Humans finally managed to destroy the world but somehow apes managed to survive. They evolved, they got smarter, they got better… but they were left without bananas. An ape’s top delight was missing, until one wise ape saw the biggest banana of them all, up there on the night sky: the moon.
You see, since these were hungry apes, they thought that the Moon was a huge banana and they made it their goal to get there in space and eat it all. So the race to create a rocket began.
Of course, being raised by humans in the past, they also got from the now gone primates the habit of having different opinions and priorities, as well as a knack for war. As a result, the apes have divided themselves into six different factions (called hordes) which are now fighting for supremacy. You have to pick sides and help your ape win.
And this is the main story about Age of Apes. A really good one for a base building strategy game where we usually see knights fighting for dominance or humans fighting zombie invaders. I guess this is actually the first ever real time strategy game on mobile featuring apes. Bonus: it’s really well done!
I love it when games try to bring something new to the table, and that’s exactly what Age of Apes does. It brings a lot to the table, actually, with amazing graphics, a unique story but most importantly, some innovative and unique approaches to the gameplay itself.
Unlike most strategy titles out there, this one focuses a lot on community and cooperation. Not only that you will join an alliance, but that alliance will be part of the horde where all alliances and players must work together to get to the middle of the map. But all the other hordes are trying the same, resulting in fights for territory between massive armies and hundreds of thousands of players.
It marks, in the end, an evolution of the genre. All players working together for a common goal: now that’s something you can’t help but love!
Most of the gameplay elements will be familiar to experienced strategy game players. Newcomers to the genre will also have a smooth entry thanks to a well made tutorial and enough time to get the hang of things.
You’ll be exploring the world map, building up your city, training your army, battling armies outside the city’s gates and collect resources constantly. The usual stuff that you are supposed to do in any game of this type. But all is fun and well done.
I was surprised to see that, even as a really active player, I always ran out of resources. This game is not making it easy for you to thrive – but it’s an acceptable and understandable level of difficulty, not a hidden way from the Devs to force you to spend some real life money for resources.
However, if you’re just starting the game, make sure you read a guide for it – it will help you a lot getting the first steps right and making sure you’re on the right track for supremacy.
You have to train unique fighters to lead your armies in battle – or to gather resources. You need to actively create alliances and diplomatic relations with others in the Horde or in the game’s world. You will teleport all over the map based on needs and requirements, building flags to help your alliance – but at the same time the horde itself. Brilliant!
Visually, Age of Apes delivers lots of surprises. Great attention was paid to all things related to graphics and everything looks good – from the design of the Fighters (the army leaders) to all the decorations and background images… everything has been carefully drawn, resulting in a colorful, bright and beautiful display. Some games just don’t tick with me in terms of visual art, but this one does!
While still in its early stages – being released for about a week now at the moment of writing this review, Age of Apes is a game that shows a lot of potential and, if the developers manage to keep the players in, it is a game that you’ll play for years to come. It has lots of challenges, great and unique gameplay elements and, so far at least, a great and active player base.
It’s definitely a game worth trying, especially if you like titles like Rise of Kingdoms or mobile strategy games in general. You’ll love it!