Fate of Nations

The problem that strategy games have is trying to balance the epic and the everyday. Your game might span aeons, but if you're just making buildings to grind bread there's always a dull aftertaste.

Fate of Nations doesn't quite manage to find its place between the mundane and the spectacular, hampered in its attempts by a lack of obvious direction and some poor translation.

Even its MMO core can't hide the fact that it's a bit of a trudge, and when you do meet other players it's never really clear what it is you're supposed to be doing.

Throw in a series of systems that are too hands-off for the game's own good and you're left with a confused, muddled attempt at creating something big and impressive.

The game starts out with a series of tutorials. You've got a capital city, a few citizens, and some resources to play with. Everything is controlled with taps.

Tap to move units, tap to play with the various menus, and tap to complete the missions the game sets you.

You'll find yourself wandering around aimlessly a lot of the time, poking at things on the ugly map to see if anything happens when you do.

Your city sort of churns on regardless, but you're never sure whether that's your fault or the game's. And researching doesn't help much either.

The aim is expansion and conquest - take the lands around your capital, hold them against invasion, and make sure your population is well fed.

It sounds interesting and grand, but in practice it's units scuttling around without much to do in a barren world that sometimes has other people in it.

It's the aimlessness of Fate of Nations that is its biggest failing. There are challenges and quests to complete but they feel arbitrary, and expanding your empire feels like a bit of a waste of time.

There are diplomatic options and a greater depth as you work your way into the game, but it's unlikely you'll last long enough to see them, because you won't be having any fun.

Fate of Nations is a game about building a world, but the one you end up with is often confusing, almost always empty, and full of more frustrations than wonders.