Ashes of the Singularity got a little bit buzz when it was released earlier this year. I liked the game more than most as it featured some cool technical stuff (the first DirectX 12 game to market and the first 64 bit RTS game) as well as having some really fun units to take into battle. The game did come up a bit in the personality department and some felt that it needed a better single player campaign but overall it was a great modern RTS game
Today Stardock is releasing Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation a stand-alone expansion pack for the original game that aims to build on the foundation of the original game as well as fixing some of the issues that people had with the original game. Escalation is $19.99 if you already have the original game and $39.99 if you didn't purchase the original game.
I wasn't able to get enough time with the game before the embargo to be able to write a full review but I thought I would share my initial impressions after spending some time with the game this week.
Looking at the content list for the game it feels like Stardock has gone overboard with new stuff in the game. Want more units? Well each side now has more units of each type and almost double the defensive structures. Want more story missions? There are now two new single player campaigns to play. Want more maps types? There are now two new map types (volcanic and crystaline).
In addition to all of the new content the existing units have gotten a fresh coat of paint and tweaks. The user interface has a gotten a touch up that makes it much easier to manage and control your forces.
All of these changes are great but the one I loved the most is the addition of a strategic zoom. This view is another level above the max zoom of the original game and removes the terrain and converts all of the units and resources to icons. This allows you to quickly see all of your units and where they are doing. If you played either of the Supreme Commander games this view is very familiar to you. Stardock has put their own spin on it and the feature really does add a lot to the game.
Also new in Escalation are Orbital Abilities that do not require you to have built up orbital facilities. These abilities consume Quanta but allow you to do fun things like dropping turrets any place you can see, armor buffs, rush building a unit, and a bevy of other abilities. These can definitely help change the tide of a small battle when used correctly.
The pace of the game has also been sped up a bit. The original game was fast but Escalation takes that pace up a notch. I need to play more to verify that it's the game and not the map design or my advancing age.
So far I'm really digging what I'm playing as this feels like there is a lot of good stuff tucked into the game. I haven't had a chance to dig into the new single player campaigns but everything I have seen so far has been a notch or two above the original game.
