Chinese indie developers Onipunks have launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new PC/Mac/Linux/Android game C-Wars. The game revolves around strategic real-time combat on a rectangular grid of blue and red tiles. Sounds familiar? It should: it’s similar to the basis for Mega Man Battle Network’s battle system. If you’re a big MMBN fan, you may like this game.
According to the developers, C-Wars was inspired by games such as Super Robot Taisen, Fallout and Call of Duty, not MMBN. Furthermore, the FAQ on the game’s site also notes several major differences with Mega Man Battle Network.
Q: Magaman EXE [AKA Megaman battle network]?
A: C-Wars’ combat system and EXE do look alike in some way, but if you look closely, the two have essential distinctions.
- C-Wars’ combat sys is a Real Time Strategy like, aka Army vs. Army. You do have a Captain in C-Wars, but he alone will be dead quickly without his squad, while EXE is RPG, aka One Super Hero vs. Many.
- C-Wars has a non-stop real time gameplay, but EXE is command based with pauses for taking new tiles.
- C-Wars is rogue-like while EXE’s battle is a RPG fighting system. In C-Wars, You will have to think how to corporate with different types of soldiers. For example: use Shield PVT to cover your fragile gunner; place a Supply Cadet to power a Beam Sgt; deploy a Barrier generator to protect your precious Mega Cannon; order two fighters to beat one enemy, one after another, etc.
What say you: inspired by MMBN, or just a coincidence? It’s easy to see the similarities, but it also feels very different from MMBN. Regardless, with the developers already having a few games under their belts, the game is shaping up to be quite a blast.
A Java-based demo is available, and can be downloaded here. It’s a bit hard to get the hang of, but it’s only an alpha version, after all. Be sure to give it a try! At the time of writing, the game has almost reached its goal already, with 25 days to go. However, if more funding can be raised, the game will also come out for 3DS, Wii U, iOS and PS Vita.
C-Wars website
Source: Kickstarter via Joystiq
Thanks for the heads-up! Looks like an interesting game.