Realpolitiks

Strategy has been a gaming genre that has held it’s popularity and acclaim since the very early days of gaming. Titles such as Command and Conquer, Tropico or Sid Meier’s Civilisation have all pushed to boat out and given the strategically-minded player a cavalcade of content to sink their teeth into and create an environment for players to rule with an iron fist. However, there has always been a real issue bringing these titles competently to consoles and handheld systems. This is an issue that Realpolotiks aims to solve but sadly, it stumbles at a number of hurdles on it’s way to the finish line.

This game plays similarly to the likes of Crusader Kings, Stellaris, Surviving Mars or Europa Universalis, aiming to give players a grand task with mechanics and tactics that make the stakes as high as they can be within a game such as this. You take control of a small humble nation and have the unenviable task of turning this nation into a global superpower by any means necessary.

A Shock To The System

The first thing you’ll notice and arguably the one thing stopping this game from becoming a memorable strategy game amongst the greats is the format that the game takes. This title has been ported to the switch and despite this, aims to give the same level of detail and splendour that a PC based title can offer with no alternatives or substitutes being considered. It’s admirable on paper, however, the lack of mouse and keyboard means that the UI in use here becomes cumbersome and difficult to use.

Aside from this though, the move to make this a title that makes no excuses and delivers strategy in all its glory does have it’s benefits. The options you will have to exploit, coerce, befriend and engage in war with other countries and leaders on your quest for global supremacy is truly spectacular. You can aim to keep your population happy, ruin their day with a huge tax bill to fund war plans, commit espionage on counties of interest and many more interesting mechanics that make this game fun from start until finish of your campaign.

Rule The World your way

The game has a series of game modes that allow you to take on different formats of the games very detailed campaigns. You have the free play mode which is essentially a no holds barred race for global supremacy. Then you have a nuclear mode that tasks you with rebuilding the world after a nuclear apocalypse, wiping the slate clean and having all countries starting from scratch. Then a third mode starts all countries on the same stats and acts as a race against the clock to become the best, much like Sid Meier’s Civilisation.

The free play mode is by far and away the most interesting of the three and offers the most mechanical and detailed splendour. However, what must be noted is the lack of hand-holding this game offers. Which, while commendable if done well, only serves to confuse and alienate more casual players making their way to this game. Tutorials and hints help slightly but not to the extent needed to make your way through a campaign competently.

A Simple Lampoon

When going through the various mechanics and features you’ll initially be blown away by the seemingly endless possibilities and tasks you can complete that will have you move one step closer to your goal. However, when put under the microscope you find that these features serve as nothing more than a prompt or an arbitrary option that provides little in terms of cause and effect. The presentation leads you to believe that you are an all-powerful leader when in reality, you are simply a person ticking boxes and achieving simple tasks with no interwoven worries or consequences for your actions, which is simply not how these games work.

Strategic Stumble

What has to be said about Realpolotiks is that its intentions are pure and good. They offer a lot of strategy and intrigue considering the system hardware they had to produce this game for. However, we must compare it to the games that it so desperately tries to replicate and in comparison, it fails to meet the mark of any of these titles.

Pros

• Varied game modes.
• Very detailed for a console release

Cons

• UI doesn’t suit the system at all
• Too many arbitrary and inconsequential tasks