While the game does have some impressive graphics, the actual gameplay is out-dated.

User Rating: 6 | Armies of Exigo PC
Armies of Exigo is an RTS game from Black Hole Studios, which has many people who apparently had some experience in Hollywood. That experience really shows here, as Armies of Exigo is a great looking game, but the actual gameplay underneath the shine is really underwhelming due to how out-dated it is.

The game's story takes place with 3 factions vying to become the dominant power. You've got the Empire, which is a classic combination of humans, elves, and gnomes. The Beast horde, which features hordes of strong Beastmen, goblins, dragons, ogres, and other creatures. Then you've got the Fallen, which are a race consisting of insects, dark elves, and another group that is essentially an alien race. In all reality- forget all that I just said. These races might as well just be the Terrans, Protoss, and Zerg respectively in a fantasy setting, with only a few minor differences and reshuffles in gameplay elements. For example, there are no "pylon" structures in this game, but the beastmen (Protoss) do use the Zerg style of getting more room for units- by producing Borons (i.e. ground-based Overlords which trade transport capabilities for combat capabilities). Ultimately however, the Fallen are by far the worst offender here, as they might as well be an almost complete carbon copy of the Zerg, since they have the fewest differences.

The gameplay itself is also completely copied from Starcraft, with only one novelty feature, and that is the underground sections in the game. The underground areas allow you to essentially play on two maps at once in a game. This can also make for some interesting tactics, since some abilities can only be used underground, yet only affect the surface. This also allows you to outflank your enemies quite easily if the map design allows for it. Two problems here however: first off, this leads to some major micromanagement if you have bases on both levels in a game, so you'd better be a micromanagement junkie if you want to appreciate the two-level gameplay in Armies of Exigo. Also, the map design of the game is lackluster, so the underground might as well just be another direct route to your enemy which is easily defended.

Armies of Exigo does have a single player campaign, which is split into 3 parts just like Starcraft's campaign. Only difference being that you must play the 3 sections in order (Starcraft let you play any campaign from the start). It really doesn't much matter, for the campaign is rather boring. The scenarios are bland, and the characters are not interesting since they have bad voice acting along with potentially worse dialogue.

Graphics is the one area Armies of Exigo shines. The game looks quite fresh, with great looking environments both above and below ground. Unit animations are also well done. Unit portraits seem a little stiff however, especially when talking (Though, you'll definitely not want them to talk that much...). Sound wise, the game has music that fits the theme just fine, but horrendous voice acting really brings the sound quality down. The game's battle sounds are repetitive, but they sound decent.

In the end, Armies of Exigo is a poorly executed rip-off of Starcraft. Unless you haven't experienced the classic RTS gameplay of those days, you should definitely pass on Armies of Exigo.

Pros: Great Graphics.

Cons: Out-dated and poorly executed gameplay. Level design doesn't fully take advantage of the underground. Terrible Voice acting. Poor AI.

Recommendable for: Only for people who haven't been spoiled by the likes of Starcraft or any other decent RTS. Especially if you don't put your expectations high.