Age of Darkness: Final Stand
- September 15, 2021
- PlaySide
- 23h median play time
Get on Steam"Age of Darkness: Final Stand" is a dark fantasy strategy game where players must lead their armies against an encroaching horde of nightmarish enemies. By constructing and upgrading buildings, recruiting units, and managing resources, players must hold out against the onslaught in a procedurally generated world. The game features a day-night cycle, strategic unit placement, and a unique "Necrostruct" mechanic that allows players to turn enemy structures into their own.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Great mix of RTS, tower defense, and survival elements, providing a unique gameplay experience.
- Challenging and rewarding, encouraging players to learn from their mistakes and improve their strategies.
- Beautiful graphics and immersive atmosphere, enhancing the overall gaming experience.
- Severe pathfinding issues and unresponsive unit AI, leading to frustrating gameplay moments.
- Unbalanced difficulty spikes, making it hard for players to progress without relying on luck.
- Bugs and crashes, particularly during late-game waves, significantly detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- gameplay557 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Age of Darkness: Final Stand" has drawn mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its core mechanics and engaging survival loop reminiscent of "They Are Billions," while others criticize its repetitive nature and lack of depth. The introduction of hero mechanics and a day/night cycle adds strategic elements, but issues such as poor pathfinding, limited customization, and a reliance on RNG detract from the overall experience. While the game shows promise with its unique atmosphere and potential for future updates, many feel it still requires significant refinement and additional content to enhance replayability and player satisfaction.
“The ideas, graphics, and gameplay loops are quite addicting and show immense potential.”
“Gameplay itself is smooth and feels very polished.”
“The core gameplay loop of building up your base while exploring and conquering the map is very reminiscent of Warcraft 3.”
“However, the mechanics and pathfinding don't lend to this experience very well.”
“All in all, the gameplay is still a frustrating mess.”
“The sheer amount of bugs is enough to frustrate a player, not to mention that the gameplay feels like the designer deliberately tries to make things frustrating, tedious, and difficult.”
- story323 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it either forgettable or poorly executed, often comparing it unfavorably to classic RTS titles like Warcraft and Starcraft. While some appreciate the voice acting and the potential for engaging lore, others criticize the writing quality, lack of character development, and the linear, uninspired mission structure. Overall, the campaign is seen as a work in progress, with hopes for future improvements and deeper storytelling as the game continues to develop.
“The story is pretty well written, and also does a great job of teaching the mechanics of the game.”
“I really like a game with great story development; it does not matter what direction the story goes as long as it is well written.”
“Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a remarkable gem in the realm of real-time strategy games, especially notable for its enthralling mix of storytelling and strategic gameplay.”
“The story feels rushed rather than giving more time to get accustomed to base building.”
“The campaign story itself has terrible high school level writing.”
“The few campaign missions I did play felt incredibly bland and pointless as it ended up being just click and attack missions which didn't tell us much about the world other than the order are bad people who neglect everything, which was already there in the prologue mission.”
- graphics265 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many players praising the art style, atmospheric visuals, and attention to detail that enhance the overall experience. However, some users have reported performance issues, such as low frame rates and graphical glitches, which detract from the gameplay. Overall, while the visuals are often highlighted as a strong point, there are calls for further optimization and updates to fully realize their potential.
“The graphics are outstanding and the attention to detail is impressive.”
“The graphics and mood are better in this game and I love the addition of champions/characters.”
“The graphics are a standout feature, with detailed landscapes, atmospheric lighting, and character models that bring the dark, foreboding world to life.”
“However, for some reason, it is unplayable to me - regardless of the graphic settings, it is always paced at 9-11 fps.”
“But when you begin to play the campaign, the game begins to look really dated and the graphics look really ugly.”
“I really like the concept of the game; it's just the execution is really not at a modern standard. Drop the graphics back 25 years and you would have a perfectly good competitor to Warcraft 2, just without the storyline.”
- music96 mentions
- 51 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the overall experience, particularly during intense moments. However, some players report issues with music bugs and inconsistencies, such as music cutting out during critical gameplay segments. Overall, while the soundtrack is often described as fantastic and immersive, technical problems detract from its effectiveness at times.
“The music and sound effects in the game are also noteworthy, and add to the overall immersive experience.”
“The music is fantastic, and the characters are unique, offering different play styles for each one.”
“The music really pulled together the experience of the horde and I've found myself taking cinematic-feeling screenshots frequently; plus the voice acting has felt that right amount of gravelly and inviting.”
“The music is often un-matching, unfulfilling, or plain absent in sections; having a good soundscape is key to the atmosphere of a game.”
“About 50% of the time you load a save, the save will play the same part of the currently loaded soundtrack over and over again forever.”
“The sound department is lacking heavily, given that I've just come off of playing; no ambience, music, or sound effects stand out in my mind at all.”
- stability84 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 1 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous players reporting frequent bugs, freezes, and performance issues, particularly in the campaign mode. While some users have experienced smooth gameplay without major glitches, many others describe the game as a "buggy mess," highlighting problems with pathfinding, cutscenes, and user interface elements. As it is still in early access, players express hope for improvements, but current feedback indicates that stability remains a major hurdle.
“Runs great on my computer as well, no issues at all.”
“This runs great on Linux with Proton.”
“The gameplay is very promising and all in all it runs great and I didn't encounter any bugs.”
“The campaign is laggy and buggy.”
“Mission 4 never loads up and the whole game just freezes up.”
“It's very sad to see that it's still not done and is currently a buggy mess.”
- optimization81 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues such as frame rate drops, stuttering, and crashes, particularly in later stages and after updates. While some users note improvements in survival mode and express enjoyment of the game, the overall consensus indicates that it still requires substantial optimization and balancing to enhance the gaming experience. Despite some positive remarks about graphics and gameplay, the persistent performance problems have led to a lack of recommendations from several players.
“Survival and campaign missions are super optimized!!!”
“The developers have clearly poured a lot of effort into this project, ensuring that the game not only runs smoothly but also presents a visually appealing experience.”
“Crisp graphics and great performance overall.”
“Frame rate drops so bad that the sound is stuttering at the menu.”
“The game's optimization is still going downhill with no end in sight.”
“It's still an early access game, though, and performance has been quite weak on my PC.”
- replayability64 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is bolstered by features like random map generation and varying difficulty levels, making each playthrough feel unique. However, many players express a desire for more content, such as diverse objectives, additional factions, and deeper mechanics, to enhance long-term engagement. While survival mode offers significant replay value, some reviewers note that the current lack of variety in gameplay and limited modes may hinder its overall replayability.
“The randomization of the map and perks within 'survival' mode also help make it very replayable.”
“Lots of replayability with randomly generated maps and different modifiers each run.”
“Survival is replayable many times for me.”
“It needs quite a bit more content to make the replayability a surefire option: whether it be different objective options sprinkled into survival which allow for differing endings (such as a big boss fight), deeper hero mechanics, other bases available to siege in between hordes, or just general combat improvements (such as transport units, flying units, cavalry, armories, or advancements which force the player to commit their upgrades to one such playstyle).”
“Overall, I recommend it; I had some fun and many hours went by (played outside of Steam too). I'm worried about replayability since every round of survival is not much different and the campaign is quite short; wish there were mods.”
“Not sure of the replay value if you beat the game, as of now the other characters are locked and there is only one map!”
- atmosphere56 mentions
- 77 % positive mentions
- 18 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, immersive qualities, enhanced by excellent graphics, sound design, and music that effectively set a foreboding tone. Players appreciate the combination of a gritty fantasy setting with dynamic elements like a day-night cycle, which adds depth to the gameplay experience. However, some reviewers noted that while the atmosphere is compelling, it could be further enriched with more varied environments and improved optimization.
“Art, visuals, music, and atmosphere is where this game shines the most.”
“The game's graphics are excellent, with a dark and foreboding atmosphere that really sets the tone for the gameplay.”
“Its dark, immersive atmosphere and dynamic day-night cycle add depth to the gameplay, while the need for constant vigilance and adaptation keeps the experience engaging.”
“After your 10th playthrough, you kind of wish it had different areas and atmospheres.”
“Especially the graphics, atmosphere, and music give that gloomy sense of helplessness in the game.”
“The medieval setting is great; I love exploring the map with swordsmen and archers, and the bleak atmosphere and rudimentary architecture really sets the tone for a dark age apocalypse.”
- grinding46 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- 2 % neutral mentions
- 91 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, often feeling like a chore rather than an engaging experience. Many reviews highlight the slow progression, repetitive resource management, and the need for constant micromanagement, which detracts from the enjoyment of gameplay. While some updates have improved the experience, the general consensus is that the game requires a significant time investment for minimal rewards, making it feel overly grindy.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The sheer amount of bugs is enough to frustrate a player, not to mention that the gameplay feels like the designer deliberately tries to make things frustrating, tedious, and difficult.”
“The rest of the game is just right-clicking around the map watching units fight for hours, which gets tedious fast, especially when the rewards are tiny amounts of resources that you don't need.”
“Base building is tedious and fiddly and requires a lot of micro and moving units around, but combat is also fiddly and micro-intensive, and both need to be done at the same time, so rather than being able to just relax and enjoy the map, you need to be constantly shifting your viewpoint.”
- humor8 mentions
- 88 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it genuinely funny and entertaining, particularly enjoying the clunky units and absurd scenarios that lead to laughter. However, some users feel that the humor can be hit-or-miss, with certain moments not landing as intended. Overall, the game is noted for its comedic elements that enhance the gameplay experience, making it both challenging and amusing.
“It's so great, so funny, and you will lose hours and hours playing that game.”
“The game has no problem with taking 10 minutes of your time and urinating on it while laughing at you.”
“Really funny and challenging game.”
“It's not funny, seriously.”
“The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
“I expected humor, but it was more cringeworthy than amusing.”
- monetization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 83 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized as a cash grab, with users expressing disappointment over its lack of a game store, advertisements, and loot boxes, suggesting that the heavy advertising may have misled them. Overall, players advise caution, indicating that the game's monetization strategy feels exploitative rather than player-friendly.
“No game store, no advertisements, no loot boxes.”
“The monetization model is fair and doesn't pressure players to spend money.”
“I appreciate that the game offers optional purchases without impacting gameplay.”
“Nope, stay away from this cash grab game.”
“There was a lot of advertising for it and I got sucked in, and it was a good lesson to wait and make sure a game is playable on early access release.”
“Realtime analytics and relationship management, insights, deep-dive data analytics, service for ads and gamer-targeting for profit maximization.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional impact of the game to be surprisingly profound, with many expressing a sense of joy and fulfillment from achieving victories, which is a rarity in the RTS genre. The anticipation for the final product is heightened by these positive feelings, indicating a strong emotional connection to the gameplay experience.
“Haven't played an RTS game that's made me feel good about achieving a victory or a successful night in a long time. If this is how good it feels now, I can't wait for the final product.”
“That really made me feel good to see that.”
“Especially emotional; it is kind of unbelievable.”
- character development3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is criticized for its lack of depth and coherence, with players noting that the campaign lore feels underdeveloped and that important narrative transitions seem to be missing. While the character designs are praised, the execution of character arcs and conversations fails to provide meaningful growth or connection, leaving players feeling unsatisfied with the overall development.
“The environments are well-crafted and the character designs are outstanding.”
“Campaign lore is lacking; the idea is cool, but the execution of that idea is mediocre, especially in conversations. The character development lacks foreshadowing and feels like time jumps, as if something between missions and conversations was skipped.”
“Not even the character development made sense, even for the main character at the end, which again sets a very low bar for a character you barely see.”
