Cracked LCD by Request
OK, so there is no good way to see the old Gameshark material because MadCatz pulled the plug on the whole site and it's gone. Clockwirk wanted to know where he can get to some old reviews, and I told him just to ask and I'll send it to him. But instead of doing that over PM, I thought we'd just do it right here in the forums. So if there's a particular review or article you want to read, post here and I'll put it right here. There won't be pictures and it's without Abner's editing touch, but at least it's preserved somewhere.
He wanted the Ares Project review, so here it is,
• Game: The Ares Project
• Publisher: Z-Man Games
• Designer: Geoff and Brian Englestein
• Genre: RTS-ish card-based wargame
• Players: 2-4 (best with 2)
• Playtime: 45-60 minutes
• What's Hot: Compelling, innovative concept that feels like an RTS; crazy asymmetry; tons of strategic and tactical depth in a compact package
• What's Not: Learning curve can be intimidating particularly over four completely unique factions; terrible, unbelievably boring graphic design
The Ares Project is a sci-fi wargame designed by Geoff Engelstein and his young son, Brian. The game depicts a wildly assymetrical conflict occurring on Mars between technology-loving Terrans, mysterious geomancers called the Khoum, the native bug-like Xenos, and a giant mech developed by rogue engineers called the Colossus. It’s primarily a card game with a couple of punchboards of counters to represent units, “fog of war” player screens to mask base-building, and administrative boards for each faction. Unfortunately, it’s not a great looking game at all. Its pedestrian look, functional but bone-dry graphic design, and ugly colors might chase off many players despite the way cool box art that looks like it was pulled straight off the box of a 1990s FASA game.
But miss this game at your own peril because it may very well be the sleeper of the year. The Ares Project is a highly idiosyncratic design with some very fresh ideas and an unusual execution that isn’t quite like anything else on the market. It’s also the closest that any game has gotten to date to replicating the feel of a real-time strategy video game, besting even the great Starcraft board game in terms of capturing the particulars of the genre. It’s all about base-building, using structures to crank out units, taking control of the frontier, and busting through the enemy’s defenses to- yes- get in their base and kill their dudes.
Each faction has a deck of cards representing their particular assets including the unit-producing structures that are key to successful army building. The Terran and Khoum sides are the most alike, although the former relies heavily on technologies and upgrades and the latter on special cards and magic. The Xenos have a completely different status board that tracks their evolution and mutation, and the Colossus has no buildings or units at all, instead applying crew, systems, and modules to the giant war machine. Each side also must manage power produced by generating structures in a unique way, whether it’s to power buildings or activate special abilities.
Each building card has two different options for building, offering the player a choice between two similar but tactically different unit production options. Over the course of the simple, play one/draw one turns, the player can load up buildings with face-down resource cards. When an Attack card is played, signaling that the player is going to attack either the Frontier (an abstraction of territory between the bases) or the enemy’s base itself, the defender’s buildings get to cash in any banked resource cards for units and the attacker does likewise, placing unit chits on each building to represent their forces. There are four types of units - infantry, armor, air, and buildings. Each type features four symbol- and color- coded numbers to indicate their to-hit number against each other particular type of unit. So certain types of anti-armor infantry might fare better against tanks while fighter-class air units might have hardly any attack against ground units at all. And then there’s the Colossus, which uses weapons systems instead of units.
Combat involves each player selecting and creating opposing lines of forces, with all units participating. Once the battle lines are drawn by placing cards and determining which forces are in direct conflict with others, the combat resolution counts down in an initiative order with units attempting to roll under their target number for the attacked unit. The player can also attack the forces not immediately opposite but at a -1 penalty per space distant from the attacking units. In a base attack, the defender places special cards at each end of their battle line and if the attacker hits them, they can destroy empty buildings.
It’s a fun system that has a surprising amount of tactical depth. The dice rolling is exciting and provides immediate results, and there are details such a Scouting skill that some units have that force the other player to place units first and several different types of attack cards that confer bonuses or special circumstances to the fight. The game greatly incentivizes fighting as the player who holds the frontier gets to claim any attack cards that are played as points. So if you’re not in control of the map, so to speak, you’re not getting ahead. This is also definitely a game where knowing the cards and knowing how to play well can make a profound difference on your odds of winning.
The rules aren’t very difficult and the procedure is extremely streamlined, but there is a certain learning curve to the game that might chase off prospective players. The core rulebook is easy enough to read and it’s extremely well-organized and written, but the asymmetrical nature of it means that each faction needs its own four-page rulebook outlining their peculiarities and ways of going about business. There is a basic game included that is strictly a Terran versus Khoum game without power, abilities, or the unexpected worker placement mechanic that each of these sides uses to earn benefits and augment their forces based on units’ position on their administrative cards. It’s fine for learning the game, but it’s also one of those cases where the basic game doesn’t get into the meat of what makes the game so good.
What makes the game so good is that it offers quite a lot of complexity and depth- along with lots of ass-kicking and base-razing- in a very small package. It is essentially a card game, but it feels like a big-box board game with all the trimmings. Playtime with two- at least once both players are comfortable with the rules- tends to be 45-60 minutes, and it feels hugely satisfying at that rate. Although there is an option for three or four players, it’s clearly designed for and is best with two. Multiplayer games tend to drag, and frankly the likelihood of getting two or three people at the table who all know the game well enough to not have to consult their faction rulebooks every five minutes is highly unlikely.
The Ares Project’s biggest problem may be that it’s such a dark horse, under-the-radar title. It’s a Z-Man issue, but with that company in something of a turnaround after its purchase by Filosofia there didn’t seem to be much of a marketing push behind it and it didn’t make much of a splash after the late Summer and Fall conventions. It’s a shame, because this is a tremendously interesting game that feels innovative and definitely not more of the same in any way.
