Epic War 3 - War of Heroes Review
PROS
- Mindless spawning replaced with tactical play.
- Over-world map adds further strategic depth.
CONS
- Decent artwork marred by poor animation and implementation.
- Later battles can take a long time to complete.
VERDICT
Epic War 3 - War of Heroes is a decent translation of the Flash game for the App Store and an improvement over its previous titles as the focus comes down to controlling your hero instead of your cash.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
Epic War 3 - War of Heroes by Artlogicgames represented a wild divergence from their previous Flash games in the series, leaving behind a clunky castle defense system that has seen too many clones already. Instead of micro-managing your income, clicking wildly at icons and throwing the occasional spell, Epic War 3 tries to add a bit of strategy while leaving the tedious chore of spawning creatures to the computer.
The game's focus is turned away from mere defensive pushes and players must make the best use of their hero unit to tactically jump in to the thick of the action to lend a hand or to hold back and throw up some defensive spells. Units and spells are collected in a 'deck', taking up a total of mana points available for the hero. In combat these units are spawned automatically up to a set cap determined by their level and instead of spells requiring energy they're all placed on individual timers to be activated manually. Once spawned units can be shifted around the field by selecting their icon and tapping a location to set a destination, causing them to either defend or push through enemies depending on where you tap. Mass retreat and advance buttons are also available to help players once the numbers become unmanageable.
And this is merely the combat phase of what is essentially a tactical battle played out over a world map where multiple AI opponents push and defend to claim new castles, unlock new abilities and earn more experience to bulk up their armies. The artwork tries to hit a balance of cartoonish realism that, while interesting, isn't matched by the somewhat poorer interface design that's more functional than elegant.
Initially Epic War 3 felt repetitive and the lack of upgrades only made things harder to enjoy, however once new units and abilities were unlocked and the AI started knocking on the front door of each castle it quickly became a game that was hard to put down. Epic War 3 - War of Heroes is a deceptively addictive title that's rough on the edges, but definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of castle defense style games.
Screenshots
$1.99
