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This is a hybrid of a shooter and a real-time strategy game. It plays as a series of battles in which you control a commander who can both fight and give orders to his/her army. In a 2D futuristic space setting, space marines and spaceships move steadily towards the enemy, firing and being fired at. Soldiers are eventually killed and replenished, in a dynamic equilibrium. Your actions as commander are of great importance in shifting the equilibrium towards victory. At the end of each battle, credits are awarded, which can be used to buy more units or improve your commander, units, and ships. A "territory" percentage indicator indicates how far your army has reached, and how hard the next battle will be: as you gain more territory, each battle is worth more credits, but the enemy grows stronger, until eventually you lose, and the territory indicator decreases. Your injured commander is not dead, but he/she must rest for a few battles. Losing means the next battle will be easier, so in this kind of tug-of-war mechanics, the player eventually accumulates enough upgrades until the final battle can be won. Each commander has a specific setup, with some unique weapons and abilities. Due to the fact that commander damage persists among battles (with a percentage being regenerated for each battle he/she does not participate in), you are constantly forced to switch between them, leading to greater variation in play style. Also, each battle has a different formation, for instance being surrounded by enemies, or surrounding them, which leads to greater variation between battles: each play style works better for a given formation. Visuals are cartoony and commanders have portraits drawn in typical anime style. There are few dialogs, mostly between you and enemy commanders (which start showing up after territory/difficulty reaches a certain threshold). The battles last each only a few minutes, so you can just drop by for one or two battles whenever you want, and come back later. Progress is saved between sessions. |
