Game Reviews

Cyberlords: Arcology

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| Cyberlords: Arcology
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Cyberlords: Arcology
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| Cyberlords: Arcology

When a game comes bursting with characters called Omega or Thor, you imagine it's going to be some kind of mythical adventure, littered with almighty Gods or warlords from centuries gone by.

By the same token, only a naff TV movie shown once in the middle of the night on a freeview channel and sold in DVD form next to the cheap hair straighteners in garages has the right to call itself Cyberlords.

Yet, HandyGames' sci-fi adventure is neither of those things.

Four for all

In fact, the only part of its name that really rings true is Arcology. If you didn't already know, that's a set of design principles for huge physical structures to house millions of people. Cut down the population a touch, and you have the gist of Cyberlords: Arcology in a jiffy.

Controlling four main characters – Jesse, Hank, Diana and Jade ech coming with individual skill sets – walking around said mighty structures is what you spend most of your time doing. Well, moving your guys and gals around in a pack and shooting down everything that comes in your way.

Both actions are handled by moving a pointer around the screen. Pressing the '5' key then places a marker, which your ensemble immediately walk towards, attacking any foe they come across along the way.

Switching between bouts of violence and exploration (credit and weapon upgrades aplenty on offer if you search every object and every fallen enemy), becomes fairly routine, with only Cyberlords: Arcology's reams of dialogue attempting to cast light on its frankly overcomplicated, long-winded plot and breaking up what threatens to become monotonous.

Story time

That's not to say Cyberlords: Arcology is in any way bad however.

Indeed, the sheer scale of the game sets it apart from most adventures of this kind, but the nature of its play means success and failure is essentially decided by one factor – deciding just which character to attack with at which time.

Other than that, Cyberlords: Arcology plays out like a game with a story to tell, and one it's going to tell with or without your consent. Those happy to go along for the ride will find its familiarity endearing, but otherwise it's an adventure big on scale, but somewhat smaller when it comes to reward.

Cyberlords: Arcology

An adventure with old school sensibilities, Cyberlord: Arcology delivers in terms of sheer scale, but its action is a little too hands off to score big
Score
Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.