Demigod PC Game Review and Rating

Demigod is a unique, fast paced RTS game by Gas Powered Games that pits players and their god-like avatars against each other in the ultimate battle royal style arena match for the right to succeed the All Father as God.  While it’s a great game with a one-of-a-kind concept, and beautifully rendered and animated, Demigod suffers from persistent multiplayer problems which keep it from being totally awesome.

Gameplay

Set in a rich fantasy realm in which gods still rule the world, Demigod features eight playable characters all with their own unique strengths and weaknesses.  The characters are further broken down into two categories:  Assassins and Generals.  Assassins most closely resemble single player action game heroes and rely upon their own combat skills to claw their way to the top of the pile.  Generals, on the other hand, prefer to sit back and let the minions they rouse do the dirty work for them—though they still can get in and mix things up themselves if need be.  It’s great to be able to choose how you want to approach battle and having both options allows you to get very creative with how you go about rising to godhood.

Each type of character fits tightly into one of four classic RPG/RTS game caricatures (melee expert, ranged artist, magic user, and healer) but the special effects and animations are thoroughly engrossing and easily hypnotize players into forgetting they’ve been playing essentially the same characters for the last 20 years.  Some of the special abilities are cool, like being able to raise the spirits of fallen minions to continue battle after death, and the avatars themselves are just plain awesome.

While there is an option to play single player, you’re limited to skirmishes or tournaments against AI controlled bots.  It’s not a whole lot of fun to be honest.  The AI can be quite challenging but nothing compares to playing against a real opponent. 
The game was designed to be a multiplayer experience and as such possess an exciting concept but fails (sometimes miserably) due to connectivity issues.  Demigod relies upon an unstable peer-to-peer connection system rather than more tradition (and more stable) server-based connectivity.  While Gas Powered Games insists that such an awkward system is necessary for a game like Demigod, their inability to provide a stable multiplayer experience is frustrating.  Often gamers have trouble connecting to the Pantheon (the Demigod’s multiplayer platform) and an entire game can be ruined by a single weak link. 
The developers are working hard to fix these issues and have released a few patches already so for the remainder of this review I will give them the benefit of the doubt and not mention connectivity again.

One of the biggest downers is that Demigod doesn’t have any sort of tutorial.  While the games controls are relatively easy to grasp, the finer points of strategic combat can be very complex.  Throwing gamers into the mix without really explaining what to do feels a little cheap but then again maybe were’ all just jaded by years of hand-holding.  After all, Mario never took time out of his day to tell us how to smash bricks with our head or teach us that eating mushrooms will cause gigantism, did he?  Perhaps the single player mode was intended as a sort of do it yourself tutorial, and as such it functions quite well.  You learn what to do and then leave because there really isn’t anything to keep anyone interested in Demigod’s single player.

Graphics

Graphically the game is amazing.  Not only are the character models and battlefields beautifully designed, constructed, and rendered but the animations are top notch--you can see the trebuchets and archers atop Rook’s head and shoulders clearly!  And all of this doesn’t really tax even older systems.  In fact, the game runs well without any hitches, stuttering, or graphical hiccups.  It’s a welcome change from games that get bogged down by particles and smoke effects. 

Sound

The audio is pretty good overall.  The sound effects and score are great.  It’s just plain fun to here the little screams of the wee people and the thunderous clash of the titans.  However, the voiceover work is way too corny.  It reminds me of the announcer in Mortal Kombat and really feels out of place in an otherwise awesome game.

Value

While the game promises to be one of the most unique titles in years, connectivity issue (which I promised not to mention again—oops) and a significantly high cheese factor thanks to the audio faux pas keep Demigod from being totally awesome.  It’s worth picking up if you’re into online multiplayer but you may want to wait a while and let Gas Powered Games fix the bugs.  Of course, then you have to hope that people are still playing it once they do.

Final Verdict

Demigod promises to be a great game and, in spite of a few major hiccups, provides what it promises.

Pros:  Unique characters and concept, wonderful visuals, crazy animations.

Cons:  Broken multiplayer that should have been fixed before the game hit the street, corny voiceovers.


Overall Score: 7.5/10