Mushroom Wars is not the game you would expect when you think of the strategy genre. Usually, what comes to mind are games like Age of Empires, Starcraft, or Red Alert where you stockpile resources and climb through different ages or tiers to dominate your opponents with different units. In Mushroom Wars, the only resource is the amount of units you possess, which increases faster depending on the amount of bases you have, and the levels you have upgraded them to. That is the basic premise of the game; build up your bases to pump out the units you will need to dominate your opponent. No rock/paper/scissors counter system, no resources, just mayhem.
In order to send your armed and dangerous Mushrooms, you press and hold R1 button and choose the destination with the analog stick, and depending on what face button you press, you will send 25%, 50%, 75% or all the units currently inside the selected base. By pressing L1, you can upgrade base levels, as well as changing them from bases to other special buildings. That’s it. Those are the only controls you will need to understand. Once you master the controls, you must tackle the finer points which are surprisingly deep. The game will help you out throughout some of the 28 levels in the campaign, but you will notice that the difficulty ramp ups significantly halfway through the game.
The relatively simple mechanics hide an unexpected level of depth and strategy, and finesse is the name of the game. Go nuts and send all your units, and the computer won’t waste time in counterattacking you and taking that base you thought was safe. In fact, I found the AI is very challenging, even on Normal difficulty. The tutorial will guide you through the technicalities as they appear throughout the game, and as the campaign progresses, you will access new mechanics that adds more depth to the experience.
For example, in the level where morale is introduced to you, the tutorial explains that when you find yourself outnumbered, “turtling” is a good strategy in order to raise morale and attack with your stronger, inspired troops. Of course, the level will have you fighting a force twice your size. Thanks to this level, you will learn that morale is one of the most important aspects of the game. You can raise it by conquering bases, successfully defending your own, upgrading them, or just by keeping your troops on the move. Alternately, stay idle or lose your battles and you will see the enemy brimming with morale, while your troops get slaughtered. I found that harnessing the high morale is the best strategy to employ: once your troops start getting those stars, it is easy to maintain momentum and steamroll the opposition, make a mistake however, and the tide of battle will turn very fast.
The game also throws in different buildings into the mix other than your unit spawning bases, including towers (which can be upgraded for faster attack speed) and armories. Obviously, towers shoot at passing enemies, while armories increase the attack power of your units; despite of their benefits, they don’t spawn mushrooms, so balancing between the number of special buildings and bases is key.
The art style of the game is very pleasant, and somewhat reminiscent to Q-Game’s PixelJunk Monsters – another PSN downloadable game. Colorful visuals and simple animations make this a pretty title, but not much more. Animations are limited to your units marching and dying. There are no battle sequences per se, as all you witness are the bases shaking and burning as the factions fight it out inside, and the souls of the dead soldiers rise up from the building.
The game has some drawbacks though, especially the absence of any online multiplayer, which I think would have added a lot to replayability. Also, I felt sometimes the AI is very cheap, countering your moves almost instantly after you issue an order, something a human player would be incapable of doing. For example, you send 50% of your troops from base A to conquer base C, and immediately after issue the command, the computer will attack you from bases B and D with exactly the amount of units necessary to conquer your base. It can also get very frustrating once the difficulty ramps up, which in my opinion can be somewhat off putting to some.
Regardless of the drawbacks, the game has an appeal that many strategy fans may be drawn to, and I recommend at least giving this game a chance. Aside from the extensive campaign with 3 difficulty levels, you also have various skirmish maps to test your skills against 1, 2, or 3 AI opponents, or a split screen multiplayer component. If you are planning on spending $10 on the store, keep this title on your crosshairs.
Score: 78
