China’s Three Kingdoms era has been a setting for numerous popular titles such as Dynasty Warriors. The history involved is interesting and for games to help appeal to those who might have snoozed in their history classes in school. Or for those like myself who had trouble learning about it due to it not being presented in a more interactive fashion. ELEX brings another title based on China’s Three Kingdoms era with their mobile title, Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms. Does it offer a great mobile experience or would you be better off passing on this title?
Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms takes place during one of China’s bloodiest era while also adding its own spin via the ghosts of fallen warriors returning to wreak havoc. It is up to you to take on ghosts and other humans.
Like most other mobile titles, Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms has stamina and energy bars that control how often you battle the story missions and the online opponents. Luckily, these bars don’t feel as restricting as other titles. Completing dungeons and event battles will deplete the energy bar while the online battles require stamina.
When it comes to the actual battles, you’ll find that it’s more of a hands-off experience. You have no control over your party. Instead you get to watch as the party goes head-to-head with the foes. Each battle can take up to 30 rounds though you won’t have to worry about it taking that long unless you are severely under-level. Each hero has a special skill that they can perform during a battle.
Leveling up works out in a way that only your main hero levels up from gaining experience while the rest of your party requires you to pay via copper or souls to get to the same level as your main hero. Equipment is handled in the same fashion. Leveling up both the heroes and equipment can get costly, especially when you choose to switch out a hero or change to a better piece of equipment as they (unless you’ve upgraded them prior) will start on the lowest level.
The graphics are colorful and the character designs are not too cartoonish. One thing that I would have loved to seen was a cosmetic change in the heroes when you equip a new weapon or armor. The only time you really see a change in your heroes is when you change the class of your main hero. Skills performed by your party are displayed while those done by the opposing side are just given a notice. Menus and messages are easy to read.
I found the background music to be pleasing for Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms. It doesn’t distract from the game. If you are the type to want to mute a game’s sounds in favor something else, you can do so within the setup menu.
As this is a mobile title, there are some online features available. They are what you would consider typical for a game of this nature. There is the Legion system which has you join or create a group to challenge other legions. Some legions do require your heroes to be at a set level but there are plenty for those at the lower levels. Within the Legion menu, you can purchase items with a currency made just for the Legion as well donate towards your current legion.
While the game has only two chapters with fifty missions per chapter, there is three difficulties to play on and extra content so there is quite a bit to do. As with other mobile titles, Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms can be played in short bursts or you can find yourself spending a bit of time clearing out ‘just one more battle’ or testing your party’s might against fellow players.
Sure, there are a lot of mobile games out that there can prove fun during your trek to work or bathroom breaks. Some aren’t worth the money or time to download. Luckily, Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms isn’t one of them. It’s a fun and bright-looking title. Not to mention, its success in Taiwan looks to be spreading over here.
|
Haunted Empire: Ghosts of the Three Kingdoms
|
||
|---|---|---|
 |
Platform: Android, iPad Genre: Free-to-Play, Role-playing Release Date: Developer: Elex Publisher: Elex ESRB Rating: Medium Rating MSRP: Free with in-app purchases |
|
