BMD BetterWorld’s BattleMe is a deceptively simple game that centers on battling automated Facebook accounts with tanks and other military toys, but beyond that simple facade waits a surprisingly complex strategic experience. In its best moments, BattleMe recalls the addicting gameplay of early arcade titles, and we look forward to improvements to this fun little title in the next few weeks.
BMD BetterWorld’s BattleMe is a deceptively simple game that centers on battling automated Facebook accounts with tanks and other military toys, but beyond that simple facade waits a surprisingly complex strategic experience. In its best moments, BattleMe recalls the addicting gameplay of early arcade titles, and we look forward to improvements to this fun little title in the next few weeks.
The battles themselves revolve around attacking your opponent’s static missile array with an onslaught of assault trucks and tanks while defending your own missile array from the same. In that regard, it bears some similarities with tower defense titles. As you progress, you can throw light or heavy helicopters into the mix, and you can choose from one of three upgrades affecting your starting cash or your army’s vehicles each time you progress to the next level. Choose wisely, though: there doesn’t appear to be any way to go back and select one of the upgrades you skipped at a later level.
The good news is that this creates some diversity of gameplay when you play against other accounts. Not everyone chooses the same upgrades (although some are obviously better than others), and you may find that your decision to improve your assault trucks’ armor pales in comparison to your opponents’ decision to increase the firing rate of his or her tanks. There’s even a bit of strategy involved since you can only send out one vehicle at a time based on your current cash and fuel levels (which increase as each match progresses).
Even so, your daily free sessions end a bit too early. If you’re playing for the first time, you’ll only play around five games before running into the pay wall. This keeps you from playing until you get your next batch of free coins the following day or you fork out a bit of cash to jump back into the action. We’re all used to this model by now, but it comes too soon in BattleMe, and the restriction of waiting until the next day instead of a few hours seems a bit harsh. An option to watch replays of your recent battles alleviates the pain a bit, however, and even some of the purchasable coin options never expire. In other words, if you’re willing to toss BMD BetterWorld a couple of bucks, you can increase your playtime significantly for as long as you play the game.
As it stands, though, BattleMe is off to a good start. It does a good job of fooling you into believing you’re playing other people thanks to intelligent AI, and the options for upgrading your vehicles keep it from being yet another predictable automated social game. It could benefit from a bit more visual variation (particularly when it comes to backgrounds), but this is a social title worth checking out. At this point, it can only get better.
