Forge of Empires Review: Not Civilization

Forge of Empires

Forge of Empires is a free-to-play real time strategy game for ios, android, and web browsers. I saw the ad for FoE (as the hipsters call it these days) on television of all places. When I saw that you could play as Abraham Lincoln and conquer the world, I thought, “That looks like Civilization, a game I like!” I was very disappointed. The game also caught my attention because it can be played on a browser, which is the only way my crappy Samsung Chromebook can play.

*Sigh*

My plan for this review is to summarize each category in six words or less before going into more detail.

Gameplay

Bad.

There, I just set a new world record. Yes, the gameplay is very bad. It also performs the exact same way as every other rts of all time EXCEPT for Civilization which is the only franchise that does the genre correctly.

Essentially, players will build a city, suffer through an incredibly long tutorial, and wait. A lot. Why? Because the game has a bloody energy system.

For those of you that don’t know, an energy system is a term I made up that represents when a game prohibits the player from playing because they lack the virtual energy or fuel to continue. In FoE, this fuel is your forge, which you can of course buy more of; how else would the dev’s make money on this game?

All this results in a game that you can only play for a limited time unless you pay to win. Fun.

Plot/Story

There is none.

Seriously, just build, conquer, obtain, and repeat. This style of gameplay is fine if it is a means to an end, but FoE has no end. There are unlimited enemies, tasks, and things to spend money on. “Have fun wasting your life accomplishing nothing” should be the game’s catchphrase.

Granted, many other popular games don’t have a definite story or goal (GTA Online, Minecraft, etc.), but those games are actually fun. FoE is not.

Graphics

They’re pretty.

The game does look good. Cities and the general HUB graphics are very clear. The one thing I will say is that the turn-based battles that occur when you invade a territory look and feel very retro, and do not really fit well with the rest of the game.

Soundtrack

Civilization-y

The game actually has very pretty background music, as well as the standard building and fighting sounds. Overall, the FoE’s soundtrack just reminded me of Civilization’s, a game that is infinitely better than it. So needless to say, it didn't hold up well.

Conclusion

I give Forge of Empires a 4.5/10. That said, if you have absolutely nothing better to do, feel like sitting in a chair and clicking the screen, while also making no progress whatsoever, then FoE is the game for you!