![]() "is this your first time playing? omg were fucked," typed one particularly disturbed peon. One minute into the match, utterly confounded by my strategic view of dirt, I was being berated by an unruly mob. I only mention it to explain the reason behind what followed. Let me be clear: I don't blame the game for this bug, as it is clearly a work in progress. Jumping into the game, I was quickly reminded that Savage 2 was still in beta, encountering a bug that restricted me from zooming out to more than a microscopic view. Surely these beasts would be impressed with even the most lax of leadership. I was particularly proud of my micromanagement abilities in the original game, and felt my Battlefield 2 artillery strikes were second-to-none. My third or fourth round, I figured I'd try being the boss for a change. I learned this fact the hard way in Savage 2. As any failed president knows, being the Commander-in-Chief can be a tough job-especially when your constituency revolts. Instead, rather than always being miffed at exclusion, it can also comes as a relief to avoid being elected. With only one person per team acting as the commander-chosen by vote before the match begins-you might think the role would be fought over. See a particularly effective enemy player? Give him a disease. One of your key teammates just get himself killed? Instantly bring him back to life. Commanders are mainly tasked with building structures, upgrading technologies to unlock new units and abilities, and using magical, god-like abilities to bolster their team. Still, everyone wants to be the boss, right? The commander plays only from a typical top-down RTS view, ordering his troops from above, and gathering resources by placing mines on capture points. Potions and other bonus items can be bought to outfit your character with, lending a few more RPG elements to the mix. For instance, if you want to lumber around as the axe-wielding legionnaire unit, you'll need to justify it by holding your own in combat, thus earning enough cash to spend on another spawn. Following defeat, players are kicked back to a spawn screen, and can choose from available unit classes, some of which carry a fee for each spawn. Monetary compensation is handed out for good work on the battlefield. ![]() Players also earn experience by achieving supporting goals, such as defending structures, or healing wounded teammates. As an incentive toward victory, melee-savvy savages will level up their characters faster, allowing them to spend points toward certain attributes such as health or damage. You'll need to block, charge, and attack at the right times in order to best your opponents-or merely have good aim with a far-flung arrow or fireball. Though each person's role at first seems insignificant in the larger scheme of things-teams can number up to 32 players a side-combat is built to be skill-based, allowing one talented player to make quite a difference. On the ground, the units play from the perspective of a third or first person shooter, with spells and melee combat being the order of battle. It's a wide-scale war of retribution, all played out on a Warcraftian battlefield. Man is rebuilding, but now animals are smart, have two legs, and apparently remember things like seal clubbing, elephant poaching, and doggie dresses. The Savage part of the title comes with the prehistoric vibe that the game's caveman-esque characters exude, although the setting is actually explained as a post-apocalyptic future. It's a scary, idealistic mechanic-sometimes flawed, but inherently interesting. Unlike the supporting role of commanders in games like Battlefield 2, Savage gives that solitary general a huge amount of power over his team of first person units, in both their direction and capability. The Savage series ordains one teammate in the role of RTS commander, placing the responsibility of erecting key buildings and assisting teammates with spells squarely on a single man-or beast's-shoulders. That concept may not be the most original in the world-combining an FPS with an RTS is an obvious hybrid-but the innovation comes in actually pulling it off. ![]() It's a shame a lot of people will never give this PC series a shot, because it has one innovative concept going for it. ![]()
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