Developer: High Tale Studios
Publisher: Black Shell Media
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Acorn Assault: Rodent Revolution – Review
Ever looked outside and saw those cute little squirrels run around in your backyard, grabbing acorns and just enjoying nature? Well, what if those squirrels lived in a society like us. Even better, an old English society. Follow the story of Charles DeMontesquirrel and his revolution against the corrupt leaders of the rodents.
Story
Based in England in the late 1800’s: the game tells you the tale of a young Charles DeMontesquirrel that is getting sick of the corruption flowing through the streets of the kingdom led by King Louis The Umpteenth and Queen Marie Antoienutte. The king believed in his heart that the riches of the people belonged to him. So he kept taking away all the acorns belonging to the people, until one man (or squirrel in this case) held his foot (or paw) down and refused to cooperate. The story unravels as progress is made in freeing the land of unwanted taxes and maleficent inhabitants. Divided in five chapters with each five rounds make the campaign decent of length, it doesn’t feel rushed or unwontedly lengthy.
Graphics
The visuals from the game are simple but smooth to the eye. This is all because the main focus on this game is bringing a fun gameplay while telling a lovely story, thus it is understandable that for a budget friendly Indie title the developers have chosen for a more lighthearted approach when it comes to the appearance of the game. Not implying that (unlike some other titles) the graphics seem to come from a mobile game, but it merely reminds us of a basic Unity developers kit. During the story portions of the game, things remain rather static, yet things come to life during the combat sequences.
Sound
Like the graphics, sound has become a factor where they shaved a few pounds off. During the preparation stage a soothing song is played that is nice to hear, yet in the midst of a battle it will change to a more aggressive, war drum filled battle song. This is however a nice indication how things are: smooth prepping and fear mongering war. Sound effects are on point and there is nothing bad to say about them either.
Gameplay
Acorn Assault is a turn based strategy game that in a certain way reminds us of Plants vs Zombies when it comes to the overall layout. The goal is simple: Break the enemy’s stronghold before he breaks yours. You will need to strategically place the cards you get.
Every round starts with a set amount of cards drawn, these consist out of 2 types: Attack and defense. Attacking cards consist out of units, which will fire upon the enemy base. These units will vary in strength, meaning that pistol squirrels will inflict less damage than your trusty riflemen. Defending cards are structures which will provide extra defense for your base. Again, things like barrels will provide less defense than sandbags, etc.
Attack and defense have three stages each, for attack this means: basic pistol soldier, a stronger rifleman and a bomber squirrel with high health and exceptional damage. Defense tiers considers of a weak wooden barrel that can be upgraded to a sandbag wall and the strongest is a wooden wall. To acquire given upgrades the player must connect three of the same cards on the field, this will grant an upgrade to the last card set and a small amount of acorns.
After each setup an upgrade menu pops up, this menu will allow you to spend gathered acorns on either attacking, defending or healing capabilities. The only downside to this is that the upgrade lasts for one round, so be careful not to spend too much or save up for the critical strike.
All of the above might sound difficult but after a few rounds you will notice the game is really simple to learn. Despite this easiness new players will notice that the first two chapters can be of immense difficulty while the later levels are easier, this can be uninviting at first but those who don’t give up are well rewarded. Nonetheless, the game does have a repetitive side, which might not be a fun factor for some.
As said earlier there are five chapters, each with an unique enemy with their own special powers. For example, there are characters that take acorns from you each turn, while others place fences or plant bombs to take out your rodent troops.
Conclusion
Acorn Assault is a fun small turn based strategy game that is easy to learn, fast to play and has some fun mechanics. While the game has a repetitive side, it’s very accessible for players, if they get past the high difficulty curve at the beginning of the game. Graphically the game will not blow you away, but the gameplay portion of this title is quite solid.
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