Godus
School started up recently, and with it I received my official “educational” IPad! Since I returned the IPad at the end of last school year, I have not played many mobile games (smart phones are too small for my tastes). However, upon receiving my IPad, I promptly installed several games that I had heard good things about. One of these games was Godus.
Gameplay
Godus is what Wikipedia classifies as a “god game,” which I guess is an established genre now. Anywho, you play as a/the god with the goal of leading your followers to victory and helping them survive.
If you read my Forge of Empires review, then you know that I am a big fan of Sid Meier’s Civilization. Imagine my excitement when Godus actually performed very similarly to Civ. The game is somewhat open-world, and although you as God can order your subjects and shape the earth, you can not build and structures.
Gameplay revolves around shaping the land so your followers can navigate and build on it. As you gain more followers, you unlock more powers and can explore more areas of the world.
Before I continue, I just read that this game was designed by Peter Molyneux. A gaming genius and legend.
Anyway, Godus also has a level-by-level portion of the game in which you lead groups of settlers past obstacles within a certain amount of time. These side quests are great for passing time and provide the player with rewards and resources.
The thing I found wrong with Godus’ gameplay was actually something I hate about the game. The controls absolutely suck. They are very inaccurate, and when you are quickly trying to make adjustments to land, the game can become very frustrating. Despite this downside, Godus’ game mechanics are imaginative and fun to play around with.
If only we could rotate the camera!!
Story
Like other games in the “genre,” Godus is all about expansion. There is a side plot about the strange natives of the island you are living on, but the main outcome of that conflict does not become clear until VERY late in the game.
More insightful players may find it interesting how Godus handles the belief system. The more amazing acts you commit and citizens you own, the more belief you generate. Belief is expended on shifting the world and controlling your slave people. The less belief you have, the less you can do. Godus has an underlying message. God’s are nothing without their followers.
Graphics/Sound
The graphics of Godus are stereotypically “indie,” full of color and filled with blocky shapes with thin outlining. The game looks great on iOS.
It seems Godus borrowed more than just its gameplay from Civilization. The sounds and music of Godus are incredibly similar to those in the legendary RTS game. The sounds aren’t complete knock-offs though: Little details, such as your peasants whistling tunes (albeit, one especially annoying tune) while they walk and work is where Godus stretches the wings of creativity.
Appeal/Replayability
Godus is really fun to get into. Setting up and expanding your small town of minions is exciting. That said, Godus quickly gets into the part of the game where all the player can do is wait for structures to be finished before moving forward. It are gimmicks like these that I just don’t understand.
Why would a game make you wait to play it? Sure, you could spend REAL money to rush the building. Or, you could just wait 3 hours and then play game designed to be free for FREE!
But I digress.
Alas, I soon realized that I was playing Godus because I felt obligated to, not because I wanted to. I suppose that means the game does its job well, making me grow attached to my slaves like a reverse case of Stockholm's Syndrome. Still, I quickly deleted the game and went back to playing QuizUp, a game I love.
Award Time!
Best Designer: Peter Molyneux
Note: I only included this award to mention Molyneux’s name again. I may have an obsession.
Conclusion
I enjoyed my time with Godus, but I just couldn’t sacrifice myself to the game. I couldn’t devote myself. I lost faith. I’m running out of God puns. Godus borrows many ideas from other games, as well as putting its own creative spin on things. I give Godus a 7.5/10 for at least having the sense to copy a good game. Well.
Unlike Forge of Empires which copies a good game (and by copy, I mean a charcoal rubbing) and then runs that copy through a shredder until absolutely nothing is recognizable and everything is bad.
Rant complete.
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