Rebuild With The Help Of A Titan
Developer Star Wings first Android title, Age of Colossus is a city-builder strategy game with a colossal twist. Releasing on the heels of Godzilla vs. Kong, Age of Colossus takes place after an asteroid hits the Earth causing gigantic creatures to surface from Earth’s depths. The asteroid also caused the earth’s fertile lands to turn to deserts. With the help of one of these creatures, the player must build a base and defend and expand their territory, which is basically the point of every RTS. You might think having a King Kong knock-off on your side will lead to engaging new strategic gameplay. Unfortunately, the would-be titans are little more than ornamentation.
Choose Your Beast
When you begin, you’ll need to choose a beast to aid you. The options are limited to either a King Kong or Godzilla knock off, though Star Wings promises more beasts will be available soon. Beasts can lend a helping hand in constructing and improving structures. They can also attack any giant ants that may wander onto your base looking for a human-sized snack. When your beast kills one of these creatures, you’ll earn active ore frags. These ores are used to level up your beast.
You can send your beast on explorations by tapping the beast base then tapping explore. The chance of success is listed next to each exploration option. Beasts will collect resources and active ore frags if they successfully complete an exploration. Exploring is a great way to quickly level up your beast however it’s nothing short of boring. If you actually got to watch your beast explore that’d be one thing. But all you do is press a button.
Typical RTS Gameplay
Other than having a colossal creature at your beck and call, Age Of Colossus consists of typical RTS gameplay. Players build farms to generate food, wind turbines for electricity and houses to increase the number of residents their base can contain. Upgrading your base is key to unlocking new buildings and upgrades. Building and upgrading costs resources so it’s key to upgrade your farms, wind turbines, oil drills, rare earth plants and steel plants. These buildings do a great job of producing resources. It would be nice, however, if Age Of Colossus had attempted to put a new spin on the RTS standards.
Another key element in Age Of Colossus is research. After constructing the institute, you can research base construction, rapid production and more. Rapid production allows you to boost production of a resource at one of your structures by granting immediate access to it. You can also research modifications to improve your tanks, helicopters and other vehicles.
Like most RTS games, Age Of Colossus encourages players to join an alliance. Members of an alliance can help each other construct buildings and complete research faster. Players also receive an alliance salary which is based on attendance and contribution. Donate food or gems to upgrade alliance tech such as Drone Aid which improves construction speed. Essentially, alliances work like any other RTS guilds. The system works well but there’s nothing that sets it apart from other guild systems.
In app purchases do come into play in Age Of Colossus. Luckily, however, neither do they stop you from progressing nor does the game constantly pester you to buy them. Purchase gems—the game’s premium currency for anywhere from 4.99 to 99.99. Honestly, the developers way overpriced these gems. 4.99 isn’t so bad, but 99.99? I don’t care how many gems it nets you, that’s too much to spend on a mobile RTS. Packs are also available for 4.99, such as the recruitment pack which offers tons of hero experience or the construction pack which provides the player with construction speedups.
Age Of Colossus: The Verdict
Age Of Colossus is a fun strategy game. However, it does little to differentiate itself from the many RTS and city builders saturating the mobile market. Yes, the giant creatures are a cool concept, but they add little to the game itself. Despite its unoriginal gameplay, Age of Colossus is worth the download if you’re a fan of strategy titles. Just don’t expect anything mind blowing.
Is It Hardcore?
Yeah.
Age Of Colossus is a solid RTS, that is enjoyable despite its unoriginality.