Reviewed on: PC

By now, we have all played a little game on our phones. A casual, fun, cute experience, sometimes even with one or another slightly more elaborate and interesting mechanic. At a glance at a scene from Mushroom Wars 2, the first impression is certainly that this is one more of those games. No wonder, since the studio Zillion Whales has plenty of experience in the smartphone game market… But this first impression is mistaken, because beneath the casual-game facade there is a robust Real-Time Strategy experience.

Narrative: 7

Despite the cute visuals, Mushroom Wars 2 tells a dark story. The game takes its time showing the end of humanity amid one last great nuclear war, followed by the evolution and rise of little mushroom-men as the Earth’s new intelligent, dominant race. Our story begins with the invasion of a race of aliens, equally tiny and cute, wanting to take the planet for themselves… A long war then begins between the two peoples.

This prologue and the whole development of the narrative are told in panels. The scenes are well drawn and get the job done, but at every moment there is a feeling that the story could be more elaborate, deeper and, in general, better presented. Perhaps, to match the game’s apparent simplicity, the studio chose to tell a simple story.

Mechanics: 9

Over the first levels of its campaign mode, MW2 introduces a set of basic mechanics that define its gameplay:

• There are several kinds of points on the map: bases that constantly produce new troops, defense towers that shoot nearby enemies, forges that increase the combat power of all troops.
• All these structures can be upgraded or turned into others by paying a set number of troops.
• To capture an enemy structure, you need to send your troops to neutralize all the opposing resistance positioned to defend it.
• You need to keep units in your own fortifications to protect them and keep enemy forces from taking them from you.
• Troops never fight in the open – all confrontations take place inside the points.
• After selecting the points from which you want to move troops, you can choose the percentage of units to be mobilized with a simple scroll of the mouse wheel. (For example, after selecting a base with 30 units and a forge with 60, ordering 50% of the troops would mobilize 15 soldiers from the base and 30 from the other point).

The idea is quite simple: cultivate troops and take enemy bases, which usually causes a domino effect where you produce new soldiers faster and faster, managing the defense of your structures and sending the surplus units to weaken and take points from the enemies.

This set of simple ideas is applied at an ideal pace, offering an engaging, tactical and tense experience. There is a pleasing feeling of being a skilled commander, making countless coldly calculated decisions at every moment.

Audiovisual: 9

There is a clear contrast between the themes on display and the cartoonish, cute presentation, and the whole game gains strength by exploiting this contrast (for example, in the casual-game presentation but with a fast and deep strategy experience).

The art direction of MW2 is spot on. The drawings are simple and colorful, and the visual complexity comes from the number of objects on screen: if you mobilize 700 units, you can count all 700 little soldiers marching across the gardens – and this fidelity hugely reinforces the sense of scale of the battles, making everything more intense and epic.

The music is somewhat repetitive, but surprisingly it isn’t tiresome. The military march beat with light instruments helps create a childlike playful mood, which again contrasts with what should be a brutal confrontation between enemy races.

[youtube link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji3-dtbmFrA” width=”800″ height=”480″]

Final thoughts

Mushroom Wars 2 is a game full of contrasts. The cute presentation and casual look mask a game about a dark conflict with enormous strategic depth. Its quick, intense matches hold your attention and give a genuine satisfaction in being a skilled strategist, making dozens of critical decisions at every moment.

Score

Fun = 7

Mechanics = 9

Audiovisual = 9

Overall : 8.4

PC version