|
|
|
When you get tired of playing with yourself, there's always group action.
|
For our purposes, the multiplayer game best illustrates the kind of strategic action needed to play Giants and also shows best how each of the races plays.
The Meccs find Smarties, and have to give the Smarties a reason to stay with them. They will slay vimps (relatively large, sheep-like creatures that serve as the game's cattle) and roast them for the Smarties. If you feed the Smarties enough, they will become pleased and build a pub (a sign that they like you and have made that area their new home; kind of like when a dog urinates on your favorite sofa, except without the revolting smell). Keep them happy and they can be used to build bases for you, powerful weapons, or various other items such as the gyrocopter. This nifty invention is useful in a number of ways. To save time later in the game, you can fly into a pack of vimps and allow the blades to shred all of the vimps in that area so that they can be roasted for Smarties (as opposed to taking down the vimps one by one). In battle, the gyrocopter is something to behold. Although the machine gun it wields is not extraordinarily powerful, two additional Meccs can hang from the gyrocopter's sides and fire their guns along with the airborne contraption's own weapons. This makes for one potent force in a heated battle.
Kabuto is a very, very powerful being… but he does not unbalance the game. His energy is constantly wearing down, and he needs to replenish it by eating Smarties or vimps. After filling up all of his energy he can even store a couple vimps on the horns that protrude from his sides to fill up his energy later. The Giant always has enough power to squash small buildings (like you might find in a Smartie village) and use the Smarties that run from them as a handy snack, but he needs to fill up his power before he can charge into a base and destroy everything in sight. This allows for some interesting strategies, such as a player who is using Meccs deciding to gib an entire pack of vimps to keep the giant from filling up his strength, and then occupying him as his energy decreases. If he does build up his energy, he can smash entire bases. A Mecc base might include turret gun towers, wall barricades, and even homes and pubs; while a Sea Reaper base will have spell shops, towers, and possibly a barracks to produce henchmen (their guards). Once the giant gains enough energy, he can smash all of those things, because that's what giants do.
When Kabuto tires of swatting at things or eating them, he can make use of large rocks or trees as projectiles. Of course, Kabuto isn't invulnerable, and one of the coolest ideas in Giants is the shield on Kabuto's enormous belly. If a creature is far away from it, it remains closed and Kabuto is very difficult to kill. So to effectively take down the giant, the Meccs or Sea Reapers need to be within the giant's swatting range, so that his shield opens up and they can attack his vulnerable spot.
This will ensure a real battle takes place and that players can't just snipe the giant from a distance and easily defeat him. Additionally, the giant doesn't always have to fight alone. After devouring a Smartie, he can poop out an egg (you know it takes one gigantic bowel movement to force out such a large egg) that will hatch an Offspring, which is a punk singing creature that has a very sardonic lyrical style. Oh wait, that's the band… an offspring in Giants is a creature that Kabuto has control over, but he needs to feed and raise it before he starts using it to help attack enemies or bring him food.
The Sea Reapers also have a few tricks up their sleeves. Oh wait, they aren't wearing any clothes. In light of that, I better not comment on where they're storing their tricks. At any rate, they're capable of casting spells that slow down time in one specific spot, which can be used to keep the Giant in a relatively small area as he attempts to move at a maddeningly slow pace back into a region unaffected by the spell. During that time the Reapers can cast hail down on him, or even shrink him to make him a more reasonably sized opponent. The Sea Reapers use either their sword or bow to attack creatures, and to help keep up with the Meccs who have jet packs, the Sea Reapers can "turbo" to places within range. That is, they can pick a location, and provided it's within their range they can fly through the air to it. Once in the air they can turn around and fire their bow at enemies before the enemies realize where the Sea Reaper flew off to. Although the Sea Reapers' energy for spell casting recharges some overtime, they generally need to collect souls to gain the power they need to cast spells.
One of the most remarkable spells is the fire wall spell. Delphi (the Sea Reaper you'll be using in the game) casts a "safe spot," which is a pillar of blue light that appears about 100 feet from her. If she is able to make it inside the safe zone, a 200-foot high wall of fire spreads outward in a large radius and sets fire to everything in its path. This is a handy tool for attacking bases, and if someone is chasing you… just run into a safe spot to make them turn the other direction and get away as fast as they can. If the Meccs do spot the safe zone before a Sea Reaper enters it, they have some time to destroy it… otherwise they're better off running like hell. And lastly, the Meccs aren't alone in base building, Sea Reapers use Smarties to build bases too, by transferring their soul energy into the Smarties so that they may use magic to create bases.
Planet Moon wants you to be happy, so when you start a multiplayer game you can define the initial technology level. If you want to play a more drawn out, strategic game… you can do that. If you're in the mood for a quick action game where you start out with gyrocopters or powerful magic spells or great strength, you can do that too. Things like that make me happy.
|
