Elemental: Almost Awesome

If you're the type of person who wishes there were more games like Civilization then you should check out Elemental: War of Magic as it's basically Civ dipped in fantasy sauce. That probably sounds like a dig, but I actually intend it as a compliment. There aren't nearly enough turn-based strategy games coming out for my tastes. I even spent some time last month looking into DOS emulators so I could get Master of Orion 2 up and running.

Elemental is quite ambitious. In addition to the typical "4X" mechanics (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) it also puts you directly into the game as a hero unit complete with an XP system, a spell-casting system, and the ability to recruit more heroes to your cause. In addition to the typical play-versus-AI game it's also got an RPG-style campaign mode plus a full suite of tools for building mods and new scenarios.  Throw in various AI difficulties and a ton of customization options and its clear that Stardock believes in supporting gamers like us.

I really want to love this game. I love civilization building games, I love leveling up, and I love turn-based strategy. However, there's a lack of polish here, especially in the core user experience, that prevents me from endorsing it whole-heartedly. I've played 4 games versus the AI plus the first chapter of the campaign and I'm still not sure how to efficiently navigate my way from turn to turn. In fact, I'm pretty sure the functionality changes once you get a lot of units onto the board (presumably due to some subtle bug). In addition, I find the end game tedious. Getting from won positions to actually winning the game took me hundreds of turns where not much was going on.

My real conclusion is that Stardock believed there was a huge difference between coming out a month before Civilization 5 and coming out a month after. It's hard to blame them ... because it's true. They probably would have gotten my 50 bucks eventually, but I would not have jumped right in if I was distracted by Civ 5 (which I am sure I will be a month from now).

Elemental has a ton of content and refining all the different aspects of this game will take a long time. Stardock seems committed to supporting the game long-term, and even the current version is already pretty good. If you're a turn-based strategy junkie who is willing to learn the quirks in a not-quite-perfect user interface then go ahead and buy Elemental. It's already plenty fun enough for you to enjoy for the few weeks left until Civ 5 comes out. The rest of you should probably wait for a few patches and/or some killer user-generated content to come out.
Posted by Randy Buehler at 9/1/2010 10:29 PM
Categories: uncategorized

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