Rise: Battle Lines
- November 17, 2015
- The Secret Games Company
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Rise: Battle Lines" is a 152minute, multiplayer-focused battle game featuring simultaneous turn-based tactics. Choose your army from 6 unit types, with each unit affecting your opponent's options. Play against AI, strangers, or friends through Steam notifications, earning glory to customize your coat of arms and view stats on leaderboards.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game features a unique simultaneous turn-based mechanic that adds excitement and strategic depth.
- The graphics and art style are appealing, providing a pleasant visual experience.
- The drafting system for units keeps gameplay fresh and encourages players to adapt their strategies.
- The game suffers from a lack of content, particularly in single-player modes, which are limited to a few AI battles.
- The multiplayer community is nearly non-existent, making it difficult to find opponents for online play.
- There are significant server issues, leading to connectivity problems and making the game unplayable for many users.
- gameplay16 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay is praised for its simple yet innovative mechanics, particularly the pre-game draft system that adds strategic depth and encourages players to anticipate their opponent's moves. While the core mechanics are well-designed and engaging, some players suggest improvements like speeding up the opponent's turn. Overall, the game offers a polished experience with clever tactics and a visually appealing interface.
“A good little game with simple but novel mechanics that are easy to pick up.”
“The game mechanics have a sound logic to them, which gives the sense that decisions actually matter.”
“Fun short multiplayer games of clever tactics with solid gameplay and a high level of polish.”
“I felt the draft mechanic was a bit strange; essentially, units are randomized at the beginning of each game, and then you take turns picking which units you want, which makes both sides have slightly different units.”
“The gameplay is well done, although I would add the ability to speed up the opponent's turn.”
“This mechanic has a lot of potential and makes you think more about what you think your opponent is going to do rather than what you want to do on your turn.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their appealing cartoony art style and smooth animations, contributing positively to the overall experience. Players appreciate the adjustable graphic settings, allowing for compatibility with older PCs while maintaining a visually pleasing presentation. Overall, the visuals, combined with fitting audio elements, enhance the game's charm and accessibility.
“The graphics and animations work for the kind of game this is, and the sound effects that are there work.”
“Great game, lovely graphics and animations.”
“With a great art style and funny voice acting, I would definitely recommend this next-level chess game!”
“All other graphical options aren’t included as it doesn’t seem to use them.”
“There are presets of graphics on this game so even if you are playing on a very old PC you can crank the settings down and play.”
“There’s a graphic quality slider that goes from very low to very high.”
- music9 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for its quality, with many players enjoying the original soundtrack and voice acting in the tutorial. The audio settings allow for customization of sound effects and music volume, enhancing the overall experience. Overall, the combination of visuals and music contributes significantly to the game's enjoyable atmosphere.
“The music in this game is very good, and the tutorial is voice acted with surprisingly good voice acting.”
“I have no problems with the music; I can listen to it all day long.”
“Really enjoying the strategic element of the game, and the visuals and music give it a great feel.”
- story5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's single-player content is criticized for lacking a meaningful story or campaign, reducing the experience to a basic puzzle game with minimal engagement. Reviewers express a desire for a more developed narrative and a richer single-player mode, suggesting that the addition of a storyline and expanded content could significantly enhance the overall experience.
“I think they have an opportunity to integrate a story mode into this, and I would like to see the unit base expand with some tougher characters.”
“I do wish there was a story mode...”
“The single player content here is a glorified puzzle game/tutorial as there is no story or reason to care about any of it, just three difficulty generals who place the same units you do and battle it out.”
“Now try adding in a real single player mode, you know, with a storyline and a campaign to play, not just three single games of easy, medium, and hard.”
“A good way to improve this game would be to add more content and/or a story mode for single player.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game exhibits significant stability issues, particularly in single-player mode, where it frequently freezes during troop deployment, causing CPU usage to spike to 100%. There is uncertainty regarding its performance in multiplayer mode.
“I cannot tell if it properly works for multiplayer mode, but for single player, it freezes when trying to deploy your first troop on the hex grid, with CPU topping at 100%.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly impossible to progress without losing progress.”
“I experienced constant lag and stuttering, which ruined the overall gameplay experience.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players note that the grinding aspect involves prolonged battles where two armies clash repeatedly until one side is defeated, leading to a drawn-out and repetitive gameplay experience.
“The gameplay feels like two armies just mashing and grinding against each other until one side inevitably falls.”
“Grinding in this game is repetitive and tedious, making progress feel more like a chore than an achievement.”
“The constant need to grind for resources takes away from the enjoyment of the game, turning it into a monotonous task.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game is not performance-intensive, allowing players to comfortably run it on high settings without significant strain on their systems.
“This isn’t a performance-demanding game, so very high settings are what you’ll likely use.”
“The optimization is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
“I appreciate how the game runs efficiently, making it accessible for a wider range of hardware.”
“This game struggles with optimization, leading to frequent frame drops even on high-end systems.”
“The optimization is poor, causing long loading times and stuttering during gameplay.”
“Despite the game's simple graphics, it still suffers from performance issues that should have been addressed.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by its engaging art style and entertaining voice acting, making it a highly recommended experience for players.
“With a great art style and funny voice acting, I would definitely recommend this next-level chess game!”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, making every playthrough a delightful experience.”
“I couldn't stop laughing at the witty dialogue and hilarious character interactions!”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is well-executed, with appealing visuals, music, and character design that enhance the overall experience. Players express excitement about improving their skills and deepening their connection to the characters, contributing to a positive gameplay experience.
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the game's replayability due to the random initial pool, which ensures that each playthrough offers a unique experience.
“The random initial pool offers excellent replayability.”
“Each playthrough feels fresh and unique due to the diverse options available.”
“The game's mechanics encourage multiple runs, making it hard to put down.”
