Medieval Empires is a RTS game built by MoonGaming. Based in the medieval times, players settle their city, expand their city and create new buildings and research new technologies. Currently situated on the Polygon chain, For the lore, it is focused around the Leader of the Kayi Turkic Tribe, Ertuğrul Gazi, who will face off against the future King of England, Edward 1st aka Edward Longshanks aka Hammer of the Scots, who is expanding a successful 9th Crusade across Europe to the Holy Land.
The game is currently in a closed beta stage with the team giving plenty of invitations to interested players. Playable through their own app on PC, this game features low hardware specs which means that even older low budget machines are able to enjoy a smooth experience.
Gameplay
Once the player has downloaded the game, they are instructed to settle in their first city. Once this is complete they can begin building their empire starting with the basic buildings that provide materials such as wood.
Whilst the player works on establishing their empire, they are able to recruit various troops through their military buildings. These troops can be used to complete missions of destroying rogue enemy units as well as being placed into dwellings which give rewards in materials.
Currently, there are two tribes, the Turkic Tribes and English Crusaders. New factions will be added into the game in the near future, including but not limited to the Mongols, Byzantines, and Mamluks.
Another crucial part of the game is the technology development tree where a player can consume materials to research technologies that improve output of their current buildings as well allow for more advanced buildings.
This gameplay loop is very reminiscent of Age of Empires whilst carrying mechanics that resemble the Civilisation titles for example when looking at how combat is carried out in the game.
Review
Medieval Empires has created an immersive experience that brings back the nostalgic feeling from playing Age of Empires. Although it is a fun experience that is likely to keep you engaged for hours, there are a few areas which require improvement such as an ambient soundtrack or a more exciting combat system.
Looking at the graphics of the game, they are what a player looking to play this genre would expect. The animations of the workers constructing the buildings are well designed and the way a player can explore the world provides a great visual experience.
In terms of sound design, the game has done well in creating fitting sound effects for most actions and this adds greatly to the game experience. However, something that could be an improvement here is to have an ambient soundtrack play in the background whilst the player is viewing their city depending on their civilization choice.
The core parts of the gameplay are well designed and allow for a good experience of an empire building game. However, something that lacks excitement is the combat system which resembles something akin to the combat seen in the earlier Civ titles. An improvement that could be made here is to have a battle view such as that seen in Age of Empire or to animate all the units battling each other in real time. Otherwise, Medieval Empires provides a smooth experience for the player with an adequate tutorial at the beginning of the game.
Medieval Empires has built a good foundation for the future of the game that can be expanded on in the areas above to make this a standout title in the RTS genre.