Review written by Eric Pankoke
Chillingo - The Premier Games Publisher
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Most gamers are probably familiar with the 4X games: eXplore, eXpand… okay, I'm not even exactly sure what the 4 X's stand for, and I've been playing these types of games for a long time! The idea is that you usually start out with a solitary planet and limited resources, and your goal is to take over the galaxy. Welcome to Pocket 4000 A.D., Tiger Tools' attempt at making you feel like the ruler of the universe.
Graphics Description:
The visuals in P4000AD are a mixed bag. Larger images such as splash screens and panels that let you know when construction is complete look really nice. Your view of the planetary system is simple yet effective. The rest of the interface is a bit cluttered, however, and takes some getting used to. The initial menu has nicely rendered graphics, yet the rest of the interactive interface uses standard Pocket PC controls, which give the interface a very plain feel. The alien portraits are also well done, though a bit small.
Sound Description:
The sound effects are nothing special. You're treated with a bunch of beeps and clicks, making it feel like the control console of a 60's Star Trek ship. A few of the effects, such as the firefight when attacking an inhabited planet are pretty good. On the other hand, noises like an incoming transmission sound like the muffled ramblings of a Burger King employee in the drive thru. Some of the effects are even standard application sounds, which I would suppose is due to the use of standard Pocket PC controls instead of using a custom interface. Then there's the item that causes me to gripe the most almost every time I write the section about sound effects and music: there is NO music! In this case, there's not even music behind any of the menu screens. This is the type of game that could definitely use music, given its slow paced format.
Game play Description:
P4000AD is traditional space conquest at its finest. You start out the game with a single planet, a few troops and some resources, and try and reach out to the farthest corners of the galaxy – in this case, the edge of the Pocket PC screen. The roster can be comprised of a mixture of 1-4 human players and 0-4 computer controlled races for a total of 5 opponents at one time. 4 opponents start out with a home planet and the fifth is a wandering soul, though sadly the “planet less” slot cannot be occupied by a human player.
There are three basic functions that you will perform throughout the course of the game: build up your army, research technology, and conquer planets. These actions can be done in tandem to an extent, but as you progress through the game certain elements get harder to do without having met other prerequisites. For example, when you start out the game each player has one planet. Nearby neutral planets are basically unpopulated, so conquering them is a simple matter of filling a ship with basic troops and landing on the planet. As you prepare to take on industrialized opponents' planets, however, you will find the task daunting unless you've upgraded your Military research such that you can produce stronger troops and mech combatants.
Like any good 4x game, P4000AD has a simple but effective tech tree for researching purposes. The tech tree consists of 5 groups: Planetary, Military, War Ships, Resources and Scanners. Each branch has several categories. For example, Scanners consists of Short-Range Scanner, Long-Range Scanner, Scanner Jamming Device and Warp Scanner. Mastering which technologies to research at what time is the first key to a conquering success. However, after you've achieved a certain level of tech savvy, it seems that the rest is fluff. It would be nice to see the advanced technologies pay off in increased strategic warfare, but realistically you'll never get to the point where you need most of the advanced weapons and defenses. At least this seems to be the case on the lower and middle skill levels.
Combat begins with the construction of armed forces. Armies consist of troops and mechs. Troops are the weaker combatant, and can be upgraded with laser and plasma rifles. They are also cheap, costing only 1 resource apiece. Mechs add more to your combat skill and allow you to go on stealth missions, but they cost 4 resources apiece to build. For the most part this system works well, but it might have been nice to have a couple of additional types of forces to throw into the mix. Once you've built up a sufficient army on a given planet, it's time for conquest.
You can build up to two ships at a time from a given planet, and populate that ship with the troops and mechs from that planet. If you have the appropriate technologies you can assign the ship to a sabotage mission and equip it with either a warp engine or cloaking device, all of which cost additional resources. Once you've loaded your ship you send it into orbit with the Launch button, and each round its available reach will expand, giving you a choice of more planets that it can land on. Be cautious, however, as a ship only has an 8 round window in which it can land before it is out of warp range. The weird part of this whole process is that as you get farther away from the launching planet, you not only have access to the more distant planets, but you can still reach the ones close to home. I guess this has something to do with the “warp path” that is mentioned once or twice, but never fully explained. It would have deepened the strategy somewhat to lose access to the closer planets as you traveled further along the warp path.
Overall, P4000AD provides for a well balanced if not simplistic mix of strategic game play.
If you select an uninhabited planet, you will automatically be given that planet as a new conquest. If, however, the planet is owned by one of your adversaries you will be forced into combat. Fighting is actually rather simple: either the ship or the planet wins, based on who has the higher combat strength. If you win the combat, you will acquire that planet with all of your troops and mechs to repopulate the land. Any missiles or shields that the planet had will be yours to control. If you lose, well, it's time to start building up more troops and mechs!
Overall P4000AD provides for a well balanced if not simplistic mix of strategic game play. There are several options that you can set to vary the game mechanics as well. The game can be played with 2-5 players and / or computer controlled races. You can specify the starting allocation of resources, troops and number of planets. Specify no victory conditions, which basically means you play until everyone else is eliminated, or choose from such tasks as “capturing the opponents' home planets” or “first player to reach X number of resources”. You also have three options for enemy AI: weak, normal or expert. There are certainly enough options to keep you busy for a long time to come.
Pros:
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Easy to get into
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Most graphics look good
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Lots of variety in game settings
Cons:
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Somewhat shallow in the strategy department
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Sluggish interface
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So-so sound effects
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No music
Despite its faults, Pocket 4000 AD is a solid turn based space strategy game. That pretty much sums it up right there. I also give the developers credit, as the last time I talked to them they were continuing to prepare an update to enhance several items in this game, showing a commitment to quality on their part. If you’re itching to conquer the galaxy, definitely give Pocket 4000 AD a try.
Overall Score: 6/10
Many thanks to Tiger Tools for providing us with our review copy.
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