At the start of E3, if a member of our community had told us that we would enjoy a mobile RTS game during the convention, we would probably laugh uncomfortably and be very confused. With the exceptions of Pokémon GO, Kingdom Hearts Union X, and Futurama: Game of Drones, I tend to avoid mobile games, especially ones that involve real-time strategy. But thanks to the help of Bailey Meyers from MMPR and Lingtong Miao from KOL, we were able to jump into MeoGames War Clash with only a tad bit of difficulty.
War Clash is an RTS tower defense game starting cute stylized fantasy creatures. Players can choose between three races, Orcs, Undead, and Sylvain. War Clash focuses more on strategy, having players defend and hold lanes to gather resources and minerals. The game allows the player to pick their race heroes, and cards they want to use when playing against other players. War Clash features four game modes Duel, Battle, Coliseum (Ranked Play) and Campaign. At the moment, only three ranked systems have been announced where players can climb or fall between Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Players will also have the option to form a guild that will allow them to play against other guilds in 3 vs 3 combat.
As far as gameplay goes, the game has a little bit of a learning curve due to being on mobile devices. The play drags and drops fortifications on their side of the map. Players must gather minerals in order to train their army. Once there are enough minerals the player can choose to either upgrade their fortifications or train heroes. Once heroes or the standard army are done training, the player can summon each unit to their side of the field to push different lanes, capture objectives, kill enemy units, and destroy the enemy’s fortifications. Depending on the map there are different lanes the play can push for advantage. The games a utilizes a fog of war system that can be helpful when playing against other players. If any part of the players base is being attacked, a stronghold under attack notification will appear. The game is decided either when the enemy team’s base falls or when the timer runs out.
War Clash’s card system gives players the option to choose how they want to take on the next challenge by providing a multitude of options. When playing the campaign, only the cards of the chosen race can be used for each match. When against other players, players can mix and match the different race’s cards to devise the most opportune strategy to take down their opponents. Cards can be earned by reaching different milestones or winning matches. Each card can grant the player an advantage in their upcoming matches. This concept may cause problems in the future if a pay to win element is added to the game. A daily quest feature was visible in the demo at E3 2018 but we did not have the opportunity to explore thoroughly due to time constraints.
War Clash is scheduled to releasing during the middle of July; it will be interesting how the gaming community will accept War Clash. Will there be a large audience that will embrace an RTS tower defense game or will it find a niche market but otherwise fall to the wayside? Hopefully, with its intricate card system and colorful races, War Clash will find a community that will cherish and embrace it for all that it is worth.
