TFC: The Fertile Crescent

This game is the worst case scenario for having a bunch of great ideas and issues with executing them. And those ideas are really neat - picking your patron, the way how farming is done, the whole tech system, the restriction on unit count, the bonus sites and how they change gameplay with different patrons, the hold the line challenge option... ... and each of those is instantly balanced by shitty execution of different ideas or general gameplay loop. The SP is a joke - the AI is brain-dead, the SP "campaign" is a glorified tutorial (and not particularly interesting one), and various maps can end by AI just starving to death on regular basis. MP, or at least as much of it I tested within 2 hours with a friend, is completely unbalanced and undercuts majority of the unique or interesting elements - you ALWAYS want to be Assyrians and you ALWAYS want to rush swordsmen, settling each and every game to be 15 minutes of rushing and/or anticipating a rush. Why even bother with picking Egyptians? And since there is no real campaign, variety of elements are effectively tutorial gimmicks - you are shown them in a tutorial for the sake of them being there. I wish this game was better made and especially better balanced. But right now the lack of proper campaign is killing its options, while the banality of gameplay has one-strat-wins-it-al problem for MP

Good game based loosely on Age of Empire I, with its own ideas and impreovement. For instance, tech management: You start as a generic bland tribe, and then you decide to become a specific civilization (Egyptians, ...), when you reach the age. Either annihilitation or Wonder victory, but you can also accidentally loose by starving, which happen way easier if you don't balance your economy. And also a "Horde" game where you fight growing waves of invaders. Well the problem, is that, considering for a very small team, they managed to implement a full RTS, which the mechanics can challenge way bigger RTS, the energy hast to be cut somewhere else, meaning there are very solo few missions, and nothing more than 4 players/AI on the biggest map (it have co-op tho. And only 3 civilization. And the AI is not very challenging once you have understood. In the state I will recommend it for a nice cozy afternoon, or to play with a friend. A bit of polishing and content could be better than some big RTS around. For instance, I had a mission with a timer which does not trigger, and I had to quit and restart the game to do it. I hope there will be a DLC.

Very well made and fun game. I think it's similar to age of empires/settlers. But a bit quicker and less complicated. So I prefer this game. Gameplay: build base and conquer the map. Modes: - campaign (= actually tutorial and I like it) - single map skirmish - horde (defend base. haven't tried yet) Everything is upgradable and I love you can build a wall <3 I'm halfway campaign. Play time 5 hours. Rating: 9/10.

Usually I dont like to waste my time on playing game, but this little game is really great, if you like RTS like AoE, that's great. Gfx and gameplay are great, usually I dont play the campaign but in this game I did. A good progressive campaign. Mechanisms are not new but there are something fresh in this game and like also the Hordes mode, I would apreciate an endless mode with hordes, anyway I was suprised by this game.