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Lost Empire: Immortals
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Graphics & Sound:
As the weirdness that is the universe would have it, there have been three additions to the space themed strategy world. There are plenty of differences to be sure. We are not talking "Apples to Oranges," but more like "Red Delicious to Granny Smith." Lost Empire: Immortals is a turn-based 4X strategy game in its most pure form. When I think of every single characteristic that defines this genre, I find it here. Despite the current date and some on par graphics, there is a very old school feeling to the game. This is not a bad thing, it just has that feeling that I couldn't shake.
The graphics look good, but every graphic strikes this perfect Zen balance of just enough. The look of the game is decidedly retro, yet there are plenty of new looking elements that show off the game very nicely. In the old days, this retro look was referred to as programmer art, based on the fact the games were worked on by more programmers than artists. That is obviously not true in this case, but I would say it looks like the best programmer art that was ever done.
The music is also one key element to this nouveau retro feeling. The spacey synthesizer opening made me instantly flash to an 80's space movie. Again, NONE of this is bad; it is just the feel of the game. I am showing my age, I know. I personally liked the cheesy music and short, crisp sound effects that made me feel like I was there. That is if "there" was back in the 80's, oh, and in space. |
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Gameplay:
Lost Empire: Immortals's quirky retro feel is tempered with its use of modern technologies to produce a massive universe to explore. You find yourself in the middle of a galactic struggle where the remaining immortals, drunk with their own power, are being uprooted from their grace and we mere mortals must survive.
There are six mortal races cultivated by the immortals who wish to use them to rebuild their empire. Each one has their own unique qualities and traits, but on top of this, you also have several bonus traits to choose from that will change that race's strategy to reach the win conditions. Now you know what you are, it is time to decide where you are and choose a universe. You can choose from as few and as small as 150 stars and up to 5000. You can also choose how tightly compact the universe is, or how many minor races you will deal with along your way. Your universe size will also affect the number of actual CPU players you will have to compete with.
If I threw you off with the 4X, it stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. These are common traits in this genre of games, hence calling them 4X games. Nothing new mind you, but the sheer size of the playing field is this game's ace in the hole. This is the first game that made me feel like I was really battling for an entire universe with the ability to have 5000 stars in a variety of galactic configurations, ratios, and uses. So what use is a planetary system? It is all about resources. He who can accumulate, build, and eXpand the most will definitely have a leg up.
The Multiplayer Mode allows six humans to go directly head to head. Here, in set up, you choose your win conditions. Though it makes for a long game, I chose the elimination win condition in the biggest universe I can make. It was great fun. You have a ton of options and win conditions to create the game you want. There is no shortage of scenarios you can explore, so go forth and eXpand.
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Difficulty:
Lost Empire: Immortals can be a very simple game, but it can also be made to be very difficult. Besides the standard ability to change from Easy, Medium, Hard or Very Hard, you have many factors to decide. How many opponents will be competing for the same space? How many minor races will you befriend or become bitter enemies with? How spread out is the universe? To illustrate this importance, I will remind you that this is a turn-based game, so it takes more time to get from point A to point B. Diplomacy is an important factor. You don't want to have to fight everybody form here to creation, or maybe you do. But if not, there is always diplomacy that you can gain trade with these species and use them as a resource against your competitors.
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Game Mechanics:
There is everything to love about Lost Empire: Immortals if you like strategy 4X games. The balances of material available in the game did feel like it could be heavily skewed at times. On Very Hard, resources should be scarce for everyone, and it seemed like the computer never had an issue locating rich veins to build from. That could be the infamous catch up code that doesn't exist in games, that is fast at work. Or it could just be that the computer knows where everything is. I jest, of course, but there is a very distinct resource balance that I could not take the hour to pinpoint, but is felt in the play of the game.
So with my egomaniacal tendencies satiated in the coldness of space, I return to say that this is a very well done game. Its retro feel may be its curse and its blessing depending on who is talking about the game. I, for one, appreciated it. The resource balancing felt awkward, but playable. There is a ton of designed micro managing to balance, and since it is done in turn-based style, you have plenty of time to juggle. There are some issues with this in multiplayer, but a design decision on changing the allotted times could have made the difference. I liked it, and if you like 4Xs, you will too. If you are new to the genre, it is a bit thick, but it has an easy learning curve. Go forth and eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, or eXterminate. |
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-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP or Vista, 1200MHz CPU, 512 MbRAM, GeForce 4 or similar (SM 1.1), 1GB hard disk space, DirectX 9.0c, Sound card
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Test System:
Dell XPS DXP061, XP Pro, Intel Core Quad, 2GB Ram, Gforce 8800GTX |
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