UniWar
by Jonathan Lonczak
Apr 20, 2011 10:00 AM –
Install
UniWar™ is the online multiplayer turn-based strategy game for the Android. Players take turns building their army and fighting against each other using the strengths of their units while taking advantage of the terrain. It is like chess or checkers but with a lot more possibilities and different boards. Join several games and move up the ranks to become the top player! Play anyone, anywhere at anytime! Been waiting for a multiplayer game for you and your friends? The wait is over! Here comes UniWar!
Price: $4.99
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Cross platform multiplayer with both Android and iOS users in an online gaming community of over 200,000 registered users.
- Turn based strategy with flexible time limit options allows you to play whenever you have time.
- Over 50 maps for online gameplay each with different terrain and base distributions.
- Online multiplayer supports up to eight players in both team and free for all modes.
- Comprehensive lists of unit types, advantages, disadvantages, and special abilities in game.
- Excellent visuals that work well on both tablet and smartphone devices. This game plays well on my Thunderbolt, Xoom, and Galaxy Tablet!
- Strong online community and forums that assist you in learning from other players and giving feedback to the developer.
- Excellent developer support. Constant updates are rolled out for the game in order to improve online gameplay and further balance the ranked game system.
Cons
- Uniwar does not generate turn notifications through Android’s notification panel like other turn based games do.
- The in game chat system does not allow for you to chat with friends in a different game.
- The in game chat system displays a single text box which takes up the entire screen when you wish to input a comment in to the chat. This prevents you from seeing ongoing conversation while you are responding or creating a new message.
Features:
Uniwar is a turn based strategy game to the tune of Starcraft. In the game there are three races; the Sapiens, Khraleans, and Titans. Each of these races is played in a different style and has their own unique advantages and abilities. Each race generates income based on the number of bases they own, and then spends their income at the bases in order to produce units.
The Sapiens are a balanced human race whose most powerful unit seems to be the Dune Buggy. The Dune Buggy allows you to perform two moves and actions per turn. This makes it a very strong unit for moving across a lot of terrain and attacking. This makes the Dune Buggy an excellent tool for taking out enemy artillery.
The Khraleans are a a insect-like alien race with reduced cost for production, but a reduced armor exoskeleton. This makes it easier to produce units, but also easier for them to be destroyed. The Khraleans also feature a unique burrow ability which allows them to hide their basic units underground in order to scout the enemy. Burrowed units can also be used to create an ambush and burrowed units when resurfaced receive a hefty bonus to damage.
The Titans are a humanoid alien race with heavy armor. Their units are the most expensive to produce, but also are very heavily armored and hard to kill. The Titans have the ability to teleport some of their units to wherever they wish on the map. Some exceptions to this ability are water, occupied spaces, and enemy bases.
One of the great things about this game is how intent the developer is on keeping it balanced. The developer built disadvantages into the various races as well in order to balance out their more powerful abilities. For example, the Titans cannot move a teleported unit until a full turn after it was teleported. Also when a friendly unit is near one or more burrowed enemy units it shows a number in its bottom corner which represents the number of hostile buried units it is near.
The single player campaign is fairly basic and is told in a linear fashion through mission briefings before gameplay. This is an excellent way for a new player to learn the units of the game as well as basic strategy. As you play more through the campaign you will find it becoming to easy and gradually shift to multiplayer.
The controls are intuitive and easy to use. The user interface for purchasing units is excellent providing you with information on all of the units strengths and weaknesses. This makes it very easy to learn all the units in the game as well as how to use them.
The online multiplayer for Uniwar is where this game really shines. Uniwar features a finely tuned and highly populated online community. Uniwar’s game server allows for both Rated and Unrated games. Both types of games can be played with up to 8 players either on a team or in free for all mode. There are over 50 multiplayer maps to choose from and over 200,000 registered users. This makes it easy to find an open game to join no matter what time you wish to play or what game type you prefer.
Uniwar has a chat system built in to it’s server which allows you to communicate with other players while in the game. The in-game chat only supports players in your current game, but is handy for coordinating strategy with your partner. This feature could be better refined with a global chat system which allows players to chat with their friends in other games as well as the players in the current game. Another disadvantage to the in-game chat system is it’s input system. The input for Uniwar’s chat system is a single text box which when clicked on to enter text takes up the entire screen of your device. This prevents you from seeing previous or current messages from others in game and is a serious disadvantage.
Finally. Uniwar’s online multiplayer does generate notification emails to let you know when it is your turn to make a move. I am disappointed that the developer did not incorporate notifications in the Android notification panel, because the email method sometimes results in a delay when it is my turn. Sometimes the emails are generated only minutes before my turn is over and I miss my turn entirely because I wasn’t looking at my phone at that second.
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Uniwar Gameplay 1
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Uniwar Gameplay 2
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UniWar in Game Play 3
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UniWar in Game Play 4
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UniWar in Game Play 5
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UniWar in Game Play 6
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UniWar in Game Play Chat
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Uniwar Main Menu
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Uniwar Unit Types
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Uniwar Game List Screen
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Uniwar Open Game List
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Uniwar Internet Game Options
Fun Factor:
This game is very enjoyable if you like strategy games and prefer to play with other players. The online multiplayer can be very challenging and there are thousands of players to choose from. The more you become accustomed to the units and maps in the game the more you will enjoy it. I personally prefer to play with a friend in team matches and we will play 6 or 7 games at the same time so we are constantly in combat with other players.
The great thing about this game is that it is turn based. This allows you to play the game when you are at work or at the grocery store casually, but also gives you the freedom to play a one or two hour session if you have the free time. This makes the game highly enjoyable and very addictive.
Addictive:
Uniwar is an extremely addicting game. The fact that it is turn based allows you to play it anywhere… anytime. There is also a definite learning curve associated to it’s addictiveness as well. When you first begin to play Uniwar you don’t understand the game fully and have to play it to understand the basic units and their abilities. At this point in the game you will play it passively. As you learn more about the units and delve into the online multiplayer you will become more and more addicted as your skill grows and you play more challenging players. I personally have never been as addicted to an Android game as I am to this game.
Graphics:
The graphics in the game are excellent. The models are finely drawn and there is a variety of different units and terrains. The models are not of the highest quality, but that is also what makes this game so versatile. I have tried this game on the Samsung Fascinate, Motorola Xoom, Galaxy Tablet, HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Droid, and even the iPhone. On all of these devices the game played equally well. Perhaps in future versions the developer will change the graphics to include more detailed three-dimensional models, but I think part of the success of this game is due to its current graphical design.
Accelerometer, Vibration & Sound:
Uniwar utilizes the accelerometer in order to rotate the screen to see the battlefield in landscape or portrait mode. When in portrait mode you are able to see more vertical spaces of terrain than in landscape and in landscape you are able to see more horizontal spaces then vertical.
Uniwar does have an in-game music track, but it only plays in menus. This is too bad since having background music certainly makes the game play more enjoyable. I personally disable the in game music, and play my favorite mp3 playlist in the background during longer play sessions.
The game also utilizes sound effects for various units and races. The sound effects are different for each race, but they do not vary by unit. The lack of variation for units of the same race does not detract from gameplay, but would be a nice addition to see in the future.
Finally, the game does use the phone’s ability to vibrate in order to call your attention to destroyed unit. When a unit dies in battle there is an animated explosion along with the corresponding sound effect and phone vibration.