Developer: Tindalos Interactive
Publisher: Tindalos Interactive
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Etherium – Review
Etherium is the new futuristic real-time strategy game developed by Tindalos Interactive. In Etherium, you are introduced in a situation where everybody is fighting over one single resource and the few planets that contain rich deposits of Etherium. Here you play through a single player campaign or with a couple of friends in a multiplayer experience.
Story
In Etherium there are 3 known factions, fighting to control the most valued resource known in the universe: Etherium and they struggle, fight, colonize and do everything in their power to control as much of it as possible.
In the solo campaign, actually 3 campaigns (one for each faction), you take control over one faction. you are totally free to decide your every strategic move with the simple goal to eliminate your two other opponents. Every decision you make has its own consequences, sometimes your opponents will recapture what you took and other times it’s you who can go on the offensive side. When fighting battles and conquering planets you can evolve your tech tree for new or better structures and units. All of these options grant you a lot of variety while playing the game.
Adapting to every aspect is key when playing Etherium, every faction has its pros and cons and every planet or moon you fight for has another terrain so no fighting experience is the same, this combat and leveling system offers a fresh breeze every time you play a new game.
Graphics
The graphics are everything you expect about a RTS game so no disappointment there. Etherium is however more demanding for your computer as it looks but any modern day pc can run this game without any hesitation. The maps, visual effects, units and overall look of the game are good and well worked out and there are no real visual bugs to be found.
Sound
The sound is not really a grand topic in any kind of RTS game, the music when fighting seems to make your blood pump just a little more but keeps you focused at all times and the ambient sounds and general sounds made by units and actions are decent, so no complaints at all.
Gameplay
In this real time strategy game, your main concern is establishing a production and creating a supply of Etherium, the main resource in the game. This can be done by simply annexing a the pieces of territory where a deposit of this goodie is found and then starting to extract it. This Etherium can be used for basically everything in the game: tech upgrades, buildings, troops,… So conquering those domains is the key to success.
Everybody knows strategy wins a game but it doesn’t always win you a battle due to the climatic events, the weather control system in the game has a direct impact on everything in game and can just as much assist you in your quest for victory as much as it can cause you to lose troops. A frozen river allows you to drive your tanks over and flank the enemy while a sandstorm limits your line of sight.
In the multiplayer mode of this game 1-4 players play in a team in order to defeat the enemy and the situation constantly changes (players you thought were defeated can make a surprise return) so you need to be ready for war at all times. There are only 2 ways to and long and exhausting battles: total annihilation or building and protecting orbital cannons to defeat your foes fleet.
There are 3 factions you can play with and each faction has its background and strengths and weaknesses. First of all you have The Consortium: a Capitalist corporate empire who specializes in espionage, sabotage and assassinations. Secondly you have the Awakened of Intar, an order of warriors who live and die with the sole purpose of conquering all the Etherium possible. And the last factions are The Vectides, a technologically advanced species who are doubted if they are a living organism at all. Those 3 offer a unique playstyle so choosing a faction that fits your game is one of the most important aspects of the game.
conclusion
This real time strategy brings you an old concept (war for resources) in a fun but unoriginal way, it adds some great new features never seen before but most of the time it reminds you of RTS games that you already know. It is however a fun and exciting new game with a ton of options and replayability. The multiplayer modus is fun and interesting to do with friends while the single player modus offers a lot of options to train your skills, strategies in battle and time to figure out what your exact playstyle is. The tutorial and the start of the game are a little hectic and hard to learn like any other RTS game, one minor point when playing is that not every command shows a keyboard shortcut.
If you are interested in a futuristic strategy game and want to start fresh and come up with own ideas and strategies, this is your game and it will provide for hours of strategy based fun.
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