TMM: Entourage Demo

Strategy games are not going anywhere, in spite of what you might believe if you take a look at the video game industry today. Even if most releases are shooters or survival games of some sort, there are still plenty of strategy games released on a regular basis, not to mention all the other subgenres as well. Thus, whether it’s classic RTS games, CCGs or turn-based strategy games, there’s something for everyone.

TMM: Entourage is a real-time strategy game with a few shooter mechanics thrown into the mix, as well as a pretty neat tactical side you need to keep an eye on. Thus, although it looks very much like a classic RTS at first, you actually have direct control over one unit, and you can use it to issue orders to the rest of your army, as well as build turrets and cast special abilities to gain the upper hand.

The game provides you with three different factions to choose from, namely the Progressionists, the Royalists and the Primitivists. They all have certain strengths and weaknesses, but it’s up to you to make the most of them during the conflicts. There are quite a few different game modes as well, including King of the Hill, Team Deathmatch, Stronghold and Warfare. Some of these only work against the AI in single player, while the others can obviously be played with other people too.

As mentioned before, you only have direct control over the commander, which is not a problem per se, but the interface is not that well-designed at the moment. Hence, you can easily get lost in all the skills, upgrades and unit orders, especially since the tutorial is not that helpful right now. The camera is a bit of a bother sometimes, depending on the situation.

There are some RPG elements in there as well, given the fact that you can gain technology points to make your troops better, and your commander can also cast a few special abilities to provide the other units with bonuses. However, the graphics yet again come into play, because it’s difficult to keep track of your units sometimes due to the poor animations and low-resolution textures.

In the end, TMM: Entourage is not a bad game, but it’s far from done in terms of interface, gameplay and graphics. Thus, it needs some serious work before gamers can enjoy themselves without being hindered by the aforementioned elements.