Highgrounds
Taking a slight glance at it, not many would probably acknowledge that strong CCG element what Spry Fox is offering, as gamer seemingly being provided only with that defense strategy war. Things isn't even clear early on, when players are taken into that first step in Highgrounds, which is an introduction of how to play that outing. Players are already being provided with a set of army where they immediately being faced up with an opponent in an attempt to destroy each others' city. Once gamer got the hang of things, they will eventually understand that they're actually playing a collectible card games which used uncommon element such as warriors as the playable deck along with the city being position similar as main character in normal CCG.
After finishing the tutorial sample, players can immediately embark on another early stage battles, before eventually advancing into the next chapter in which they are being provided with several features, such as continuing on that previous campaign chapter or embarking into daily event of special multi-player weekly game. Moreover, after signing up a free account, players are also given options to do some PvP battles, purchasing new deck of troops, upgrading commander and many other technical stuffs to enhance your group ahead of upcoming mission. Gamer can make their purchase using games that are received after finishing battles and also stages, stacking up new booster squad can be really helpful considering the different stages that gamer must face.
The game play of Highgrounds are a mix of CCG along with turned based strategy defense in which players are provided with several available warrior each turn and must placed their choice into the battle ground based on amount of gold/crystal/wood earned during that turn. In every move, gamer will be earning gold/crystal/wood based on the skills each warrior possessed, it's pretty similar with mana system that can be found in any CCG outings, though there's a slight more complicated on Highgrounds. Checking out and analyzing opponent's move might be rather more difficult at first since it's not as vivid as in normal card games.
Just as it was already explained, the battle system on this title is basically a turned-based one where each parties takes one move at a time, so it's very important to chose the right warrior in an instant. Players can put on more than one warrior each turn, depending on the amount of gold/wood/crystal that they earned during that move. Basically, gamer must maintain the HP of their city as that's what ultimately being attack by enemies during every showdown. In every turn, the party that won are decided by the attacking points they resulted, so if your team have higher attacks, they won't just hurt enemies warriors, but also attack the opponent's city. A very interesting and tactically driven battle indeed and it's not getting any easier each stages, even luck is sometime needed for gamer to won their challenge. However, with the right approach and tactics, it's still something that can be manageable without having to cash out any real money.
Being a simple browser-based game, Highgrounds isn't offering any fancy 3D modern graphic, as its being developed with flash system that looked similar to clay animation with nice surrounding setup and also pretty fine characters' design. Each of the warrior have different and characteristic visualization, so there's no trouble in checking things out during battles. Aside from nice looking visual, this outing also provides some interesting back ground music, which are actually a very RPG like with that classic/kingdom kind of nuance.
The game control is far from complicated as gamer can just use their mouse to basically control everything in that outing. There's no delays in the execution so players won't be caught into some annoying situation when they're embarking into any battles. Not being setup as Facebook game also avoid that long delays that players often face due to losing energy bar or stamina. Basically players can keep on finishing their mission in any kind of situation until they won or suffering a disappointing defeat.
Highgrounds really brought tons of fun gaming element into one, making it a really interesting outing to play with, even for those who are not that common yet with CCG or strategy defense kind of outing. Having such a nice, cute and warm visual along with friendly gaming atmosphere simply triggered strong attraction for both old and new players. Although things are not all smooth and easy, but things can be easily learn during the battle, since everything are being arranged in a non-serious manner. Although there's the usual option for real cash usage, but players can simple survive without having to use it as they can just purchase stuffs with the in-game currency that they earned.
Overall, this outing from Spry Fox is an entertaining free to play browser based game that successfully combined two different gaming themes into one unique experience. Although there's a bit lack of details especially regarding ways to analyze enemies during battles, but this game is not being set up in an ultra complicated nor serious way as players can basically learn things by doing. The flash based graphic also being maximized very well as it offers such friendly, cheerful and warm gaming visual that is pleasing enough for any type of game lovers. In all, Highgrounds is one of those rare breed of mixed games that managed to produce a nicely crafted outing that offers fun gaming experience for anyone, making it very recommended browser-based game to check out.
