Rise: Battle Lines PC Review by Eivmoe – Edited by kytten – Developer: The Secret Games Company – Publisher: Digital Tribe – Genre: Strategy
A pocket army, 15 minute battles, and a quick and easy to learn game that you can play for 15 minutes or a few hours hours, depending on how quickly you are pulled in. You are the army commander, you draft your army, fight the enemy general, and defend your own in a hexagon field. Commands issued at the same time in a rather unique system; the closer you are to your commander, the quicker you get the orders and are able to execute them. Rise: Battle Lines contains it all, developed by “The Secret Games Company” and published by Digital Tribe.
The game is an easily accessible, multiplayer focused game. With different troops, you always need to think what kind of strategy you want to do, and how you want to do, it based on the troops drafted. You and your opponent draw from the same pool. It is a mixture of chess and cards, where you need to think several moves ahead with multiple pieces, while also considering what your opponent will do.
Soundtrack, while the music in Rise is well composed, with war songs, gentle melodies and fantasy tunes, it is an overall great musical experience. Except for the button sounds. When changing certain things in your own shield, it makes a sound almost as if someone stepped in wet mush, making it rather unfitting to every other sound they have in the game. Overall music is praise worthy, along with the voiced tutorial, makes it a great experience.
Gameplay, while it lacks depth, for this game it’s perfect and easy to pick up once or twice a day on your tablet or on steam, and play a round or two while you are idle for something else as most matches last between 10 to 15 minutes. Graphics-wise, inside the gameplay they are simple and nice, not too demanding for anything, and with the simple quality options, it allows the gameplay to look just like you want it to.
Overall the game has great potential and could easily be expanded upon to become a much bigger game. If the developers did, it would make this a extremely noteworthy title. However, as it is now, with one army type and multiplayer focused, I personally can’t say I would play this for hours on end. It’s more like a game I pick up when I’ve got 15 minutes, before doing something else. I do, however, recommend this for anyone who wants something fun and easy to pick up with, hints of strategy and MAD tactics. (Mutually Assured Destruction.)
Eivmoe gives Rise: Battle Lines a Drastik Measure 6.8 out of 10.0 (68).
Pros and Cons:
+Easy controls.
+Easy to pick up.
+Difficult to master while remaining fun.
+Turn based, but behaves in a unique fashion.
+Great soundtrack.
+Pretty graphics from unity.
~Basic option menu with not many options in terms of advanced graphics, while relying on pre-made settings.
~Decent Sound effects.
~AI changes tactics and behaviour dependent on yours. However MAD works every time against an AI.
-Would love a story mode.
-A bit more depth on the AI would be wonderful, or different AI’s.
-Only one army and only one map.
