Developed by Gas Powered Games (Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander) and published by Stardock (The Political Machine, Galactic Civilizations), Demigod is a unique RPG and RTS hybrid that puts you in control of a powerful, God-like being bent on the destruction of the opposing Demigods. By capturing flag points which give buffs, portals that spawn automated minions and upgrading your base and Demigod, your goal is to work your way past the enemy force’s defenses and destroy their base.
You can pick one of 8 Demigods to play as. 4 of these choices are Generals, and the others are Assassins. The Generals are primarily support-type Demigods and buff up their allies, and rely primarily on their minions and allied Demigods to do the damage for them. The assassins are all about direct damage and getting out on the front lines. In either case, as you capture objectives and kill enemies you earn XP and level, and can then spend points in a talent tree to beef your Demigod up with boosted health, increased hitpoints and powerful abilities.
For example; Oak, my Demigod of choice, is a General that isn’t all that impressive when you start a match. However, after leveling and spending your talent points appropriately, he has the ability to capture the souls of nearby defeated enemies and turn them into ghostly, flying units at your command. He can heal all the allies around him when he kills an enemy. He can even become an invincible killing machine for a short time if he’s defeated, giving you a few extra seconds to beat the shit our of that player you were just chasing down.
The maps are straightforward, but beautifully designed and offer ample room for strategy. You always have at least a few routes into the enemy’s base so if a choke point starts to form you can reroute and try to sneak in from a different angle while the enemy is busy. There are also two portals equally spaced between the opposing factions, which frequently become a point of heated conflict as the sides fight over those spawn points for their minions.
Hell hath no fury like a Demigod scorned
The single player and multiplayer experiences are virtually identical, with the exception that the Demigod-based achievements and trinkets you buy don’t carry over between the two. Although there was negative press about the multiplayer experience at launch, I glad to say that I haven’t encountered any issues and am in fact very pleased with the performance in both the networking and engine. Likewise, I’m very impressed with the visual quality and polish to the mechanics of the game.
The only thing I can honestly nitpick about is the limited selection of maps. Will Gas Powered be offering us more for free, or with an expansion? It seems logical that they would, perhaps along with the rumored 2 additional Demigods in development. I’d love to see them release a map editor so the community could develop new offerings, too.
If you’re looking for a fun departure from the everyday RTS and enjoy RPGs, you’ll love Demigod. It’s a brilliantly designed game with a lot of replay value. The digital download is $39.95, so you can’t beat the price either.
[rating:4.5/5]
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