Forts (PC) Review

In its defence, Forts doesn't take any real world conflict and poke fun at it. While it does take some light stabs at current geopolitical situations, the war in Forts is very much a war only occurring in the game. Sure, the goal is to get as many oil drops as possible before proceeding, and many of the level names are political puns, but players shouldn't have to worry about getting offended. Still, this is a war not only of global domination. No, it's also a war of physics!

Stop applauding, because it's time to get down to work. The player is given a base fort setup, and must build upon it. While they are tasked with adding mines to harvest resources, turbines to provide power, and different types of guns to go bang bang with, they also have to maintain the structural integrity of their forts. Think a bridge building game, but with forts.

The level of detail involved is pretty deep, as different building materials do different things. Similarly, different kinds of soldiers shoot differently. Friendly fire warning, as it's possible to shoot your fellow cadets. The game won't make fun of the player for blowing a comrade's head off, so the player is only left with the heavy guilt that comes with killing someone's husband and father. For shame.

The single-player is pretty fun, and there are skirmishes and multiplayer to take into account, too. The overall package is pretty nice, and there's way more than enough content to justify the price tag. Not to mention, the graphics, which have crossed the boundaries between Saturday morning cartoon and chibi in a variety of ways, are very playful and accessible.

Ah, but just as you find yourself getting used to the finely-tuned physics, lobbing bullets in very intelligent ways as to rain hellfire upon your opponents, the game's issues begin to peek their heads from their gopher holes. The physics aren't always particularly reliable, and gamers may find their forts and bridges (there's bridges, too!) crumbling. They can then make an almost exact copy of what they just did, and it seems to work fine.

Opponents, at least in single-player, appear to have an inner ear infection, because their aim seems impossible to predict. On easy, they range from Deadshot levels of precision, to a kid who probably shouldn't have a Red Ryder BB Gun. Just when the player thinks they have a grasp on the enemies' abilities, four of the player's snipers die and three wood panels get chips in them. Moments later, the enemies have decided their true adversary is the sun, so they start shooting at that, before going after a cloud that looks like a deer, then back to the player.