Getting into real-time strategy games can be a daunting task, with a wealth of systems players need to learn and resource management, all on top of having to command your army and keep track of the battlefield. For decades, one of the big problems the genre has faced is attracting new players – how does a complex strategy game appeal to players who have no experience?
Battle Aces is starting to feel like the best answer we’ve ever seen to that question: an RTS that’s accessible and easy to pick up with superbly intentional design. It’s a paradigm shift for strategy games, but more importantly, the game feels like it could be something we haven’t seen in a long time – a true multiplayer strategy hit.
When we previewed Battle Aces earlier this year, we found its bite-sized take on real-time strategy to be incredibly novel. This is a game that streamlines the idea of an RTS to its barest minimum. You don’t have to gather resources or manually piece together a base; rather, the strategic focus is applied to building a deck of different units that work well together, then managing your production and controlling every action of your army during matches.
“Matches in Battle Aces are blazingly fast affairs that last no longer than ten minutes but can sometimes be decided in just two or three.”
Matches in Battle Aces are blazingly fast affairs that last no longer than ten minutes but can sometimes be decided in just two or three. Senior game director David Kim says the reason Battle Aces adopts such short matches is because the team wanted to cut out all the “repetitive” elements of RTS games and instead focus on a pure fun factor.
“We want to really make this game the most fun version of this thing we can make. While that might sound simple, there’s a reason we believe in this so strongly. Let’s look at a game like Hearthstone. When it first came out, you could say it was a more simplified version of something like Magic: The Gathering. Or even World of Warcraft was a more simplified MMO, compared to Everquest,” says Kim.
“These games cut out the tedious stuff that you need to do before having fun. They’ve actually amplified the fun of that game type heavily, too, and as long as we remove the tedious stuff, Battle Aces should have the lasting power we’re looking for eventually.”
Admittedly, that focus on quick matches Battle Aces feels entirely novel against the wealth of other RTS games out there, it has the same intense multiplayer favor as shooters or fighting games. But during a hands-on preview, we had the chance to finally test out Battle Ace’s 2vs2 matches, and it’s a game-changer.
Those 1vs1 battles are still great, but the four-player matches really let you dig into Battle Ace’s strategic depth and make constructing your deck of units even more vital. You absolutely need to coordinate with your team members to make sure you’re countering opponents – maybe you focus on anti-air while your teammate builds heavy ground units to siege with, or you both double-down on air units to surprise the enemy. Having four players really makes the game’s bite-sized structure shine, especially because it feels like a core mode, not just a frivolous addition.
“We’ve always wanted to include at least one team mode and fully support it. Traditionally in RTS, at least all the RTS I’ve worked on, 1vs 1 was the correct way to play, and team games were just for fun,” says Kim, “But team games, I believe, have their own unit kind of fun factor, with friends or even playing with random people, meeting an ally, looking at his deck, and thinking and strategizing – that’s a super rewarding feeling too.”
That sense of teamwork genuinely makes Battle Aces’ cooperative battles even more fun than the single battles. Matches feel far more frantic, but you also have someone backing you up, which means the way you manage the map integrally changes. Suddenly, you need to look at the gaps in your partner’s defence, too, trying to fill holes.
“The final piece of what makes this second go-round for Battle Aces impressive is how clear it is Uncapped Games has listened to feedback already.”
The final piece of what makes this second go-round for Battle Aces impressive is how clear it is Uncapped Games has listened to feedback already. The studio has incorporated a brand new “counter” system that can provide some crucial guidance during matches. By holding the space bar down, you’ll bring up an intelligence bar that lets you look at an opponent’s deck, and if you mouse over it, you can see what the unit is strong and weak against.
This makes it much easier to understand the interplay between different units, thus streamlining things further so you can really focus on commanding your army in the minute-to-minute gameplay. Kim notes that after testing the feature internally, the studio implemented the idea further as it gives all types of players the potential to get better at the game and understand it more. Of course, this second beta also includes a few new units to toy around with as well.
It’s clear that Uncapped Games is wholly dedicated to fine-tuning and improving Battle Aces in every way it can, and the game’s foundation already feels incredibly rock-solid. When it was just 1vs1 matches, Battle Aces had a lot of potential, but the addition of team battles made it feel like an entirely different beast, in the best way possible. Only time will tell, of course, but it feels like Battle Aces already has the makings of a hit.
