Developer: Zillion Whales
Publisher: Zillion Whales
Platform: iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, tvOS
Tested on: PlayStation 4
Mushroom Wars 2 (PS4) – Review
Mushroom Wars 2 is a title that we already covered on the Switch and PC and today we’ll be sharing our opinion of the PlayStation 4 version. For those who haven’t yet read up on our other reviews, Mushroom Wars 2 is a simple RTS game designed to be played on console as its predecessor was initially a PlayStation 3 exclusive, but was later ported to PC. Guide your troops to victory and make sure to send backup whenever your settlements call for help.
Story
The story remains rather vague in Mushroom Wars 2. It begins with our protagonist, a battle-worn warrior whose relative has gone missing. During the quest to find this person, you will encounter another faction. You both are duking it out in different skirmishes until a third faction shows up. This new faction, which looks like aliens, has something to do with the disappearance of your relative. You and your initial enemies join forces and decide to go on a skirmish to save your forest from the invading force. Upon completing the first campaign, a second will open up, allowing the players to see the world through the eyes of the aliens and experience their own strengths and weaknesses.
After every few levels, there is a short cinematic that tries to tie in the vague story, but sadly, due to having no spoken or written dialogue, things never get cleared up. The story takes a backseat for the duration of the game, and that’s perfectly fine for a game such as this. Nonetheless, the story content that is present could have used a bit more meat on its bones.
Graphics
Mushroom Wars is known for its warm and colorful visuals. The child-friendly characters make the game appropriate for all ages, but the onscreen action prevents things from becoming too childish. There is this overall smooth finish to all the assets, making the game pleasant to look at. A simple and easy-to-use U.I. displays all the information you need right in front of you without obstructing the battlefield. With its overall cuteness, it is hard to forget that in each battle you are massacring hundreds or maybe thousands of lives in an unseen bloodbath.
Sound
If the graphics weren’t enough to make the game look child-friendly, the music takes it a step further. Happy cheerful music with children singing in the background will have players bouncing along with the soundtrack. The mushrooms react to your commands and will shout cute-ish stuff, and their morale-boosting sheers will last long in your head after a successful battle.
Gameplay
Mushroom Wars 2 is an RTS game that works perfectly on a console. People who enjoy RTS titles will swear by mouse and keyboard, yet this game’s mechanics are so user-friendly they are ideal for console gameplay. You just need to learn that you snap from building to building and that you do not have the ability to hover freely over the playing field. The game starts with a simple introduction on how to take over other villages. The game revolves around basic maths, as you need to overpower your enemy with numbers. For instance, to take over a village that has ten inhabitants, you’ll need at least eleven of your own to conquer it. However, this simple balance in power shifts when the game introduces us to village defenses, weapon forges, and morale. Simply put, the larger a village is, the bigger its natural defenses, but the more moral and weapon forges you have, the bigger dent you can make with fewer troops.
On the battlefield, you can have different types of buildings and each is essential for your victory. Most of the time you have villages that produce troops, towers that will shoot on sight, and weapon forges that increase your overall attack and defense. Villages can be upgraded to create more troops, while towers can be upgraded to shoot faster, dealing a lot more damage. Playing tactical is the key to victory, and don’t be scared to refurbish that village in the middle to a tower for some crowd control or vice-versa.
The game comes with a pretty long campaign, split into two main conquests. The first conquest will see our hero on its path for revenge, while the second path shows us the side of the invading troops and why they are here. Each campaign will take some time to complete, and as you can always replay levels on a higher difficulty it means that the game has a pretty high replay value. Next to the campaign mode, there is always the option of custom-made skirmishes if you want to quickly jump into a match.
Controlling your troops is easy and you’ll get acquainted with the controls quite quickly. You’ll just have to hover over a building, hold the command button, and point at the location where you want to send your troops. This can happen in increments of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. It might be a bit confusing at first, but you send the number of troops that are currently in the building at the time of the command. Sending 100% of troops at one building, and then switching it to another location gives you a 50/50. Upgrading your buildings can be done by quickly double pressing a button, and once you know the button layout, you will be upgrading and transforming buildings in no time.
The newest addition to the game is the special move set that each commander has. When in battle, your energy meter fills up and you have four different moves available that can help you along the way, from speeding up troops to bolstering defenses or even taking over empty buildings. Each commander has their own special skills and selecting the right one for the mission can really make a difference. In the beginning, you just have the story’s protagonist, but later on, you will join forces with another commander that has his own powerful skillset.
Conclusion
Mushroom Wars 2 is still a great game after all these years. It plays perfectly on the console but PC gamers can also enjoy this fun RTS title. Its colorful visuals and happy cheerful music will put a smile on your face, helping you to forget the atrocious war crimes you commit during your playthrough. Even though we very much enjoyed what the game has to offer, we would have loved some more story value or some extra depth in the limited story content that is currently in the game.
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