Empires in Ruins
I didn’t see many other tower defense games at EGX Rezzed, and that’s probably because this is a genre that peaked a good 10 years ago. It’s certainly not a hot trend anymore, and how many variations have we had on the TD formula by now, between third-person action games and touch-screen mobile titles? But let me tell you, I had so much fun playing Empires in Ruins.
At its core is a foundation of good old tower defense gameplay, defending a castle from waves of creeps ranging from relatively harmless minions to giant battle tanks and flying balloons with all manner of different upgradeable towers.
It’s all about strategic placement, covering each choke point to maximize damage and slow the enemy onslaught. Each wave brings a new challenge, balancing resources to make sure you’ve got the right blend of heavy hitters, scouts, and splash damage.
I’m instantly reminded why this once booming genre was so phenomenally successful: it’s just such an entertaining loop.
But Empires in Ruins isn’t just a tower defense game. There’s much more to this little indie than at first glance.
“The bastard son of 4X and Tower Defense” is the game’s tagline, according to Emiliano Pastorelli from developer Hammers and Ravens. In between traditional tower defense battles players are taken to a regional map where they grow and expand their empire, accumulating different resources and abilities along the way. The empire management adds another layer of strategic depth to gameplay, and it also helps provide some context to the game’s plot.
Empires in Ruins is also a fully story-drive experience, with a meaty narrative conveyed through comic-book-style cutscenes voiced by veteran actor Doug Cockle (Geralt, The Witcher 3), whose gruff voice well suits the black humor tone and low-fantasy setting. As does the rocking folk-metal soundtrack, too, which was recorded by Pastorelli’s talented father!
I can see Empires in Ruins as one of those strategy experiences you could lose a lot of time to, either driving through its main campaign and building out your nation or continually challenging yourself to harder levels in the game’s arcade mode.
I’m told the game isn’t far off an early access release, but the actual launch window isn’t clear. You can expect it sometime in 2019, though.
