Hoard

Big Sandwich GamesPlayStation Network

Medieval-themed video games used to be about donning your armor, picking up a sword and protecting the land by slaying monsters and dragons. In recent times, perhaps brought about by the popular Spyro franchise, more and more games are about taking control of the dragon itself. Hoard, a downloadable real-time strategy game for PS3, comes with all the guilty pleasures you would expect where a dragon is the playable protagonist: amassing lots of treasure any way you can, including burning down castles, crops, and villages.

Hoard is a multiplayer experience that pits you against other dragons. The player who brings in the most gold in a certain amount of time wins the game. Most levels are no more than 10 minutes in length. If you’re playing in single-player mode, with no other dragons to stand in the way, you can rack up as high a score as you can and post it on a leaderboard to compare with others. Playing the game by yourself may be good for beginners or to refine your strategy, but the lack of any kind of campaign makes it almost a useless download for those who enjoy single-player modes. The point of the game is multi-player, where the fun comes from dealing with the challenges of playing with others. Apart from playing against enemy dragons, you must be also wary of knights and archers stationed throughout the map. You can recover health by heading back to your lair to rest.

What keeps the game exciting – apart from burning people, which doesn’t seem to get old – is how your dragon progresses. The more gold you bring in, the more experience points you get, which can then be spent on making your dragon better. Unfortunately for players who enjoy a more World of Warcraft type experience, where you can level up the same character without having to reset, Hoard is all about skirmishes that end when they end. At the start of every game, you start off at level 1, no matter what. For some the pressure of not having to commit to be good is great, while others will likely feel that the game is lacking and may soon be bored of having to start over every time with no real reward.  

While the gameplay is pretty fun, the level design and soundtrack take a lot away from the experience. The music just doesn’t have the bite it should for a fire-breathing dragon terrorizing villages – it sounds more like a dragon just flying through some clouds. It’s ok on its own, but the electric music just doesn’t fit at all. 

The presentation is even worse than the sound. The maps – 16 different ones to choose from – all look pretty much the same, with only the changing locations of buildings to make them any different. In addition, this game must have been designed thinking that every one had high-powered, binocular-like glasses as not only are the building models small, but the text is so tiny it’s almost impossible to read. Unless you’re fine with squinting all the time or not bothering to read the text at all, the visuals may be enough to deter you from this game.

Despite its $15.00 price point, Hoard is a relatively decent download for those who like their games quick and easy. Playing as the bad guy, especially a dragon, is fun and will have real-time strategy fans coming back for more. Though better audio and visual presentations could have made this game a classic, it’s still decent enough to warrant a download.