Nexon Path of War review - Android reviews

7/21/2019 Nexon Path of War review - Android reviews

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Nexon Path of War review - Android reviews

Set one year after a cyber-terror attack on the United States, Path of War wastes little time in

getting down to business.

It's a near-future tale of oppressive military rule and grassroots rebellion.

The political set-up doesn't have much meat on its bones, nor does it require it. You and the other

good people simply have to murder and overthrow the naughty men. Who needs nuance?

I'll be joining the rebels over the course of a week, and will report back with my findings every few

days.

First impressions

You start out being bossed around by a beardy Southern stereotype in a tutorial that's significantlylonger than it needs to be.

You see, anyone who's had even a sniff of Clash of Clans and its ilk - i.e. everyone - should be pretty

clear what's going on here.

Broadly, Path of War is similar to that Clans-inspired crop of mobile strategy titles, with low-

intensity base-building and battles capped at 3 minutes.

The battles themselves, however, are a little different. Maps are split into columns, la Plants vs.

Zombies, and units cannot cross the boundaries.

The strategy arises from where you decide to deploy units, as they can only move forwards.

Armoured cars can plough through columns fenced with barbed wire, for instance, while Grenadiers

deal best with buildings.

If you get a unit to the other side of the map without being killed, it's automatically cashed in for

Command Points that you can spend to deploy another.

Not a life-changing diversion, then, and there's the same end goal of destroying everything before all

your own units perish, but it's a refreshing little shake-up of the formula nonetheless.

The theme of moving towards Washington also works well for a game with big social ambitions, as

players don't just see their their current location, but are surrounded by those at exactly the ideal

level to compete or cooperate with.

Indeed, a large part of Path of War is said to be its co-operative guild-based play, but that hasn't

reared its head as yet. Let's give it a few days and see if we make any new chums.

Day 3: Bogged down

I'm at level 6 now in Path of War, which doesn't seem like much progress for the amount of time I'veput in.



Well, the amount of time I've tried to put into it at least.

You see, to play Path of War is to be in a constant battle with developer Envision Entertainment, who

seems to be doing everything in its power to stop you from playing.

Want to upgrade a building? That'll be 3 hours. And you can't work on multiple buildings at once

without spending hard currency.

Want to ploddingly move your base ever closer to Washington, as per the game's interesting-bu-

-wasted premise? You don't? Well, you have to. And it costs fuel, as does launching an attack.

Ah, fuel, the bane of my life. While it can be upgraded, at this point my oil well produces 95 fuel per

hour. To move any significant distance on the map costs at least 5 times this. Do you see the problem

here?

IAPs explainedPath of War features two currencies: Steel (soft) and Diamonds (hard). The latter

range from 4.20 for 500 to 84.23 for 16,000, if you're a madman.

Diamonds are used to pay for missing resources, skip wait timers on buildings, or - at a rate of 50

apiece - purchase additional construction cranes to facilitate multiple buildings at one time.

There's also an energy system (Fuel) which is required to travel, launch attacks, and send troops to

other players.

It doesn't take long for the wait timers on

building work to reach a considerable length,pressurising you to spend Diamonds, and the

distribution in standard play is slow enough for

you to quickly run out.

It's frustrating, because the gameplay is actually

a fun little departure from the usual free to play

strategy fare.

Sure, it's hardly a revolution (see what I did there?), but there is some satisfaction in fielding a

perfectly-balanced line-up of troops - from grenadiers to missile trucks - and seeing them tear apartthe enemy's defences.

The column-based approach just makes everything seem more rigid, more controllable - not like

other F2P strategy titles, where you deploy your troops and they all just run off and largely do as

they please.



But the main problem with Path of War is that it's

simply dull - something that really shouldn't be an

issue considering it boasts a far more interesting

premise than many other F2P titles out there.

Some of the game's highlights are news bulletins,

reporting on the unfolding story and the wider

context behind the actions the player is carrying

out.

In some, President Adams directly addresses the rebels - i.e. the player - and promises that their

insurgency will soon be quelled, while wild-haired rebel leader Colonel Connor remains steadfast in

his refusal to back down.

But they're all too short, too few and far between, to make any major impact.

As it stands, I'm simply levelling up (slowly) moving across America (barely) and fighting the same

battles over and over again to scrape some XP together.

The first three days have been disappointing, and I can't help but wish I was playing a different F2P

strategy title instead. Rival Kingdoms or something.

This is it, then, Path of War's Scrooge-on-Christmas-Eve moment - if it doesn't change its ways in the

next four days, the consequences will be grave. By which I mean it'll get a low score. Tiny Tim will

be fine.

Day 7 - Wartime camaraderie

I'm not sure that anything's actually changed since the last entry, but I'm certainly getting far less

frustrated withPath of War now.

Playing it on its own terms, dipping in and out a couple of times a day, makes for a much better

experience.

I've also finally joined an alliance, which gives access to a surprisingly active and fully-featured chat

window.

Even more shocking is the fact that, at least in my experience, the community is awash with

friendliness and genuine advice rather than incoherent swearing and use of the word 'noob.'

It's telling, however, to see that the bulk of conversations in the chat window involve formulating

workarounds to the energy system, or the best way to deal with having no Diamonds.

It's like a chummy support group, with nobody I've seen expressing anything that even remotely

resembles enjoyment - more like a feat of endurance that they're committed to grit their teeth

through.

The bread and butter gameplay remains the same - attack various Regime-run bases to earn XP, all

while slowly constructing and levelling stuff up at your base.



There are new resource-generating buildings made available along the way - namely power and

nuclear power plants - but they serve little other purpose than adding more resources to maintain.

To continue any further seems a little pointless, then. After seven days of playing, it's extremely

unlikely that Path of War is going to suddenly change its ways.

It's a harsh, uncompromising mobile strategy that offers you two choices: endure the grind, or pay

for IAPs.

And, with the App Store jam-packed with livelier, more generous free to play strategy titles, neither

option is particularly attractive.

How are you getting on with the game? You can tell us and the rest of the PG community about your

experiences by leaving a comment in the box below. Click here to learn about our free-to-play review

policy.

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Nexon Path of War review - Android reviews