We had previously looked at EA's Battleforge back during the NY Comic Con, but due to some server issues, we decided we didn't see enough to warrant a full preview. Now, after playing the game's beta for a few days we bring your our latest impressions of this unique RTS and Card Game hybrid.
Battleforge, at its core, is an RTS. But instead of building bases and researching technologies, players build decks of cards to bring into battle and spawn their cards in an instant. What this does is keeps the action intense and usually creates some pretty large scale battles.
The cards are divided into four elemental categories, Fire, Frost, Elemental and Shadow. Each of these categories will initially have a few dozen cards to choose from, with more being added and earned as you play through the game. Each elemental category seems to have their own take on grunts, archers, larger creatures as well as spells and buffs. And playing these cards is as simple as clicking it and laying it either near your troops or near a well or monument.
These wells and monuments are how you gain power to actually spawn your cards. Monuments get assigned an orb of a specific element, and the more orbs you have of that type the more powerful card you can call in. Wells give you power which is an additional requirement for spawning in cards.
The entire game takes place online, but really isn't an MMO. Players have the ability to buy, sell, and trade their cards to other players as well as meet up for missions through the game's stories. While you'll find single player missions available, we of course, wanted to take a look at the co-op missions.
The Battleforge beta provided co-op missions for two to four players with various objectives. In one mission we were tasked with rescuing an AI group of soldiers. The monkey wrench in the situation came from the oncoming cannon attacks mid map, so while one player was attempting to rescue our comrades, the other needed to take out the cannon. Other scenarios involved having one player defend a base while the other tried to obtain certain items and a giant Alamo style defend the base mission.
While graphically the character models leave a bit to be desired, it's the sheer number of on screen enemies in the four player co-op matches that left me incredibly impressed. In fact, it was perhaps a bit too hectic to try to pick and choose my characters out of the chaos, thankfully there's a few interface tweaks to help. Spell effects, smoke, and explosions all looked fairly decent, and it was incredibly satisfying to call up fire explosions and watch the bodies fly.
EA is banking on the card market and booster packs to bolster the longevity of Battleforge. When the game ships later this week it will contain four decks of sixteen cards for each element. On top of that players will receive 3000 Battleforge points to purchase booster packs. When all is said and done you'll have 160 cards at your disposal, more than enough to keep you happy for quite some time.
After building your impressive collection of cards you'll be able to buy, sell, and trade them in the online marketplace. You can even put your rare cards up for auction in an effort to maximize your earnings and in turn, purchase more booster packs.
I'll admit, this game was completely off my radar until I actually tried it. It's a unique mix of an RTS and strategy card game. The co-op missions I got to try were all fun, and players seemed willing to work together to complete goals. The better you and your teammates do on a mission, the greater chance you have of being rewarded with more points, better cards, and other treasures. All of this adds up to a game that has some great co-op potential, hopefully the card game nature of it doesn't scare off some gamers.