GamesReal Time StrategySummer Game Fest 2024After 10 years making StarCraft, one Blizzard veteran is making a blisteringly fast RTS that’s far more welcoming than the strategy giantsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesReal Time StrategySummer Game Fest 2024After 10 years making StarCraft, one Blizzard veteran is making a blisteringly fast RTS that’s far more welcoming than the strategy giantsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Uncapped Games)
With just a couple of minutes left on the clock, I put my plan into action. Having walked me through a couple of different strategies, Battle Aces game director David Kim has taken off the training wheels, letting me loose on the aggressive push-and-pull of his “paradigm-shifting” strategy game.
(Image credit: Uncapped Games)
While I’ve been harassing those enemy workers, my own have been largely untouched, and I’ve now bought enough time to upgrade my base and build a large number of disposable Bomber units. While I continue to poke and prod with my Recalls on one side of the map, I position the fast-moving bombers at the opposite edge. As I finally draw my opponent into a straight-up fight, I run the bombers into their base, wiping out the workers, crippling their economy, and allowing me to roll over them with a reserve squadron of tanks.
All your base are belong to me
(Image credit: Uncapped Games)
All of this happens inside nine minutes. Kim is a 10-year veteran of StarCraft 2, but in our time together he emphasizes that the months-long learning curve of that iconic RTS is something he’s keen to avoid in Battle Aces. Everything is simplified - each player can take just eight units into battle, deciding which of two upgrade trees they might like to rely on. Building and resource management are relegated to just a handful of buttons, a choice that Kim says was made to allow players to keep their eye on the fighting, and facilitate skilled players to have battles on multiple fronts, without having to jump back to micro-manage.
Between that simplicity and Battle Aces' smaller maps, it might seem that it couldn’t match the complexity that the RTS community has looked to across the likes of StarCraft and Age of Empires. But Kim is adamant that while this game has been made to act as an alternative to those classics, genre veterans have been effusive in playtests, diving into a deep, interconnecting web of different units to unlock unit counters, new strategies, and the kind of nail-biting finishes that might once have required two players with years of experience in a single game.
Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock
(Image credit: Uncapped Games)
I say ‘late-game’, but in reality I’m talking about little more than five or six minutes. Battle Aces fights are extremely fast, but each one is a case of counters and counter-counters. Enemy units are hidden in fog of war, but you’ll be able to see what upgrade paths they’re looking for, which units they’re planning to build, and even exactly where their economy-boosting bases can be found. With each decision they make, you’ll be forced to make your own in an attempt to keep pace. Fights were rarely complex, but I still found myself struggling to keep pace, even amid all those simplified building tools and streamlined UI.
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(Image credit: Uncapped Games)
With its science-fiction roster and potential for brutality, StarCraft’s DNA can certainly be felt within Battle Aces. Deeper than it appears, its apparent simplicity belies a game that’s prepared to punish you if you’re not ready to answer your opponents' challenges. What it offers in return, however, is an experience that speaks to the ideals of Blizzard’s strategy giant, all while making a concerted effort to open the genre’s doors to all comers, regardless of experience.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
For more previews right out ofSummer Game Fest, make sure to check out ourSummer Preview hub.
TOPICSSummer Game Fest
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CATEGORIESStrategyPC GamingPlatforms
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”