Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Review

Developer	Jaleco Ent.
Publisher	Jaleco Ent.
Genre	Strategy

Real-time strategy games don’t appear on consoles very often, and there’s good reason for that. Almost all RTS games are designed from the ground up for PCs, with its 100+ button controller. Assigning dozens of hotkeys and shortcuts is easy with a keyboard, but try to cram all those features onto a controller? Good luck. Having been made specifically for consoles, Goblin Commander dodges the problems associated with PC ports, but does have a fair share of shortcomings.

Gameplay - There are five goblin clans, each with a different set of units. Some clans focus on melee, while others have excellent ranged troops. Eventually, players will have access to all the clans, but the campaign begins with the Stonekrushers. Primarily melee fighters, they are the simplest clan and work well as an introduction to the game. The storyline, which follows the Stonekrushers as they attempt to discover who murdered the Goblin Master, is adequate for the genre, but nothing more.

Unlike most RTS games, there are no real structures to build in Goblin Commander, with only three player-controlled structures even in the game, two of which are always pre-placed on the map before the level begins. Each clan has a different Clan Shrine, which is where new units and upgrades can be purchased. All-powerful Titan units and defensive turrets are bought at the Hall of Titans. While the lack of “base-building” may disappoint some, it’s just one easy way for the developers to simplify the genre without really dumbing it down.

There is also very little in the way of resource gathering. Gold can be found by smashing random objects littered across the landscape, and Souls are acquired by either defeating enemies or claiming a Soul Fountain, which is as simple as standing next to it for a few seconds. This works well enough, but it’s a bit of a pain to be forced to spend time ordering troops to smash open rocks for gold. Some kind of automatic resource gathering would’ve been nice. The collected resources can then be used to either buy new troops and upgrades or make new types of troops available.

Controlling troops is incredibly easy. Each clan under your control has a button assigned to it. For example, ordering the Stonekrusher clan to move to a specific point is as easy as moving the cursor to that point and pushing their button. If you want the Hellfire clan to attack a group of rocks, just move the cursor to the rocks and hit the button. In this way, you can order clans to attack, defend structures and move with one button. The downside to this is that clans cannot be split up. Ordering the Stonekrushers to move somewhere moves the whole clan, which contains up to 10 units.

Players can also take direct control. Taking control of any unit in the clan will cause the rest to follow you. They’ll attack what you attack and run where you run. It’s a fun idea, but in practice it doesn’t really give you any additional control. When combat is initiated with the attack button, the game takes over. The one exception to this is the Titans. These powerful but expensive creatures don’t move on their own, but it is fun to take control of them. While combat with them is still very simple, they at least have a few different attacks at their disposal.

Unlike most RTS games, where units can cast their own spells, in Goblin Commander it is the player who casts them. They can found in the levels, or purchased at neutral Alchemist Shops. There are a variety of effects, all of which are single-use, ranging from meteor showers and lightning bolts to additional armor and healing powers. Most spells are pretty powerful, and can really turn the tables in a large battle.

There is a split-screen multiplayer mode, though sadly no Live play. It’s a nice inclusion, and most players will get some fun out of it, but RTS on a split-screen eliminates all chance of a surprise attack. It’s also purely a last-man-standing game. More exciting multiplayer game types, as well as support for more than 2 players, would have been helpful in making this a more substantial mode.

Graphics - While Goblin Commander sports some pretty visuals, it’s often difficult to see exactly what is going on during battle. It’s too easy to confuse your units with the enemy unless the camera is pulled in close, but at that point, it’s difficult to get a feel for how the battle is going. On the plus side, all of the goblin units look unique and have a good deal of personality in their design.

The audio is completely forgettable, but gets the job done.

Bottom Line - Goblin Commander’s simplicity is simultaneously its biggest strength and biggest weakness. The game is easy to pick up and play, a must for a console RTS game, but this takes away many strategic elements, and will leave fans of the genre wishing there was more to do. There also isn’t a great deal of replay to be found here. Goblin Commander is a good game, seemingly made for casual fans of the genre, but a rental is highly recommended prior to purchase. That said, I’d love to see a sequel with a little more depth to it.

Review by Joe Mackie