Chaos Reborn (Hands-On) (PC) Preview

The great thing about Chaos Reborn is that it balances a few key lines that often trip up many games. Matches against the AI in the skirmish mode (and, later in the development process of Early Access, an adventuring mode) and other players in the multiplayer component, are both fast-paced but also contemplative. Equally, spell variety is broad without being overbearing. Additionally, Chaos Reborn has a feel of the easy to learn, hard to master philosophy that makes it a compelling experience to come back to.

Battles take place in colourful and lush fantasy-based environments built with a strategic hex-based movement system in mind. Anyone who has played X-COM will feel right at home with the system here, although some might find the environments lacking in a huge amount of variety, which does impact a touch on the level of strategic interplay that can be indulged in. For example, the dozen or so maps for each player usually only vary significantly in the amount of hills they have. That said, procedurally generated maps are on the way later in the development process, and a map creator for the community has already been released, so expect the variety of the maps to increase considerably as time goes by.

Going a little deeper into the battle mechanics, the start of each game begins with two players, or indeed up to four altogether, starting with a powerful wizard who can summon other creatures to do his bidding or launch devastating magic spells. All the spells (designated as 'law,' 'chaos,' or 'neutral') and the wide variety of summons, each with special abilities, are drawn from a randomised deck of cards, and each comes with a percentage chance of a successful casting, which depends on many factors, including the type of wizard created, and the current cosmic balance that switches depending on the types of spells cast. There is only one chance to cast a spell per turn, and equally one chance to attack with any creature and, importantly, one hit kills; attacking, like the casting of spells, relies on percentage chance.

Where one of the most interesting mechanics of the game comes into play, with all this talk of chance and luck, is that when summoning creatures, summoning a 'real' version of the creature or an 'illusion' can be chosen, with the 'illusion' having a 100% chance of successfully being cast, but the subsequent downside is that it can be instantly and absolutely dispelled, rather than having a chance to survive an attack as normal. This initiates a very interesting layer of poker on top of the tactical play. After all, if the cosmic balance is far into the chaos side, then the percentage chance of successfully summoning a law creature would be minimal, which the opposing player would know. However, there is still a chance, even if small, that they can successfully cast it. The enticing question then becomes a gamble, with the casting player taking the chance of being discovered as having a fake creature, and the opposing player not being sure either way and wasting time deciding.

While all this luck is immensely rewarding on the gameplay layer, it does have potential downsides, with the obvious question being if Chaos Reborn is just a game of luck, with no meaningful tactical decisions. That would be slightly unfair. It is true to say luck holds a huge sway over matches, but the balance seems to work for the most part. Like all strategy games, unit selection and placement is still key. Indeed, the main wizard is highly important and all decisions take place around keeping him alive as if he dies (and he is surprisingly vulnerable) it is game over.