Developer: Skirmish Mode Games
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Warpips – Review
Videogames in the tug-of-war genre are scarce and mostly found on mobile devices. The last few games we played in this style were free mobile games and these were often filled with pay-to-win content. Due to this, we weren’t quite sure what to expect from Warpips, but with Daedalic Entertainment backing up the project, we were almost certain this would be a quality release.
Story
The story in Warpips is rather simple: you build your own mercenary squad and try to infiltrate your enemy’s island. Slowly your grasp strengthens and you will take over their territory, region by region, and ultimately their entire land. Sadly, it seems your enemy’s influence spreads further than the nation you took from them, thus your next goal seems to be global domination. The game would have been better with a story stating the reason why you want to take over the world. At this point said reason is up for speculation, as it might be a story of revenge, one revolving around liberation or one that revolves in you becoming the next dictator of the world. Who knows.
Graphics
Visually the game looks like an absolute masterpiece if you have a soft spot for retro graphics. These graphics come in a sort of 2.5D style, as the environments are in retro 3D and the characters are 2D sprites. Due to this, the game has a somewhat comical appearance, making it accessible to a bigger audience. That being said, there is still more than enough blood to stress the fact you’re waging war. The U.I. is also very clear, and while it does look a bit like a mobile game U.I., it’s still nicely designed for this type of game. You have all the information you need, and that is what matters in a tug-of-war game such as this.
Sound
Just like the graphics, the in-game sound is on point. The effects are varied thanks to the sounds of many different weapons, exploding grenades, and so on. There isn’t much voice acting in the game, and what is present is presented in a fairly cartoonish style. During combat, the soldiers will scream, shout or call in airstrikes, in their own cute language. The music that plays in the background is pretty empowering and makes the overall experience feel like an action movie.
Gameplay
Warpips is a tug-of-war game where each party tries to destroy their opponent’s base by overwhelming their forces and optimizing limited resources. While the concept sounds simple, it does take a while before you learn the ropes of this game, as it has some conditions you must respect. For example, there is a maximum limit to the number of active soldiers you can have on the field, so careful planning is a must.
The game starts with you creating your own faction. For each mission, you will have to prepare what troops and items you take with you. This is rather important, as troops are single-use only and if you use too many troops in the beginning, you might run out of good ones when you really need them. Your troop cards range from simple squads of soldiers, to heavy gunners and tacticians. Finding the right balance between available troop pools, how much they cost, and what your opponent is deploying is essential. On the mission select screen, you can already see the rewards of each mission. This means that you can plan ahead, and pick the mission that suits you best, and earn new troops for other harder missions. Outside of the troops, you’ll also be able to use items to help you in your conquest. These won’t take a soldier slot but will cost money and have lengthy cooldowns.
When starting a mission you begin with four upgrade points. These upgrade points can be invested into making your units more powerful, getting more cash, having more units on the battlefield, or you can even opt to get an instant cash payment. At the start of each mission, you’ll get a bit of cash, but this is often barely enough to buy a basic trooper. Cash will come in at a slow but steady pace, all while killing enemies will fill your XP bar. The latter will grant you an upgrade point each time it is filled. Enemies will have traps lying around and you can only order your soldiers into a defensive or aggressive stance. The game feels like a mixture of deploying the right troops and getting lucky as to how well they fight. It is advised that newer players start on a lower difficulty so they can slowly and steadily learn the basics of the game.
After a successful mission, you are rewarded with both Combat Coupons and War Bucks. Combat Coupons can be used to buy new troops or items in the store, in case you run out or are on a bad streak. The more important ones are the War Bucks, as these are used in the upgrade store to make you even more powerful. These allow you to upgrade your troops with more health, ammo, or allow more soldiers on the field without purchasing the upgrades in-raid.
Controlling the game is quite easy, as you only need to click on the troops you want to spawn or the items you wish to use. There is no direct input needed to guide the soldiers; they will do as they please. The lower-ranked pipsqueaks will randomly rush the enemy, while the more skilled soldiers will take cover, and the tacticians will stick close to others to boost them.
Conclusion
Warpips is a really fun game that might not get the recognition it deserves. The simple, yet addictive, gameplay will have you playing for hours on end, while the more tactical approach feels like your input really makes a difference on the field. Carefully manage your war chest, as units are single-use only; so don’t waste your good soldiers on easy missions and don’t go into a dangerous zone with only pipsqueaks. Graphically the game hits that nostalgic sweet spot with its lovely 2.5D universe, and the sound design is very much on point too.
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