REVIEW : Oriental Empires (PC/ Steam)
Oriental Empires is developed by Shining Pixel Studios and published by Iceberg Interactive brings has similar gameplay to civilization games but the game is set in ancient China!
Players coming from Civilization games are going to have a easy time with Oriental Empires as basic gameplay is similar. There are 24 Chinese settlement and you begin with one of them. Each settlement has its own pros and cons and you can win via diplomacy, research and plain old military powers. It may sound simple enough of paper but it is difficult when other settlements are trying to achieve the same thing. Managing trade, maintaining your civilization welfare and powerful army are important and quite difficult.
Oriental Empires is turn based, and with each turn the season changes with terrain reflecting the change in season, it is snowy in winters and lush green in spring. You will manage your Dynasty during your turn, move your unit, build structures, research technology or ideologies. You can even contact other leaders for diplomatic relations. Building structures and Research take up multiple turns to develop.
While you are building your settlement, your civilization will be attacked by other leaders and marauders. Strengthen your defenses to avoid getting annihilated whenever you are under attack.
Units are the main strength of your army. Units can be given orders and formations which has some benefits and costs. When army’s meet you are taken into ultimate battle scene, zooming right into the action. The combat of Oriental Empires is very immersive and so much better than other turn base strategy games.
Power, craft, thought and knowledge are the four areas in which the research is divided. Researching one thing makes you eligible to research more things. Some research enables you to build units or buildings or increase your authority or culture. Authority keeps Nobles on the ground while culture prevents unrest among the peasants. Oriental Empires gameplay is deep and satisfying with interlinked gameplay mechanics which really provide a feel of strategy game.
Graphics are pretty damn impressive in Oriental Empires. You have the ability to zoom into the troops as close as possible, even focus on their faces. The Soundtrack and sound effects are top notch and really authentic.
Oriental Empires is not too difficult and not too hard, it is just the right amount for a strategy game. The mistakes you make during your play session, only reflect after a few turns, till then it is too late to rectify it, but every mistake is a new learning
