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Wasteland: Phase One brings real-time strategy to mobile phones

Russian developers to invade your handset with giant fighting robots

Wasteland: Phase One brings real-time strategy to mobile phones
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| Wasteland: Phase One

The landscape of mobile gaming genres is a decidedly uneven one. At one extreme you have a veritable mountain of hardcore sports, platform and retro titles, and at the other a similarly steep range of casual single thumb games, web conversions and board and quiz titles.

The valley between the two extremes is home to a variety of rather more neglected game styles, and none is more neglected than the real-time strategy genre, which remains virtually unrepresented on mobile. So plaudits to Russian developers Game Gear for making the first attempt at filling the hole with Wasteland: Phase One.

Most diplomatically described as a homage to one of the first strategy games ever, the Spectrum title Nether Earth, in Wasteland: Phase One you fight off an invading horde of giant killer robots by constructing and directing your own mechanoid monsters.

The strategic challenge is posed both in resource management and in the selection of sections from which your monsters are constructed, as well as the subsequent deployment and direction of these forces.

With 36 variations of robots, three resources to manage and three huge missions to complete (all on three distinct difficulty levels) Wasteland: Phase One looks set to be a welcome addition to the mobile game scene. We hope to be putting on our rambling shoes (and packing our giant robot deterrant spray) to check it out in the near future.

Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).