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Greed Corp was something of a nice little surprise when I was given the chance to review it. Zips brought the game up in conversation one day and I was surprised to find out that I had never even heard of the game. This afforded me something that I don't get very much of nowadays: a chance to play a game without having any real preconceived notions of what it should be. Greed Corp gave me no real expectations and that's a great feeling to have walking into a gaming experience.
So what IS Greed Corp? Well, if I had to describe it (and by writing a review on the game, you should know that I HAVE to) I'd say it is what would happen if Pixar decided to enter the board game business. The story is mostly driven by a series of textual descriptions of certain factions and businesses who are plundering the land in order to build armies. These armies will in turn destroy not only the enemies' resources and units, but the land they live on as well; A neat concept to be sure. The fact that the player’s own land can be destroyed by mining into it for additional resources gives it a certain something that separates itself from other more ordinary turn-based strategy games. There's a fairly heavy handed sentiment about how destroying the environment to defeat one’s enemies is morally unjust, but the game never rewards the player in any substantial way for finding ways around it.
Remember how I said it looked like a board game produced by Pixar? Well, then it should go without saying that the game has plenty of whimsical charm. For a game centered on some sort of masochistic methods for taking down one’s foes, the art style goes a long way in distracting players from any blatant underlying political themes.
There are several units to be had in the game, ranging from harvesters, walkers, gunners, and other steampunk-esque looking commando type units and all of them have personality. This may be Greed Corp's greatest achievement: giving such destructive machines a happy-go-lucky attitude. The art design is top notch in my opinion, and the fact that they can anthropomorphize these tools of vengeance make me wish W!Games did more work in bigger retail titles.
Sadly the gameplay doesn't truly live up to the strong work of the art department. In a turn-based strategy game the mechanics are arguably the biggest decider in what makes or breaks the experience. I was underwhelmed.
The goal is ultimately to kill all the baddies, as per usual. While the game promotes the idea of capturing and turning over enemy territory for one’s own gain, it at first comes off as an incredibly difficult task. I had to play through the tutorial mission multiple times before I got a grasp on how fluid the game could flow. To be perfectly honest, I was so frustrated with the game initially that I had to stop playing altogether. It wasn't until I returned to it the next day and played the first few levels a few times that I realized I was getting anywhere with it. The game isn't broken; it just doesn't leave a large margin for error.
Then again, this isn't really my type of game so I may not be the best audience for Greed Corp. However, after my somewhat bitter return to the title I found that the more I learned, the more I enjoyed it. The first few trials of the campaign may test your limits figuring out exactly where you went wrong, but once the game clicks in your head you'll have a VERY addicting game that only gets better as the boards expand and more factions come into the light.
So, would I recommend Greed Corp? It is only ten dollars on XBLA and PSN so it is not a huge cash drop for anyone with a 200+ dollar system. It certainly is a nice alternative to a console based FPS or adventure game. The fact that Greed Corp has a small but loyal multiplayer fanbase (on which I got absolutely destroyed countless times) shows that while the game may not have a huge marketing budget, the fanbase will surely stick with it. I can't imagine the fun modders will have with it making maps when it inevitably gets released for PC. Though not inviting, or forgiving, or even fun to play at times, when Greed Corp finally picks up some steam (and slack) it can deliver as addicting an experience as any game out there. If anything, support the game so we can see more of W! Games' work, as these guys clearly have good, if not difficult ideas.
~Written by ChristianOfTheWired
So what IS Greed Corp? Well, if I had to describe it (and by writing a review on the game, you should know that I HAVE to) I'd say it is what would happen if Pixar decided to enter the board game business. The story is mostly driven by a series of textual descriptions of certain factions and businesses who are plundering the land in order to build armies. These armies will in turn destroy not only the enemies' resources and units, but the land they live on as well; A neat concept to be sure. The fact that the player’s own land can be destroyed by mining into it for additional resources gives it a certain something that separates itself from other more ordinary turn-based strategy games. There's a fairly heavy handed sentiment about how destroying the environment to defeat one’s enemies is morally unjust, but the game never rewards the player in any substantial way for finding ways around it.
Remember how I said it looked like a board game produced by Pixar? Well, then it should go without saying that the game has plenty of whimsical charm. For a game centered on some sort of masochistic methods for taking down one’s foes, the art style goes a long way in distracting players from any blatant underlying political themes.
There are several units to be had in the game, ranging from harvesters, walkers, gunners, and other steampunk-esque looking commando type units and all of them have personality. This may be Greed Corp's greatest achievement: giving such destructive machines a happy-go-lucky attitude. The art design is top notch in my opinion, and the fact that they can anthropomorphize these tools of vengeance make me wish W!Games did more work in bigger retail titles.
Sadly the gameplay doesn't truly live up to the strong work of the art department. In a turn-based strategy game the mechanics are arguably the biggest decider in what makes or breaks the experience. I was underwhelmed.
The goal is ultimately to kill all the baddies, as per usual. While the game promotes the idea of capturing and turning over enemy territory for one’s own gain, it at first comes off as an incredibly difficult task. I had to play through the tutorial mission multiple times before I got a grasp on how fluid the game could flow. To be perfectly honest, I was so frustrated with the game initially that I had to stop playing altogether. It wasn't until I returned to it the next day and played the first few levels a few times that I realized I was getting anywhere with it. The game isn't broken; it just doesn't leave a large margin for error.
Then again, this isn't really my type of game so I may not be the best audience for Greed Corp. However, after my somewhat bitter return to the title I found that the more I learned, the more I enjoyed it. The first few trials of the campaign may test your limits figuring out exactly where you went wrong, but once the game clicks in your head you'll have a VERY addicting game that only gets better as the boards expand and more factions come into the light.
So, would I recommend Greed Corp? It is only ten dollars on XBLA and PSN so it is not a huge cash drop for anyone with a 200+ dollar system. It certainly is a nice alternative to a console based FPS or adventure game. The fact that Greed Corp has a small but loyal multiplayer fanbase (on which I got absolutely destroyed countless times) shows that while the game may not have a huge marketing budget, the fanbase will surely stick with it. I can't imagine the fun modders will have with it making maps when it inevitably gets released for PC. Though not inviting, or forgiving, or even fun to play at times, when Greed Corp finally picks up some steam (and slack) it can deliver as addicting an experience as any game out there. If anything, support the game so we can see more of W! Games' work, as these guys clearly have good, if not difficult ideas.
Story: 6/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 7/10
Multiplayer: 8/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 7.5
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 8/10
Audio: 7/10
Multiplayer: 8/10
Total Gaming Network Rating: 7.5
~Written by ChristianOfTheWired
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