Occasionally here at Player2.net.au, we will play something that deserves your attention but probably doesn’t need a full review written for it. Be it DLC for the latest AAA title, a little indie game or even an Android/iOS title. We play these titles for a blockbusting amount of time (2 – 5 hours) and report back to you the reader on what we found. So grab your popcorn and settle in for the latest episode of Blockbuster Gaming.
Blockbuster Gaming – One Troll Army
Developers FlyAnvil made a bold challenge – if Twitch chat could beat them at their own game, One Troll Army would release for free. Roughly five hours later, FlyAnvil had been defeated and Twitch was getting ready to download their prize.
One Troll Army is a hero-centric RTS in which a bunch of currently-defenceless goblins decide to build a town in the middle of nowhere, which is constantly under threat from various two-legged enemies, who just happen to be wandering through the middle of nowhere. In praying for help, the goblins accidentally awaken a sleeping troll, who agrees to help them defend themselves against their enemies, becoming the titular One Troll Army.
The mechanics of the game are similar to other tower defence games – enemies attack in increasing waves and its up to you to build your defences. You must gather resources, loot your defeated enemies, train your goblins and keep your troll alive and strong. Defences can be upgraded, whether through teaching your goblins new skills, building new and better walls and towers or giving your troll more powerful moves to use against enemies.
You can also make new buildings in your town that each give a unique benefit. Building a store means you can hold more resources, a town hall allows you to upgrade your workers, an armoury means you can better train your soldiers and the tavern gives you the opportunity to enlist orc mercenaries to come help you fight.
While these mechanics are simple enough to understand, there were still minor points of contention. For instance, many of the attacks your troll can learn feel very similar, either in the action or the damage done. Similarly, you can buy armour for your troll, however, it doesn’t seem to really make any noticeable difference to the amount of damage your troll can take. Enemies can be provoked into attacking early, but there doesn’t seem to be any real benefit to this, given the game has no real fail state – if your defences are overcome, you can either quit or start the wave over again exactly where you left off.
In addition to simply playing the game, you can find additional challenge by streaming it. It is obvious from the large and prominent ‘Twitch’ button on the main menu that this game has been developed with a particular emphasis on streaming and publishers tinyBuild have a history of strong Twitch integration in their games. I was unfortunately unable to try this aspect out myself, but it appears to have been a strong focus of the developers and popular feature amongst players, going by feedback left on the One Troll Army Steam page.
Overall, One Troll Army is a mostly sound little RTS game that is worth a look, especially given its new gratis price! While the graphics are a little canned and generic, the mechanics are straightforward and easy to understand and offer at least a few hours of gameplay.
