Tryst
The RTS genre is one where not too many games thrive outside of titles like Command and Conquer and the insanely popular StarCraft series. RTS gamers are usually very dedicated to this genre; does Tryst have to grab their attention, successfully breaking into this market?
Tryst takes place around the year 2800 on a planet called Ishtonia IV. Ishtonia was home to a new energy source humans discovered during an economic crisis. Another race, machine like beings called the Zali, also lived on the planet. Though they once lived peacefully with one another, both races being warring over the planet. The story isn’t too clear as to how this happen, (it feels like there are a few loose ends in the story) I’m sure it has something to do with the new energy source.
Like most RTS’s, you’ll take control of one of the main factions and try to destroy your enemy while managing resources needed to build an army. Of course, the enemy won’t be content with just letting you roll over them, so you’ll have to be able to defend your base as well. On a basic level, this is what you are presented with when jumping into this title. The controls are simple for your average PC gamer; console gamers (like myself) trying to pick this up are going to take a good amount of time getting used to things. You really have to know your keyboard in order to keep up with the pace of the game. The campaign is helpful with this as it’s more of a tutorial than anything else.
The campaign features five chapters; Tryst shows you something new every chapter. On top of playing the campaign there is also a help menu with video tutorials that prove to be informative. The video tutorials cover camera movement, attacking, grouping troops and many other more advance maneuvers. As good as the videos are they don’t prepare you for some interesting design choices. For instance, when grouping units there is no way to remove a unit from a given group. There isn’t even a way to delete an entire group and restart the grouping. To make matters worse you can put the same unit in more than one group which just messed with my mind.
Again, there are only five chapters, each featuring its own set of goals. I’m not a big fan of the goal structure; the game forces you to pick which ones to complete which, for the completionists like myself, can be annoying. The game does allow you to replay any mission you want without losing progress though so it works out in the end. Just know that you’ll need to play each chapter more than once. Like in most RTS the campaign missions can take a long time to complete. I was averaging about 2 hours a mission (including time spent failing and restarting). It’s safe to say that Tryst is challenging. There is a quick save option that allows you to save mid mission though. It’s really helpful to go back to a good point rather than lose all your progress after hours of play.
Tryst comes with your average game modes. Besides the campaign, there is a skirmish mode which puts you against the CPU in, depending on the map picked, anything from a 1v1 to 4v4 match. Then you have an online multiplayer mode which is the same as the skrimish mode but with the human allies and opponents. These last two modes require gamers to take down an opponent’s base. After playing the campaign, watching the tutorials and a lot trial and error you’ll be able to hold your own. That said, I wasn’t able to play online much too really test any strategies. The lobbies were bare and no one joined my games. While I can’t really say how good the online mode is, I can say that the interface is very accessible. The online menus are really easy to navigate so if you want to start a game with a friend it’s fairly easy.
Unfortunately, things aren’t that great when it comes to the sound department. When creating troops there is only one line they’ll say once ready. There is no variety; when deploying a medic he is always going to say “Who’s going to die today”. Hearing the same thing over and over (you can create a large number of troops) can become annoying pretty quick. The campaign has more dialogue, but what’s said isn’t much better overall. It seems they could’ve done a much better job in this aspect. Same can be said about the music; most of what’s featured is forgettable.
Visually, Tryst fares much better. All the scenery seems to be nicely detailed and nicely colored. Elements like the water and fire look better than I expected. The story video’s also have nice stills that really go with the narration. All and all, Tryst does have its issues but the game itself seems to be pretty fun and challenging once you get the hang of it. You’ll find yourself spending hours in game once everything starts to click. For the people that want a challenge and really like the RTS genre, I’d recommending checking Tryst out. I wish there was a little more polish here or there, and the audio could be improved. That said, I did have fun playing!
Gameplay:
7
Plays like most RTS titles. Challenging but fun.
Graphics:
7
It looks nice compared to other games in the genre; nothing amazing, but good.
Sound:
6
The one liners were annoying and the music is just generic war music.
What's New:
3
There’s nothing I found that was really new, outside of only having two races (most RTS have more). It just sticks with what’s in the genre.
Replay Value:
7
The good thing about RTS games is there highly competitive. That really keeps the game alive…if you can find people to play with.
Final Score:
6