Wargroove – Review

If you miss Advance Wars, Chucklefish offers the cure with Wargroove and it might just be the thing for you. It has an amazing pixel-art to send you into a nostalgic feeling. Our characters and narrative follow the typical fantasy good versus evil story with some entertaining side plots and elements that keep you eager to see how things turn out. The strategic gameplay is progressively harder and truly unforgiving in the later arcs which provides the needed challenge for even the most seasoned strategist. Keep reading if you want to know more!

Story

Wargroove sends us into a very typical good versus evil battle between the Kingdom of Cherrystone and the undead force of the Felheim Legion. Our heroin, queen Mercia of Cherrystone is a young girl forced to led her kingdom into war after the vile murder of her father by the Felheim assassin Sigrid. Since she is so young and pushed into adulthood before her time, she is guided by a mage. Emeric, advisor to the king and tutor to the princes turned queen, ventures out with Mercia to defend the kingdom and teaches her how to rule and wage war on the road.

Most importantly, we should not forget about Caesar. Caesar is the pet of Mercia. Pretty standard, right? Wrong. Caesar is the single, most awesome armored golden retriever traveling alongside Mercia and Emeric. He makes the third commander in our main heroes in the story.

As events progress, you are faced with the undead Felheim Legion commanders who bar your path, trying to finish the job by killing Mercia and thus ending the reign of the Cherrystone Kingdom. Despite fighting back, our champions are forced to flee their home in order to find help from the Empress Tenri from the Heavensong empire. To get there however, they have to cross the lands of the Floran Tribes.

With her kingdom on the line, we travel with Mercia, Emeric and Caesar to try and save the Cherrytone Kingdom, learning the story of the land as we advance through the game. So yes, a standard good versus evil story, though one that deeply fulfills any fantasy lovers heart. Also Caesar, armored golden retriever.

Graphics

There is an endless charm in well-made pixelated art and Wargroove delivers wonderfully. The level of detail put in the main characters makes them recognizable on the general map. Every unit has their own texture based on type and race and come with a nice set of animations unique to each unit type. Each race has their own characteristics which are really visible in the details. This gives Wargroove a fun diversity despite the standard units found in every army.

The map is also very clear and there is never a doubt in what kind of setting you are in. The dialogues are paired with fully drawn characters which in turn is very satisfying for those who like the added visualization.

All in all Wargroove ticks the boxes with great colors, unique textures and let’s face it… a dog general who rolls over as his guards shoot the heck out of your enemies is always nice to watch.

Sound

The music in Wargroove is very entertaining and catchy to boot. It shifts depending on whose turn it is or where you currently are on the map adding a nice ambient element to the gameplay. Cuttlefish did a good job on the music.

There is a limited amount of voice acting in the campaign consisting mainly out of grunts and laughs, though they are in turn adding to the written narrative as you play through the story. Furthermore, sound effects like footsteps, arrows shot and landing, swords hitting metal and lightning strikes are also on point.

Gameplay

This game definitely classifies as a turn-based strategy game. Where your goal is to navigate the map with your units by spending movement points towards enemy units, engaging and defeating them all the while safeguarding your own.

It wouldn’t be a strategy however if it was this flat. Every race have similar basic units such as swordsmen, pikemen, archers, knights and war puppies. These have variations per race, though they essentially all serve the same purpose and work in the same way. Each unit has their strengths and weaknesses based on what enemy unit they are facing. For example, pikemen are strong versus knights. Later on, each of the races have their own heavy unit, which works differently and has different strengths depending on the race.

The strength of a unit is based on the hit points they have left. The more a unit got damaged, the less they will perform in future battles. Next to this, every unit has their own critical hit conditions which drastically increases the damage dealt if met. Finally, terrain offers armor depending on where your unit is standing. Woods and mountains slows the unit down considerably, though it offers them a measure of defense against incoming attacks. All of these things contribute to an entertaining, easy to understand strategic balance to the game while offering a gradually scaling challenge as you progress through the game. The further you progress, the more unit types become available.

In order to gain the upper hand against the enemy forces, you can capture strategic points. Villages increases your income and give you a chance to reinforce damaged units. Barracks give you a chance to summon a new unit per turn if you have amassed enough gold for this.
Some maps have a fortification. If this is destroyed, you win the battle.

Wargroove also offers different playstyles aside from the campaign such as immensely entertaining arcade battles. The real special mention goes to the map builder. For all of you who love making your own custom adventure, this platform is so user friendly and open that you can lose yourself on this for hours.

Conclusion

Wargroove is beyond any doubt a very fun game offering a light narrative experience, challenging battles and will keep a tactical mind challenged. This game is a huge recommendation for anyone who enjoys a challenge. The successor to Advance Wars the gaming industry has been missing for so long.

VikingTeddybear

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"What the-..?" said the hero to the finger pointing over his head.

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