Art of War: Red Tides Open Beta

Strategy games are designed to put your mind to the test and challenge your ability to deal with situations that require quick thinking and a tactical approach. Naturally, the formula is much more successful when you get to play with other people, because nothing beats the unpredictability of a human opponent. A great set of gameplay mechanics is also important, otherwise the experience gets boring in a rush.

Art of War: Red Tides is not a very complex strategy game, but it can be a very addictive one, depending on how much you enjoy the simple mechanics. In short, this is more of a tug-of-war game than actual strategy, which means that there is no base building, no resource gathering and nothing to keep you from just tossing units at your opponent until you come out victorious.

Although there are no resource gathering mechanics like in Starcraft or similar titles, you have to generate resources by fighting and destroying enemy buildings. This in turn allows you to build more units, upgrade the ones you already have, or make use of special abilities that can turn the tide of the battle. It’s very important to make proper use of these resources, otherwise you quickly get overwhelmed.

Before each match you have the option to choose which units are part of your army, so that you can easily come up with a strategy once the confrontation begins. Obviously, the unit combinations are very important, and they can also work against you if you make the wrong choices. However, this is part of the fun, since you can spend entire hours coming up with the perfect blend of offense and defense.

Lastly, the graphics are fairly engaging as well, but you shouldn’t expect anything too great either. Most of the units are quite detailed, but the maps are rather small and featureless, which might make the game feel repetitive after a while. The interface feels a bit forced, as if it was designed with mobile devices in mind and barely adapted for PC users.

Art of War: Red Tides has its flaws in regards to interface and complexity, but it can still be the perfect way to spend a few minutes every now and again. The customizable armies increase the replay value by a lot.