Bah! To hell with them Greek Gods! Me only god, the one this old pirate worships, is Calypso and only her. She controls the seas, the clouds, and Davy Jones’ locker. Zeus, Hades, and even that stinkin’ Poseidon with his pet dog, the Kraken, don’t scare me so easily. Now in Age of Myth, playin’ all these Greek sissies be a funny idea.
Age of Myth is one of the most recent action and city-building fusion apps to come out this year (released last Jan. 7, 2013) from China Wireless Arts. The name itself is so eerily familiar so you should easily deduce that the Greek Gods and the ever lovable Hercules is involved in this game. In fact, you actually start the game as Hercules. Aye, I know, it is very cliché and somehow is eerily familiar to games like Age of Mythology, which was a big hit on the PC about a decade or so ago. So, let’s take a closer look at Age of Myth to see how it fares in a genre that has been overrun with subpar games and rehashes.
The Story
Age of Myth begins in a small island called Crete, which is somewhere in the Mediterranean, below the Greek mainland. The island, which is relatively peaceful is rocked an invasion of monsters and demons. Apparently, 2 of the big 3, namely Poseidon and Hades have teamed up to challenge Zeus’ rule.
And they have brought all their minions with them, some of which could easily scare me silly if they were real. Zeus answers the call and even asks some of the other gods like Athena and Apollo for help. He actually even calls on his demigod sons to pitch in. And that is where Hercules fits in… you start with him.
The Game
The game is relatively simple. You pick a hero to control. At the start, only Hercules is available. But as you complete levels and missions, you will be able to unlock other more powerful ones like Apollo and even Zeus later on. Now, the hero alone isn’t enough, so you are asked to choose creatures to serve as your soldiers or rather entourage. Your hero as well as your little creatures evolve as you fight through each stage of the game to become more powerful or change to mightier creatures. The game ends until you defeat each and every stage placed in front of you.
Now, the game is also a town or city-building app. This means that in conjunction to your battling of demons and monsters, you will also be charged to build up a town or rather base. This means building new structures, upgrading old ones, and even generating income and food. Why? Because it all matters. You will need upgraded buildings and a lot of gold and food to gain access to certain creatures and eventually upgrade or transform them into more powerful versions.
Every so often, your city will be attacked by Hades and Poseidon’s minions. You will then have to choose the hero and creatures you use as well as develop a defense strategy for such an attack. And this is where the game actually gets interesting.
The Value
The game is a standard 2D arcade style action app combined with city-building and a little castle-defense elements. It is a good fusion of genres that amazingly works well. The game is free so that is another definite plus on the books. The only problem I see so far is the lack of the social element. The game would have been a greater hit if they added a PVP element to it, where players all around the world can actually challenge each other. Maybe the developers might think about updating the game for that. Anyway, Age of Myth is currently available for Android and iOS devices. I personally recommend using a tablet or a sizeable smartphone to play this, though.
