Armageddon Empires review

Jan 8, 2008

Vladimir Kost, our ablest general, was assassinated 12 turns ago. Since his death, Kost’s Kommandos, the ragtag collection of men and mecha that single-handedly saw off the Xenopod menace, has suffered defeat after defeat. Now they wait for the Mutant assault that will finish them. Things look hopeless; we shouldn’t be smiling, yet we are. We’re smiling because this is one of the best strategy games we’ve played in ages. Oh, we’re also smiling because Valentine, our favourite saboteur, has just sneaked a briefcase nuke into the Mutant capital.

Welcome to Armageddon Empires, a rich, riveting post-apocalyptic mix of Civ-style turn-based strategy and collectable card games. Newcomers Cryptic Comet might not know much about interface design (embarrassingly clumsy) or tutorial provision (go here for a decent primer), but the way they’ve blended warfare, economics, base-building, logistics, heroes, espionage and exploration borders on brilliant.