Giveaway of the Day - KingMania

I had to format my computer a couple of days ago and have been busy reinstalling programs and games over the past few days, so today’s review isn’t really a review; just a summary of the games features plus several links to screenshots, screenshots of the in game tutorial and a video as well as some decent reviews posted elsewhere on the net. It’s past 3am and I’m too tired too write a full review so I hope you’ll forgive me for the lack of a decent review. I have played the game for a couple of hours on and off throughout the day (The demo allows you to play the first several levels.

Introduction

- Quote:

Play a quick action strategy game, different from any you have seen before! Kingmania is a fast and simple, yet challenging, game that will test your ability to make quick tactical decisions. You control different buildings, using their power and the power of hordes of your lieges to defeat your opponents. And if you like online challenges, you can play with your friends in multiplayer mode!

ref: http://kingmania.300ad.com/ accessed 24th May 08

Main game features:

30 levels Over 30 structure upgrades
5 mass destruction spells
5 opponents with different strategies - find their weak spots!
Multiplayer mode to play with your friends online!

System Requirements:

- OS…………………………..XP/Vista
- CPU……………………..…1.2GHz
- Graphic Memory…… 64MB
- OpenGL recomended

For those with up to date computers with decent graphics cards there is a beta version of KingMania Advanced available from:

(www.gameofyear.com/download/kingmaniaAdvSetup.exe) I’ve disabled the hyperlink because the link takes you to a direct download which isn’t allowed on this site. The Advanced version is only a free bonus for standard Kingmania owners.

Video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fA-b1Ducaxk

Tutorial Images:

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Kingmania/?start=all

As a slide show:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Kingmania/?albumview=slideshow

Googled Images:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Kingmania+game&btnG=Search+Images

http://images.google.co.uk/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Kingmania&btnG=Search+Images

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Kingmania+&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Worthwhile reviews:

http://www.gametunnel.com/gamespace.php?id=403&tab=3

http://www.softwareheadlines.com/modules/planet/view.article.php/233776

http://www.reflexive.com/KingMania.html

Conclusion

I recommend downloading and trying this game out; though if you’re not sure, check out the video link that I’ve posted above as it gives you an idea as to what the game play looks like. Playing it on the hardest difficulty setting (accessible from the levels map) makes for a very challenging game. Be sure to know the game mechanics before you try it on this setting as otherwise you’ll soon lose your wizards tower and castle (and thus lose the ability to create new knights). The graphics are of the isometric form, with the ability to pan around and zoom in using the mouse cursor and simple controls that you’ll find in game. I don’t think I could play it for protracted periods though, because the game play does become a little tedious after awhile which makes this an ideal arcade game for filling up those odd few minutes you’ve nothing better to do. (I recommend playing it for no more than about half an hour at a time) It’s a change from the usual puzzlers, arkanoids and shooters; requiring a little strategy as well as luck to progress.

It’s definitely worth a 7 out of 10 IMO and will be staying on at least one of my computers.

Be aware - the ReadMe states:

Please, make a note of where the game is installed (there won’t be
any desktop shortcut created). By default game installs to C:\Games\Kingmania\.

In fact, by default, the game installs to C:\Program Files\Kingmania