Invictus

It's Athena versus Poseidon in Invictus, a real-time strategy game set in the world of Greek mythology. Read our review to find out if the gods are pleased with the result.

It was only a matter of time before developers, eager to squeeze something, anything, out of the over-mined real-time strategy (RTS) genre, discovered the Greek myths. Hence, Invictus (which means Unconquered, in Greek.) To their credit, Quicksilver tried to provide their new release with distinctive challenges and an RPG lite twist. But the game feels like it was shoved out the door before the mechanics were finished.

There are no individual scenarios, randomly generated or otherwise, in Invictus. Instead, you play through a single multi-mission campaign. The storyline pits you as Athena's champion-she was the Greek Goddess of Wisdom-against Poseidon, God of the Oceans, who is out to destroy humanity.

What sets this game apart from most RTS games is its use of heroes. A hero is a powerful figure out of Invictus' fancifully reconfigured Greek mythology with its own speed, defense, health, and attack type/strength. Each hero also possesses a special power that can be invoked when they have enough "god appeal" points. (You start a mission with a given number of appeal points, and increase these by uncovering various objects.) Arachne can change form into a giant spider, while Hercules generates earthquakes, for instance. (Herc also gives a health bonus to all nearby friendly units.) You get to choose two heroes at the start of a game, with the potential for hiring two more over time. There are ten in all, along with a fine diversity of other troop types featuring melee and/or ranged attacks.

Quicksilver chose to go with 3D rotational graphics on an isometric map for Invictus. The game allows you to look at terrain heights from multiple angles, but at a cost of starkly empty (if attractive) countryside. Character animations are frustratingly variable. Hercules will stride across the map-or suddenly stand still, and slide over the terrain.

Invictus supplies several party formations with distinct advantages: a defensive box, a wedge for greater attack strength, etc. But you can't determine the position of party members within a given formation, which puts ranged attackers at risk when they show up in the front ranks. Formations are also lost as soon as your party starts traveling; and sometimes, the formation commands simply cease to work. In addition, pathing AI is poor. I've watched some units actually move in the opposite direction to my instructions, although a direct route to my objective was visible.

Equally problematic is the Bravery setting, which is supposed to determine how much damage each unit takes before fleeing. In fact, my swordsmen periodically refused to flee even on a "cowardly" setting when their hit points were close to zero.

If everything in Invictus worked as claimed, it would be a pleasantly different take on the RTS genre. It's got replayability, humor, three difficulty levels, good game balance and decent voiceovers. But there's too much that's broken here, so that you end up playing against the code as much as you play against your computerized enemies. I can't say whether Poseidon cursed the product before release or not, but if it doesn't get a serious bug-fix, it's doomed to a watery grave.

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