Swords and Soldiers

DLC Review from Cav - Monday, 27 July 2009 @ 5:46pm

Wii Ware..... it’s kinda like the $1 lucky dip for kids at the local flea market..... except that this cost a little more than a dollar. It’s always throw your money at something and see what you get. I tell you now, if I threw a dollar at someone and came up with this, I would be pretty damn happy.

When I first turned on Swords & Soldiers I was a little ‘ho-hum’ about the whole thing as I have never really been that excited about RTS games , as I find them to be a grind..... which is funny as I love RPGS.... but the side scrolling and crazy cartoony graphics roped me in a little... and then there was the text! A lot of games pay little or no attention to scripts these days, but the guys at Romino have put a lot of thought into this. They must be funny guys and I would love to have a drink with them and see what kinds of antics or stories arise. The story starts with you as a member of a group of Vikings. Not just any old Vikings, but Vikings who rate barbeques well over their typical pastimes of raping and pillaging. It would appear that your old mate Blackbeard is trying to knock over your butcher and when barbeques are you main thing, well, that kinda shit don’t roll with you and your crew. You chase him across the globe and eventually do him in. After life as a Viking, you change sides to become an Aztec, who worship a giant pepper (or chilli as we call it), which, as a Viking would make for an awesome sauce for your barbeque. So you now see yourself from the other side of the fence as you get your shaman to wreak all sorts of havoc on the opposition. During your adventures you will also come across the Chinese, who end up being the third instalment of the game, and they’re just generally ticked off that the Vikings and Aztecs keep annoying them, as all their leader wants to do is play with his toys. The banter between them all is hilarious. Skip through it and you are doing yourself a disservice.

Each individual Soldier for each team has their own quirk, but how can you go past the teleporting, bomb throwing ninja monkeys? Let’s send those bad boys over to the sandpit and K-Rudd and Barry OB can send all of their troops home! These guys have skills that would make Nightcrawler from the X-Men jealous! My favourite is when the Vikings call upon Thor to lend a hand. Would you believe that the Norse God of Thunder is an unforgiving being with a sense of humour?

No, you fool! This isn't the local Chinese Restaurant!

There are extras to unlock during your progress, including skirmish events, which are single one of maps that vary in size, a great little thing to ‘get your eye in’. The challenges are great too, putting character in certain scenarios with goals to complete. While we are on the subject of goals, I have a sneaking suspicion that the team at Romino are 360 or PS3 players, as they have included a list of achievements for you to earn during your escapades.

Multiplayer gets kinda frantic with pointers going all over the place, but it is an awesome way to fill in a Sunday afternoon, carefully avoiding the lawn that needs to be mowed. You see, strategy is the best plan here. No I am not talking about strategy in the game, I’m talking strategy in the home: Involve the wife, get her playing too and she’ll forget she asked you to tend to the garden!

Let the WiiMotes fly! Multiplayer Madness!

So if you can successfully ‘Point and Click’ with a WiiMote, you can play Swords and Soldiers and why wouldn’t you? The graphics are fun, the sound is awesome, and so is the background music. The learning curve is very minimal. There is next to no learning curve for those fans of RTS. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this game is easy, just because it’s a small WiiWare game, I ‘m sure it will test the best of you. I tell you now, there hasn’t really been much in the WiiWare catalogue that has made me say ‘Hey, I best get me some WiiPoints, I have to have that game!”. So I am glad that Swords & Soldiers fell in my lap. At only Wii Points, Swords & Soldiers is $15.00 well spent. Big props to the staff at Ronimo – you know it was these guys who originally came up with the de Blob idea? Keep up this kinda work, guys – I am already looking forward to your next game!

Pros

Bargain at $15.00 - Fun multiplayer - Dont have to leave the house to get this game! - Awesomely funny script

Cons

You do need a big TV to play split screen