shaping up to be one of the best looking RTS's to date. The UI is polished, the environments are lush and colorful and the units exhibit an amazing attention to detail (such as unique spawning animations and flowing hair and wings). The VFX are also highly varied and custom made, from explosions and fire to water, snow, and magic.
There are three ways to enjoy BattleForge: Story mode, which can be played co-op, the Sparring Grounds (unranked PvP), Dueling (ranked PvP) and 1, 2, 4 and 12 player group scenarios which I after what I saw in the single player game I imagine will be totally nuts. BattleForge is shaping up to be the RTS to beat in 2009 and may even convince me to try traditional CCG's. That is if I can convince my friends to play wearing giant-toe trophies on their backs.
