or once, our beloved planet is not the focus of a real-time strategy alien assault. No, although Thandor: The Invasion depicts a planetary assault, the object of the alien's desire Thandor, a key world in the Alliance of Avares. Once upon a time the Alliance was a good thing. That was way back when the evil Golrath were the bad boys on the block, and the rest of the galaxy banded together to teach them a lesson. But the teaching ended 10 years past, and the Alliance--crippled by corruption and internal bickering--has fallen into disarray. It is up to the gamer to lead the few, the mighty, the good in an invasion of Thandor to save the Alliance.
The leading will be familiar to all but the newest real-time strategy newbie. A 3D accelerated game, Thandor: The Invasion uses a floating camera that allows gamers to zoom, rotate and maneuver their view to match the situation. Units are selected with a click of the mouse, and ordered to kill, build, or move with another. Thandor is a resource management game; accordingly gathering both Xenite and Tritium (the game's resources) is an important facet of the game.
The resource gathering supports the typical real-time strategy units. There are jeeps for reconnaissance, tanks for dealing with tanks, and battle walkers (read BattleMechs) for destroying anything else. Included is a single player campaign, two multiplayer mini-campaigns, and 18 multiplayer maps. The multiplayer battles support up to eight players.
Not Bad, but not Quite Good
A forgettable game. There's nothing blatantly wrong with Thandor: The Invasion, but neither is there anything new, creative or exciting. From the bland full-motion animation that kicks off the game to the final missile shot, there is nothing to fire the imagination.
The single player campaign consists of the usual capture this, destroy that, build whatever types of missions. Slide the AI bar to difficult and the missions will no doubt challenge gamers. Unfortunately, the challenge is due not to a clever AI, but rather to the insane pace at which the AI cranks out its units. Gamers who love mass assaults and huge battles will enjoy this. Others may find the computer's relentless wave attacks tedious. Neither are the units much to slaver over. Yeah, the 'Mechs look cool, but the combatants' units are mirror images. If one side has a missile-firing 'Mech, you can be sure that the other side also has one.
Thandor is a pretty game, but in this age of accelerated graphics everything is pretty. Nevertheless, the game's clean look is attractive. 'Mechs leave tracks in the soil, fell trees as they brush them, and their weapons blaze brightly when engaging the enemy. Cool. Also cool is the multiplayer option. It's simple, outproduce-your-opponent competition, but there is no denying the fun factor.
Despite the pleasant graphics and entertaining multiplayer, Thandor: The Invasion is a boringly average game. Uninspired story, an insipid single-player campaign and dull mirror-image units, combine to make Thandor a title best left on the shelf.
Successful games have soul; Thandor does not. Replicating existing games/formulas is not the way to create a hit.
--Mark
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