(Impressions) Post Human W.A.R.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Post Human W.A.R. has a very cool and non-traditional (faction-wise since there are no humans) setting. You take part with one of three factions that all appear very unique. Will you join the R-PATCH and try to protect what’s left of humanity’s legacy? Will you try to eradicate all that remains of the vile humans, namely anything they built, as the varied Wraak (a collection of mutated and Stront-infused animal life). Or will you join the Anthropist (a faction of animals who are also Stront-infused) and recycle all that humanity has left behind for your own purposes? As one can expect, there is some overlap in battle characteristics of the three armies, but they vary enough to be able to pick a favorite side (Anthropists for life!). Does the coolness of the concept and the uniqueness of this title drive it into the arena of time-consuming games to play? Let’s break it down shall we?
Let me start this off with saying that I do appreciate games that try to set themselves in a post-human time. I’m not anti-human, but it’s a cooler way to ensure that you can do things that won’t conflict with reality. I know that shouldn’t be an issue in a videogame (or movies for that matter), but if you base it too close to reality, when things don’t line up with how things “should work”, it can be kind of irritating for me. In Post Human W.A.R. however, you’ll have plate-tossing dish-washing machine (D.I.S.H.O.X) against a Stront-infused caribou and koala coupling of cavalry and sling-shot (Koalatapult) against a lazy-looking sloth that excels at marksmanship (Marksloth) fighting each other to the death. It’s safe to say that no one will have any grounds to stand on calling this unrealistic as it stands firmly in the fiction category and does so proudly.
The combat is in the traditional tactics-based genre with a grid system in place where you can either move and attack or move farther and not attack. A cool addition is that you don’t have to wait for your unit to finish moving if you know what you want to do. When it’s your turn, you can just click and move the next unit as soon as you’re done clicking the last unit even though it hasn’t finished moving or attacking on-screen. So you’ll have multiple units moving on the board and attacking all at once if you are sure of your tactics. It’s a small feature, but keeps the speed up if you have a clear course of action (which isn’t always the case).
There is a specific cost to each unit as well in the beginning of each fight similar to recent X-Com titles. At the start of the fight, you’re giving a predetermined army limit and you can pick the units you take into battle. More fierce units cost more so you can’t take a lot in, but taking in a ton of small guys and your army will “melt” to a few snipers. It’s a delicate balance. I prefer the developers giving me what units I get and maybe having a small choice rather than picking them all myself and possibly grabbing a crap army. “Just get good!” you say. Thanks for the always helpful and constructive comments.
There is something fundamentally… “not right” with Post Human W.A.R. currently. I thinks it’s possibly a combination of factors. I think it may be that the health is a little high on the units. It also could be that or the units don’t do enough damage. Snipers should be a scourge on the battlefield, but there should also be plenty of cover to help counter them. The levels do feel a bit open at the moment with too little cover. I also hate feeling like I have to throw units at enemies to win. I like a good fight, but not a war of attrition every fight.
Further Reading on Post Human W.A.R.: Facebook / Official Page / Steam / Twitter
