Rapture: World Conquest puts the demi- in demigod
If Rapture: World Conquest feels like a port of a mobile game, that’s because it is a port of a mobile game. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But this facile little iteration on the usual “grow your armies and throw them up against the other growing armies” genre is about what you’d expect. It’s got swipe-n’-drag written all over the interface and the big fat buttons around the margins are built for tapping. You can see the micropayment hooks dangling from the edges of the design. You can’t turn off the cheap classical music soundtrack, probably because there’s no meaningful sound underneath it. But you want to know the game’s biggest crime?
Rapture: World Conquest demonstrates what every other game with a globe-shaped map has demonstrated for as long as they’ve been around. Namely, that a globe is never a good idea for a strategy game. Never. Information is a critical component in a strategy game, especially a real-time strategy game. But a globe hides exactly half the information at all times. That’s a misguided attempt at immersion at best, a dick move at worst. I supposed Tundra Games would justify the decision by pointing out that you’re supposed to be a god manipulating the world with your godly swipe-n’-drag finger. But any god I want to play is going to be omniscient. Or if he’s going to peer down from space, he’s going to have a satellite feed from the other side of the globe.
Interestingly enough, there might be a solution in Rapture: World Conquest. For 8,000 ingame gold, which will probably take about an hour or so of playing, you can unlock this planet shape:
I guess this makes me a Flat Earther.
Still, there’s not much cause to play Rapture. If you want recent decent examples of the “grow your armies and throw them up against other growing armies” genre, I recommend Endless Loops’ clever Hyper Knights or Vile Monarch’s playful Crush Your Enemies. Better yet, just find a copy of the turn-based Oasis somewhere. That game still rocks planets. Without forcing you to look down at one.
Rapture: World Conquest
Rating:
PC
An iOS port
