[jeu-vidéo] "Ogre" & beta review
This article reflects only my opinion. Please forgive my grammar mistakes. French version here.
"Ogre" is a strategic board game developed by Steve Jackson ("Munchkin", "Zombie Dice") and released for the first time in 1977. This year, for its 40th anniversary, Steve Jackson Games and Auroch Digital are about to release a video game adaptation on PC. I had access to the beta some days ago, so let's talk about "Ogre"!
I have to admit that, if I read practical info about the board game to write this article, I have never played it and I don't really know its universe, so, when I launched the build, I didn't exactly know what I was about to play (except of the key points of the game).
On an austere-ish main menu, I tell myself that it could be a good idea to figure what is happening, so I click on a button linked to the lore, except that it opens an empty text box, no problem, this is a beta build, it happens sometimes, in the complete game, this should work fine.
Then, I decide to play to the unique tutorial of the game "Combat Basics", I control a red tank trying to destroy two blue bases on a big map composed of hexagonal cells. It takes me a few minutes to assimilate the mechanics, like that I have to click and double-click everywhere.
The game has two turns, the players and the opponents, these turns are divided into phases: by default, there is the movement phase and the attack phase.
The player can move as many pawns as he/she wants, every type has a movement zone, which can be affected by the terrain (road, forest, stones, etc.), followed by the attack phase where the player has to select a target and the attacking units.
Each enemy has a defense value (let's say "4" for this example), the combined units give me a "5") to inflict damages, these attack and defense points give an estimation of the number the dice has to do in order to touch the target (let's say "+4"). Once the player has understood this, he is ready to face the game's challenges.
This adaptation has a new scenario, Nightfall, which takes place a few years after the original board game story: after an AI bug, some Ogres turn crazy and attack their allies.
My first mission of the Story Mode seems simple: an Ogre is unstoppable and kills its allies, I have to stop or destroy it before it escapes and to do so, I will throw in its way more soldiers and vehicles... Yes, well, this is war.
This time, I control the blue units and my target is a big grey Ogre (to be true, being red during the tutorial and blue during the game was a bit confusing). During the "Combat Basics", I had only one tank, now, I have a lot of different vehicle and soldiers on foot. I am ashamed to admit that I quit and re-start the party many times because I was not able to figure how to do the objective... The enemy is resistant, the game wants me to immobilize it in an unexplained way or
to destroy its weapons by targeting them (each one has its own resistance and requires many shots before destruction) and this took me a long time to understand since the tutorial only asked me to click once on the enemy, I thought that the weapon targets were just informations about the opponent. Since, I have a lot of units compared to the lonely Ogre, I put them on its way to circle it and blocked the issues. Eventually, I stop it and an assault phase starts in a way that I don't really understand, but victory is mine and the initial frustration is replaced by relief and pride. Still, the difficulty gap between the tutorial and the first mission disturbed me, especially because there is no more help from the game.
I launch the next mission, two new Ogres have gone berserk, the map is different, the enemies seem to be more aggressive, I have new units to use (and I place them, at first, without thinking strategy and I quickly regret it). The battle is about to rage on (the musics works fine with the game's atmosphere!).
With each new session, "Ogre" delivers new situations, new units, new challenges. Complex, but not inaccessible, this is a wargame with the potential to seduce the genre fans and attract newcomers greedy to face difficulty. With a map editor and a multiplayer which allows multiple fights at the same time, those who want to invest time into the game will have a lot to do. This beta build shows a dense and demanding experience, however the game won't be soft with the players and neophytes will have to be brave during the first hours. "Ogre" reminded me my beloved tactical game when I was a younger player and made me want to play at one again, so rendezvous the 5th of October for the release of the game!
Gabin Jirodet
30/09/2017
Useful Links
The Developer's website
http://www.sjgames.com/ogre/products/ogrevideogame/
The Game first trailer
