age of wonders: planetfall campaign guide

Planetfall does little to evolve the genre, but the writing is solid enough to give the same ol’ strategy game some structure, some manageable goals to propel the player forward and keep them invested. Even the blandest faction, the introduction’s ex-imperial Vanguard, have this “200 years in cryosleep” hook, a very Forever War premise. They’re a creative pastiche, blending classic science fiction and pulp adventure novels to fill out the corners of this universe with recognizable tropes-and yet the familiar bits are smashed up against other familiar bits in surprising ways. The ones I’ve finished, I’ve enjoyed though. It’s a daunting amount of game, even averaging a mere seven hours per campaign. I still won’t see half what it has to offer probably given there are 13 campaigns at release, unlocked in sequence.

Total War: Warhammer II is wonderful for instance, but I don’t have 20 to 30 hours to dedicate to each of its myriad campaigns. Story-driven strategy games are popular right now, but normally I feel like I’ll never see half of what they have to offer. And I like that aspect most, I think! I like that I’ve been able to play multiple campaigns in the span of 15 hours.

That’s two-and-a-half campaigns, for the record. But I’ve played 15 hours of Planetfall with no signs of slowing, in spite of the flaws. I know the flaws are there, I can enumerate them for you-and will, later on. Pull back a bit though, and I’m having a hell of a lot of fun with this space-faring strategy/tactics mashup.

Age of wonders: planetfall campaign guide