Forts from EarthWork Games is like Worms and Angry birds went away on a team building exercise, had a disagreement and decided to blow each other up with mortars, machine guns and whatever else they could get their hands on.
You must fight for the last of earth’s natural resources in this physics based RTS where you will construct bases and create an arsenal of upgradeable weapons to destroy your opponents Fort, all whilst actively trying to build and repair you own Fort. Battle across the world in a multitude of scenarios with each one having multiple objectives for you to complete that will earn you stars to unlock new levels. The more you progress the more gadgets and gizmos you will unlock to help you defeat your enemies.
In order to be able to make the most of the weapons, structures and building up your base and defences you will need to collect resources by mining the areas in or around you base, to be honest, the gathering of resources has never posed a problem to me and for the most part I didn’t even notice that I needed anything, I was never out of resources when it came to needing to build a turret or structure. Once you’ve built your base up to a mighty standard you can target your enemies and find weak spots in their defences for chain reaction explosions, or open doors that you can snipe through to hit a critical point in their defences, or, you know, just pummel them with bullets and mortars, what ever tickles your fancy really.
Alongside the full campaign that features 28 missions, there are also skirmish modes and multiplayer modes – which 8 players can join in on, for players to dive in to. In skirmish and multiplayer you have access to Commanders – 9 in total to pick from, each one has differing passive and active abilities like being able to build at 4x the speed, or having cheaper materials.
The game is easy to pick up but will – at times, give you a nice challenge if you’re the kind of person who wants to 100% every level. Personally the whole ‘completionist’ thing isn’t for me, I’m happy to play through the campaign casually and if I get 3 stars that’s great, but if not, I don’t mind. The only problem I have with this, is that unlocking levels is based on how many stars you have, so if you don’t have the amount needed, then you’re going to have to go back over old levels to try and pick up the remaining stars up for grabs. Most of the objectives aren’t particularly difficult to complete, but I found some of them to be a little frustrating, mainly because I was replaying them because I had to. For me, that’s not something I really want to have to do.
Forts also features a map editor that will let you create your own maps or editing existing ones which you can then share with others.
As a whole the campaign feels a little lacklustre in terms of the story, it’s very light with a comedic tone throughout it, you’re going to find more enjoyment and longer lasting fun playing the online modes, where, as previously mentioned you can play with 7 others, or anything up to that.
Forts is out on Steam now for £10.99 and if you’re looking for some casual and accessible RTS fun, blowing up other peoples bases then I think you will find some good mileage from this one!
-Will
