This game is great. It’s a true classic. I never finished it first time round because it's so tough. The game is so simple to get into but keeps you hooked for ages.
The aim is to wipe the other civilizations off the map. You control little people, sending them across to the enemy's territory to do battle. Sounds simple? It isn't. You have to manage the resources available to you, and defend your own territory at the same time.
The types of resources on your land determine the types of weapons you can build.
Your designers try to make weaponry with the resources available. If you don't like their plans you can scrap them and start again. At first you'll just be designing spears and stones, later you'll get onto muskets, then machine guns, tanks, planes, nukes, all sorts. Spreading your guys around is a good tactic as it means more resource and less chance of getting wiped out from one nuke.
The pace of the game is very fast. You have to be quick to develop superiority over your opponents, and press home the advantage as soon as possible. I remember one level where there are just four land areas, one for each race. The first person to develop nukes wins, simple as that.
The graphics are
a pretty average at best. A standard Amiga fare. The music was brilliant though. It was great to see your empire building up before your eyes with the Mars theme playing in the background. There wasn't much variety in the music though. That was all you got!
One of the standout features was the ability to form pacts with any of the 3 other players. The peaceful races can move on to their allies lands to mutual advantage. This was necessary in some levels if one race had an obvious advantage for example. It was always last man standing though. Once all other enemies were wiped off the map it was a fight to the death.
That's about it really. Get this game now – you won't be disappointed. I'd definitely recommend this game to anyone. It's stood the test of time very well, thanks to its highly addictive nature. I'd rate this as one of my favorite Amiga games, no, favorite games ever. It sits alongside other Amiga classics such as Monkey Island, Lemmings, St Dragon, and Pang.
