Great Little War Game

In a market crowded by puzzle game after puzzle game it's always nice to see something fill a gap. Android has had a few strategy war games, but none that have really shined bright. Great Little War Game (or GLWG for the balance of this review) looks like it fills the gap nicely.

GLWG is a turn based strategy game with a little comic humor thrown in and a lot of planning and strategy. But let's jump right in with the bad side of things. My first complaint with the game is the lack of any real tutorial. Once you start the campain you are thrown into the thick of things with a few grunt units and the mission of killing the enemy. As a strategy gamer I want to know how far my units move, their range, stengths and weaknesses, ...etc. In GLWG you learn on the go and just have to muddle through the first mission. I couldn't even find any help screens to answer my many questions. On the positive side, my first complaint is also my only and last complaint.

Graphically the game is more than decent for a strategy game and the audio is on par, too. The game has nice little animations for the characters and vehicles. When combat occurs the game will zoom in and show the volley of fire being exchanged. It's prettier that one would really expect from this genre and that's always a nice bonus. Control wise the game is simple. Touch a unit, you'll see how far it can move, touch where you want to move. The game also allows for undos in the event of a movement error, but I've been playing on my tablet's larger screen so that really hasn't been an issue.

As you progress through the campain additional units are revealed. Grunts, snipers, jeeps, bazooka men, generals, tanks, ...etc. Back to my original complaint regarding the lack of instruction. After playing through a few missions and enjoying them I eventually noticed that on the screen where you produce units you are given info about each unit including it's movement and range as well as one or more green check marks indicating a unit's strength against other units (or a red X if it's ineffective against such enemies). And, after you've played you'll click that it's move and fire and whenever you fire on something and fail to kill it then the opposing units returns fire. Yes, it's entirely possible for you to die and the enemy to remain standing after combat. It also appears to show you a percentage that I haven't fully deciphered (my unit's effectiveness against this enemy?) and there's a little meter that shows you the strength a unit has left before death.

As the game progresses you'll be capturing enemy fortresses and having to build new units as part of each mission's strategy and the game also supports skirmish and multiplayer modes (in addition to the 30 mission campaign) although I haven't had an opportunity to check those out yet. Whenever I get a new strategy game I work my way through the campain mode first for both the story and getting acquainted with each of the game's units.

As stated, my complaint regarding instruction is my only complaint and this game shines beyond that. This really is a great little war game and is a must have for any Android strategy gamer. It's polished, plays smoothly, and with about 10 minutes of playing around you'll be able to learn the ropes despite the lack of hand holding. 5/5 stars.