OS: iOS 3.0 or more recent, Android
CATEGORY: Games
RATING: 4/5
For many years now the real-time strategy genre has been one of the most popular types of games around for PC gamers and for most smartphone and tablet users it was just a matter of time before the touch-screen capabilities of the smartphone were put to the test.
One of the best real-time strategy games to appear on the Android and iPhone is Starfront: Collision and this is by no means attributed to its originality or uniqueness but is instead down to the fact that a full RTS has been packed into a mere smartphone.
The game is as close as you can get to Starcraft II without feeling the sharp end of a lawsuit but in truth if you’re going to create a clone RTS you could do far worse than using one of the most popular PC RTS titles currently being played by millions of players.One of the biggest problems with these types of games is the control interface, which can often be quite cumbersome on the smaller displays of a smartphone but to be fair the control system on Starfront: Collisions is very intuitive and can be picked up surprisingly quickly thanks to the great tutorial at the start of the game.
The plot for the game is fairly standard RTS affair and involves a planet, three playable races and huge quantities of a rare and highly sought after minerals that can be found under the surface of the planet. The three races are the space marines of the Consortium, an insect race known as the Myriad, and a mech race called the Wardens. Each of these races is not only fighting for survival but also to control the mining of Xenodium crystals.
This forms the basis of the various missions and requires that players build bases, mines crystal and electricity and then build massive armies and send them to war. The design and execution of this game easily makes it worth to cost of the app and players could do worse than try the free one level download before they buy.
