If thar be one warrior that can strike fear into the hearts of all me crew, it’d be the knight. They’re as fierce as Calypso’s right eye. As I remember when it were me first years on the boat when we forced one o’ them knights to walk the plank. As soon as he hit the watery depths o’ the fearless ocean, Davey Jones spat him out back unto sea. He now seeks to destroy me ship. O’ course, thar be many reasons why those landlubbers are fierce, but explainin’ would only ruin the surprise. Instead, what ye should do to understand me meaning is to check out Battleground, a game about fightin’ wit these salty hell dogs of war.
The Gameplay
As one can expect from the lore of many movies, books, and in some cases HBO shows, Knights are proficient in single combat. However, they always work remarkably better when they’re in a group of likeminded warriors, which is basically how combat goes in this game.
At first, the game limits you to a few choice warriors to fight your battle, as it should go. It has a simple leveling system, and upgrades are a plenty when you do get enough currency to purchase them. More units and troop types become available as you go through the game and with more coin to your name. The game is sort of reminiscent with another title though, and that’s the army battle system in some of the old Suikoden games.
Each army starts on separate parts of the screen, and battle is determined by sprites fighting when they meet midway. Overall, this works well with touch controls as there is very little control needed to help your army win. There are a few different types of fighters on your roster, which is also the source of the strategy in the game. Beyond the obvious territory layout in the game’s world map, you also have to learn how to deal with specific threats as they come. Some enemy units can be impervious to your soldiers, which would require you to mix up unit types in order to survive. Combat in the game is highly dependent on the relative stats of each unit, and there isn’t much to do on your side other than picking the right track and the right units for each scenario.
The Look
Aesthetics in this game are pretty much what you would expect from an app. In order to accommodate the limitations of a smartphone, much of the art is in plain old 2D cartoon style.
That isn’t a bad thing though, as the game still comes out stunning, though a little simplistic when compared to other titles with the same look. Animations are relatively smooth and varied depending on troop type and the battleground they are on.
The Verdict
The unique thing about this game is that there is a lot of surprising depth in its mechanics. Sure, it’s kind of a lay back and watch kind of game, but it benefits from this by putting strategy ahead of fighting. The app, as of late, has become free-to-play, so checking it out won’t cost you a dime.
