Strategy games

League of Angels is an acceptable turn-based MMORPG on rails for the casual player. Everything is clearly explained and marked and there is virtually no learning curve. There are plenty of things to do, including the usual daily events, dungeons to explore, world bosses, various PvP modes and mini-games along the lines of Bejeweled and Farmville – but not much original thought has gone on here.

The graphics and music are of reasonable quality, but while the game runs well the gameplay itself leaves much to be desired. The automated play style means that the main game pretty much plays itself, and the combat mechanics determine battle outcomes from gear and character skill sets rather than any strategy on your part.

Furthermore, the game places paying players at a distinct advantage over the free to play crowd, who will soon hit daily limits and won’t get access to the best weapons, armor and mounts. Serious gamers up for a challenge may want to look elsewhere.

Legends of Honor is a free to play browser MMO developed by Goodgame Studios. Players will build and maintain a castle, with all the armies and fun that accompany the prestigious position.

Gameplay is similar to any browser castle RTS, especially those developed by Goodgame. I’m looking at you Shadow Kings. What differentiates Legends of Honor from its peers is its setting and tone. The game is dark and brooding with a realistic art style and more than a few Game of Thrones parallels.

A very interesting aspect of the game is its hero feature. While not unique it is well executed and gives the game a bit of variety. It also provides that leveling feel, for those fans of more traditional MMO experiences.

Legends of Honor is a solid entry into a well-established genre. It doesn’t do very much new, but what it does do, it does well.

➔ Main points:

• 2015 Browser MMO
• Castle Building
• Fun Hero System
• Tedious Quests

Nords: Heroes of the North is a browser based strategy game published by Plarium Games.
The humorous take on the now pervasive strategy genre does a lot right, leaving only a little to be desired.

Build your Keep, choose your Champion, and become a famed Lord Marshall; then set out to conquer your rivals.

Those hoping for a reprieve from the tedious nature of other well-known strategy outings will be disappointed, however those looking for a solid browser RPG will find an excellent new home in Nords.

➔ Main points:

• Fast-paced (compared to similar games) strategy browser game with lots of things to do and daily quests.
• Funny, humoristic atmosphere thanks to the great voice-acting and top-notch artworks.
• 3 different races: Northmen, Orcs and Elves.
• Equip and level-up your hero.
• Ally with your neighbours, or attack and raid them without mercy!

Orcs Must Die! Unchained is one of the latest Tower Defense Games in which your aim is to repel a hoard of orcs trying to breach your defenses and reach the innermost area of your base.
A number of paths are accessible to your orc enemies which they can use to point their offense in an effective way.
On the contrary, you have mines and other repelling items to stop them and, in turn, try to breach their base.

Orcs Must Die! Unchained allows you to team up with your friends or go solo with a number of tactics available for either option.
Just like other similar games, a number of classes are available for character selection with each class having a unique set of abilities.
In-game purchases can also be made to upgrade your characters and pose an even more serious threat to your opponents.

➔ Main points:

• 2015 MOBA with an amazing humoristic and entertaining style.
• Set-up deadly traps and kill all the orcs trying to destroy your base, and breach theirs in turn!
• Five available classes of characters.
• Can be played solo or co-op.

Pirates – Tides of Fortune is a complex and charming browser game released by Plarium Games. In this game you are a commander of your own haven (base of operations), where your goal is to expand, conquer and form brotherhoods with other players.
Tides of Fortune allows you to take several approaches on your gameplay; economical, defensive and offensive. The game leaves you enough room to learn how to fend for yourself during the first few levels, so you don’t have to worry about getting raided and pillaged by other players right off the bat.

➔ Main points:

• Classical strategy browser game.
• Fetch resources (or steal them), recruit an army of pirates and build your fleet.
• Complete daily missions to earn even more resources and units.
• Funny, entertaining, multilanguage voice-over (in pirate tongue too!).
• Much appreciated humoristic approach.

Pirate Storm is an excellent excuse for getting involved in the pirate world through a fun online browser game.
It was developed by BigPoint, a company famous for being the developer of many other popular browser MMOs like Drakensang Online or Dark Orbit.

This time, BigPoint will bring on our monitors some pretty cool tropical landscapes in a world completely shaped in the pirate theme.
You'll be able to control your own ship as you level up completing missions for gold and diamonds that you'll use to improve the ship itself and hire crew members.

Pirate Storm offers diverse missions, ship improvement and guild systems, crew recruiting, and treasure hunts. It also features PVP and PVE battles, so you can loot items and gain experience through combat against sea monsters or other players' ships.

➔ Main points:

• Sail through different maps exploring a variety of islands.
• Engage in PVP sea battles against other players.
• PVE missions to gain experience and rewards.
• Join or create your own League and participate in events.
• Side missions, bonus maps, and a mobile app that complements the game.

RAM Pressure is a turn-based tactical squad strategy game in the mold of XCOM. It's free to play and players will pick either the USA, Russia or China to represent. In RAM Pressure players control squads of soldiers which contain up to 4 soldiers, each varying in terms of class and weapon-set. The objective will be to complete PvE missions and PvP battles to eventually grow their squads through experience points and better gear.

➔ Main points:

• Squad tactical turn-based strategy game that will feel familiar for fans of XCOM
• Highly detailed environment graphics and visuals
• Plenty of missions to do solo or multiplayer
• Free to play with optional transactions

Shaiya holds a place in many people’s hearts as the first MMO they’ve ever played. And as such, people looking back on it today might be viewing it through those dark-tinted nostalgia glasses which may obscure their objectivity when talking about it.

Over 11 years since its’ release, does Shaiya hold up? In a way (Private servers), yes, but for the most part, Shaiya is as dead as an MMO can get. The way it works with old-school MMOs is they either need to have a large enough player base to keep them going, or they need to modernize with the times to draw in newer players.

Shaiya does neither. Few veterans of the game are left, and the changes that the developers have made to the game over the years have only pushed old-school players away even more. There’s nothing on offer here that the new generation of gamers won’t find somewhere else. Somewhere better. The uniqueness of Ultimate Mode, is little more than a novelty feature now, and the P2W aspects of the PVP just kill the game, despite its’ potential. Shaiya still has its’ high points, but the official game is long past its’ prime.

➔ Main points:

• Downloadable F2P traditional MMORPG
• Good versus Evil, Faction-based PVP battles
• Permadeath Ultimate Mode Difficulty
• Heavily P2W PVP
• Very low player base on official servers, dead community
• Fairly active community on private servers

Soldiers Inc is a free-to-play strategic management game set in the near future, in a land where there is an ongoing war for control of resources.
In between the quests that we will be assigned, we will turn our little camp into a base of operations in all respects, with reservoirs, troops, vehicles, and ammunition.

The Plarium title simply brings the formula that has already been proven in many medieval strategic games into a futuristic world, where battles are fought with guns instead of hand-to-hand.
Graphically, the game holds its own, presenting detailed scenarios with dozens of animations that make each scene believable.

Soldiers Inc is a well-done strategy game: fun, but as often happens, it doesn't offer anything new to the genre.
Of course, it offers a new setting; it's up to you to decide if that is enough.

➔ Main points:

• - Futuristic war\strategy browser game
• - Join the great war for predominance on oil rigs and other resources
• - War has never been funnier: Plarium's humoristic approach pervades every aspect of the gameplay, thanks to the fully-voiced dialogues and grotesque quest characters.

Developed by Plarium, Sparta: War of Empires offers enjoyable albeit rather typical browser game entertainment, which is a mixture of strategy and war, with a few characteristics that set it apart from its brethren.

In addition to the usual game processes and progression, Sparta: WOE gives you the added option of enlisting help from King Leonidas and his Spartan army, using a combination of strategy and diplomacy.

Graphically, the game is very well presented: the artworks are rather inspired and the environment and design of the buildings work well.
Finally, the fully voiced dialogues and immersive soundtrack add more points to the atmosphere.

Sparta: War of Empires is good title – even if ultimately it does not offer anything special, the setting in historical Greece brings a little novelty of its own, and all the traditional aspects of a browser game are implemented in a convincing manner.

➔ Main points:

• Classical war browser game set in ancient Greece.
• Continuous updates from the developers and special events.
• All the traditional elements of browser-based games are implemented in a thoughtful manner: dialogues are fully voiced and artworks extremely well made.
• Purists of the genre will love this, although it may disappoint people looking for something new.