

New concepts and good execution make this worthwhile

Not having a minimap hurts for a while, but you get used to it It's a good thing that with low system requirements you can run the audio app of your choice in the background

The animations are seriously short on frames and the environments are very static, but units are easily identified on the battlefield The concepts it brings are innovative and well-implemented, and merit a look by anyone who enjoys the genre.Ĭommand the legions of Rome, Carthage, Gaul, or Iberia in a real-time strategy slugfest

Nemesis is by no means a perfect game, but it's definitely a breath of fresh air within the RTS scene. However, that just moves the strategy to the placing of armies and economic decisions rather than the down-and-dirty fighting, so it's not all bad. Individual unit AI is fine, but the conflicts happen on such a large scale that it becomes almost impossible to execute any sort of strategy other than sending all of your units in and hoping for the best. The only problem I have with Nemesis's design is in the battles. Each of your forts, villages, and outposts has its own store of food and gold, making it much more important to manage your economy rather than just build a big horde as fast as possible. It's not cumbersome to do so, however, and adds an extra layer of strategy to the whole game. What makes Nemesis such a unique RTS experience is the need to keep your forces supplied while they're in the field. While these do remove the player from the action to some extent, they also free up your attention for the more serious business of commanding your armies. Building and resource-gathering are largely out of players' hands, and the landscapes are littered with minor structures that can be captured or used for various benefits. Some interesting design decisions in Nemesis make it play rather differently than a standard RTS. Though Nemesis lacks the incredible polish of WarCraft and Age of Mythology, its unique play style is cool, especially if you don't like to go online the two campaigns and random map generator are much better than the barebones multiplayer. It's nice to see an RTS that's not an overt WarCraft clone.
