The Shaolin class are slightly cheaper at only £2.99, however the Tribes pack can only be obtained via the gold edition of the game, which also features the aforementioned classes, a challenge pack and uniform colour pack and is priced at £12.99.
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The two you get free of charge are the Team Fortress 2 and Council classes however the Dark Elves and Dwarves are only £3.99 each to purchase if you so wish. Furthermore only 2 of the 6 classes are unlocked at the start, with the remaining four available as Microtransactions. The different classes don’t change the game all that much, but can make you rethink some of your more in depth strategies.
The differences in these troops are very subtle, with each class having a healer, a long range troop, a melee troop and a mage all with differing stats.
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Moreover there are 6 different armies to chose from, including the PC exclusive Team Fortress 2 litter of troops. Maps are tightly condensed, meaning there is very limited hiding space if there are too many troops on the field at any given time, keeping the game interesting and causing a lot of mindless murder, I mean, who doesn’t like murder? Some maps feature multiple Crystals, some feature train tracks which can get your soldiers killed if your enemy steps of a certain space and squares that offer buffs to your troops. What’s more is the multitude of different maps, another factor in this tactical equation. This does come as one of the game’s major flaws though, because many people simply forget about their games and soon let them time out, in my time with Hero Academy I’ve only managed to finish a handful of games due to the majority simply being left by my opponent. However you don’t have to sit down and finish a game in one sitting, oh no, Hero Academy offers the player the opportunity to take a break of up to two weeks before a game “times out” and you lose by default, which is brilliant for those that aren’t always at their computers and those that want a game on in the background whilst doing something else. This is just another example of how simple gameplay mechanics can make you stop and think about your strategy. In my time with Hero Academy the latter has been favoured by most players, especially considering you only have 24 items and characters to begin with. There are two win conditions available here, the first being when you destroy your opponents Crystal, or Crystals depending on the map, and the second being obliterating the enemies forces so that they no longer have any troops to place on the map. Those decisions are the crux of the game and are exactly what will keep you coming back for more. One turn can take as little as a few seconds to as long as 5 minutes as you deliberate whether to move your healer deep into enemy territory to revive your downed melee soldier. However don’t get me wrong, while it is simple, there is an element of strategy that will have you spamming the redo button over and over whilst you perfect your turn. Seems pretty simple, and it is, however it’s the simplicity that makes the game both approachable and enjoyable. Each action aforementioned uses one of the players move’s, of which you have 5.
Hero Academy is a champion for how Asynchronous multiplayer can work, and boy does it work! Players take turns to amass their armies, move them into the correct position and then attack the enemy. Available at only £3.99 on Steam for the base game, is this bite sized turn based strategy game worth your time and money? Whilst this may be the case for some, I pity the poor souls who don’t give this charming little game a chance. On the surface Hero Academy seems like the kind of game you pick up in a Steam sale and leave uninstalled on your hard drive for all eternity. Please Note that the game was reviewed on the PC platform.