Harkening back to the golden age of Real Time Strategy games, SunAge by Lighthouse Interactive takes a a swing at the old RTS using 2D graphics and a fairly pat last bit of the human race standing storyline.
Once again we find ourselves in the future, as the last remnants of the human race struggle for survival. After the world has been decimated by continued war, humans were forced to move into giant domes where they would eek our a living. After some time, only one dome was left – the Federation dome.
Working against the unaltered, dome dwelling humans are the Raak-Zun are what’s left of those humans who weren’t allowed into the domes. They’ve mutated into a bunch of blood-thirsty, human hating er. . . mutants. Arriving a bit late to the show comes the Sentinal – extra solar robots with a passion for killing people. And mutated people. Heck, killing everyone. At this point you should expect some camp from this game and you won’t be disappointed.
For all three, the units are well designed visually with some neat effects for 2D sprites. In game play however they are fairly limited. Each faction has access to a relatively small number of units, although they can be upgraded as the game goes on.
It’s an interesting balance of not being completely balanced that actually enhances game play. There are four different types of damage in SunAge – Bullet, Explosive, Flame and Laser (BAFL?) as well as four different types of armor to defend against these – Flak, Plated, Synthetic and Structural (FPSS). These don’t match up exactly, leading to plenty of situations where one side or the other is not properly equipped to deal with a threat. This can be considered a good thing, as it forces the player to think about tactics rather than simply build and throw.
SunAge also employs a different take on building. Every building you create requires a connection to the power grid or energy network. In essence, you have to connect a series of energy points that all link back to a central power system. These connect to each and every building you have. It’s interesting because if you build these up you can place buildings essentially anywhere on the map and deploy around enemies quickly. Of course, they can do the same to you.
There are some quirks to grouping your forces together, and some interesting ways of queing up builds so you don’t waste time on every individual energy pylon. Most of these can be overcome with hotkeys or simply taking the time to familiarize yourself with the mechanics.
Overall SunAge is a nice throwback title in a pretty package. There are still some issues (the AI has a tendency to not be able to walk around things) and a patch or two more above and beyond the 1.06 patch would be great. As a throwback game, it’s decent and at $29.95 suggested retail it’s not horribly expensive. If you’re looking for a modern RTS however that will put your system to the test with the latest graphics and AI, you may want to look elsewhere.
The Good:
If you like traditional RTS from the 90’s with some slightly updated graphics, you’ll like this.
Low system needs as it’s 2D and sprite based.
The Bad:
If you like traditional RTS from the 90’s, you probably own more interesting games.
AI is a bit kludgey – pathing issues abound.
Overall Score: 5.5
Gameplay: 6
Experience (Sound/Graphics) 6
Replayability: 5
Fun Factor/Price: 5
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