SunAge
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Publisher: Lighthouse Interactive Game Publishing Genre(s): Strategy Home Page: http://www.sunage-the-game.com/
Old School, But Still Need's Lessons Maintaining the power grid is crucial, but with numerous points of failure the upkeep can be tedious The game's three factions are predictably cut-and-paste. Yes, units and upgrades are different between the races, but fundamental gameplay choices, from deciding which units to build to choosing upgrades, differ in name only. Combat is elementary across the board, which would be passable if it weren't for the questionable unit selection and grouping system. Though the manual claims that different types of units can be forced into hotkeyable groups, this system didn't work, leading to more click-dragging and right-clicking than should be necessary. Moving units is therefore a chore, and the strange preferred targeting system - which allows for selecting a preferred target for a group of units - inexplicably refuses to follow targeted enemies. The result is that nearly all units must be manually moved around the map at all times. This is a task that parents hire nannies for, and one that I'm not interested in playing out in a video game. SunAge is unapologetically retro in gameplay, and the old-school admiration doesn't stop there. Storyboard cutscenes, accompanied by amateur voice work and a hackneyed script, play out between scenarios. These cutscenes, along with awkwardly paced in-game cutscenes, drive the single-player campaign. As you may expect, the story plays out like a poor copy of a cribbed version of a terrible original. The forced integration of the three factions into one story is hardly convincing and rarely cohesive. SunAge shares the rare distinction of having a story which hampers gameplay rather than complementing it. Liberal use of the escape key during moments of exposition is the only way to save your sanity.
If you're thinking that multiplayer may salvage the game, think again. Despite being advertised on the box, neither land-based multiplayer nor Internet multiplayer works. While some have had limited success with connecting to games using the VPN software Hamachi, for all intents and purpose multiplayer support isn't included. My attempts to play on a LAN failed. A future patch promises to fix the multiplayer issue, but it's inexcusable to have the feature listed on the box, in the documentation and in the menus when it's known to be completely broken. The Short List: What's Not BrokenSunAge does have a few positives, though the list is short. Artwork on the tile-based maps and sprite-based animations is very good, and is easily the high point of the game. Particle effects are sparse, though, and moments of destruction could use some more carnage in the form of larger explosions. Instead, damaged units simply begin to smoke and then disappear in a small cloud of fire. The games maps are small, but the design is solid, though the iffy scripting does little to exploit the maps collective potential. Finally, the unit AI is capable, and rarely did units or groups of units get hung up or completely lost, Empire Earth III-style.
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