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.