Worldshift Review

Worldshift sports gorgeous visuals and old school RTS mechanics that harkens back to the originals in the RTS genre such as Red Alert. It seems multiplayer was the main focus when developing the game, as you’re asked to log in or create an account as soon as you log in. This may have been a fantastic idea, as many of the game’s concepts are obviously inspired by MMOGs, but the game’s meager depth makes it hard to keep interest.

The problem is that Red Alert was the gold standard of the RTS genre over ten years ago, but Crytek Black Sea seems to have forgotten the many advances of the genre since then. The game is set on a futuristic Earth after a mysterious “Shard Zero” hit the planet, and released a plague mutating the entire planet into something far more alien than recognizable as Earth. The game’s factions are split into three familiar archetypes. Starting with the largely unexplained Cult made up of various cybernetically enhanced evil aliens, The Tribes mutant humans that possess magical powers, and the technologically dependant humans. I would like to tell you more about these factions, but unfortunately there isn’t much more to tell.

Gameplay is basic at best; with a point and click interface, and nothing else to help you along. You scroll over your units, and right click to attack, you can’t setup any kind of formation, behavior, stance, or patrol to help you organize your units. Basically, you just select all your units, and have them attack another group or enemies. You also have access to hero units, and officers that are much stronger then your normal meat shields and act as the backbone of your army. They are equipped with some  interesting abilities such as causing all enemies to attack the unit or freezing them in place, as well as a basic healing ability. There are some more expensive units with abilities as well, but with little control over your army as it is, using them is a too much of a pain in the ass to be beneficial half the time.

Something that feels almost bizarre is that there is a complete absence of any kind of base building, removing a large chunk of  strategy from this RTS. You are given a main building that automatically collects resources for you, and you can also capture strategic building points throughout the map, but I can’t help but feel dissatisfied with this concept. Your bases are made up of one building that produces all of your units and is also upgradeable to add some defense systems. This makes the game much more about pumping out cheap hordes grunts then any kind specialized unit (not that you can control a specialized unit all that well anyway) because you’re so limited when it comes to production

Online is the main attraction, and is shoved down your throat as soon as you turn the game on. The unique draw to this is that the more you play, the more you can level up through your battle points and items; a blessing and curse, as new players such as myself will be destroyed by veterans. This was something I found to be extremely disappointing. With no matchmaking system present, and small populations of players, you’re pretty much screwed if you expect to play because you’ll keep encountering the same veterans players over and over again. If you can find a player that’s your level, the gameplay can be enjoyable.

In Deathmatch you can receive random items drops, and with the large maps in game it’s refreshing. You can invest a bit of time in a match, but the basic strategy remains: trying to produce the most units the fastest. One saving grace is the races are perfectly balanced against each other a rare feat and something that certainly deserves some praise.

Co-op matches are, by far, the most fun I had while playing online. Perhaps, this was because I couldn’t win one Deathmatch. A co-op match consists of teaming up with other players in an objective based mission against the AI, for artifacts and battle points. Unfortunately, I only got to play co-op mode a few times because I couldn’t seem to find other players.

The campaign, which almost seems like they don’t want you to ever play, is absolutely horrific. With such a vibrant environment and stunning visuals, you would think that some kind of effort would be put into the campaign. I was shocked to find that the game would be better off without it. You’re presented with a world and characters as if you have some kind of knowledge of who these people are and what is actually going on; unfortunately you are never given such an opportunity.

A good example of this is the first mission, which immediately threw me for a loop. You are an escort for one of the main character’s fathers, as if you’re supposed to know who these characters are from the two minute cutscene. About two minutes into the mission his father is killed rather suddenly, and without much guidance, besides a small green arrow randomly appearing on the group, you’re supposed to just run off the level past all the enemies. That’s it; that’s the whole mission.

The objectives don’t get much better than this; The “stealth” missions being the worst, as there is absolutely no such stealth anywhere in this game, unless stealth means running past NPCs while getting shot on the way to your objective. Your units will run directly into enemies and get shot through stones and trees which can be incredibly frustrating, and the nail in the coffin for campaign mode. Any game needs some kind of storyline and this one may have literally been written by monkeys with typewriters. Add in the absolutely dismal voice acting from 90% of the characters, who seem completely uninterested in anything going on around them, and then combine this with the almost bizarre absence of any kind of story or guidance during missions, and this mode is just too painful to play.

The game is a solid RTS with a lot of ideas that aren’t executed properly. There’s a lot of potential in the gameplay itself, that Black Sea Studios may be able to revamp, if given some time. The bottom line, is if you plan on playing Worldshift, then you absolutely have to enjoy the online multiplayer;  I would recommend not bothering with the campaign at all. If you’re a fan of old school RTS games such a Red Alert, or the early Warcrafts, then you will certainly enjoy this game. People looking for something new shouldn’t waste their time with this title.

Tags: PC review