By Liyo Kikon
THERE are lots of games out there like Clash of Clans where you team up with other players, build your town, train troops and attack others but among these type of games, “Olympus Rising” is probably the most unique.
It has one of the best graphics in this genre, and the gameplay will initially confuse you! Yes, I said ‘confuse’ because when you first play it, you will think that it is an action role playing game like Diablo where you control the main character to move around and attack enemies, but then you will soon realize that this game is nothing like a role playing game. In fact, this game is best classified as a mix between role playing, town building and tower defense.
Set in a mythical time of Roman Gods, you get to use heroes like Hercules, Prometheus, Perseus, Achilles, Athena and others, and summon support troops such as Warriors, Siren, Medusa, Minotaur and lots of other mystical creatures during battles. All battles are in the form of role playing action where you control the main hero and summon troops while attacking the enemy base which is set in the form of a tower defence game and the battle is won when you destroy their main gate. The enemy bases are visible in the form of islands in the main map where upon victory, you will be rewarded with gold, Ambrosia, wisdom or “dominance”.
You have your main base, where you upgrade buildings, maintain troops and build defences just like other strategy games out there. The only difference is that instead of building defenses inside your main base, you create towers, barricade and other defensive elements outside your main base. Initially, there is a main road leading straight to your base and this is the path the enemy will take when attacking your bases but you can modify the road i.e. add turns by upgrading the building called “Gate of Apollo”. Another line of defense is the use of a building called “Guard of Thanatos” where you can queue up troops which will be deployed to attack the enemy forces.
Like most role playing games out there, you can equip your hero with more powerful weapons, armor and other items which you get as you conquer more islands. I found that this system adds an interesting feature to the whole gameplay since all the heroes can be modified and made unique according to your taste.
When it comes to attacking enemy islands, there is a bar at the bottom of the screen which is used like a kind of power up for summoning various troops. For example, you will need just one bar to summon a standard “spearman” whereas you will need three bars to summon a “Siren”. And on the bottom right hand side of the screen is the special ability button which can really create havoc on the enemy forces, each hero has their own special ability and you can upgrade or change it according to your attack style.
The player level is calculated by a point system called “the number of worshipers”, the more you upgrade your troops and buildings, the higher your level will grow. And upon reaching the next level, you will be rewarded with an “ascension chest” which contains several goodies such as gems, gold, weapons, etc. If you are a regular player, you will get an ascension chest every day which is actually a really clever way of making sure that you play the game at least once every day.
The one thing I love about this game would be the “current upgrades” button which is the small hammer on the left side of the screen. This acts like a one touch system to find out what your workers are working on, which troop or ability is being upgraded. I wish all other games would have this ability so that I don’t have to look around the base, trying to find out how long I have to wait for an upgrade to finish.
So far, I am really enjoying this game, and since its fairly new, there aren’t many players but its always good to have a head start in games like these since some upgrades take days.
This game might sound a bit complicated, but once you get the hang of it, its really just a typical hack and slash role playing game fought against a base in tower defense mode.
There are obviously a lot of in-app purchases in the game, but I didn’t find the need to spend any money on it to enjoy the game. Except for the part where “Ambrosia” is needed to attack other islands which can get frustrating - You’ll get what I mean when you play the game. If you are looking for a great looking game with a unique gameplay, you have to try this game out.
