Age of Darkness: Final Stand, from developer PlaySide and publisher Team17, is a grim fantasy survival RTS game that pits players against an ever encroaching night. With feet firmly planted in the familiar Tower Defense genre, Age of Darkness goes out of its way to bring an appreciable amount of interesting twists to what could be a stale formula. Though still in Early Access, Age of Darkness is shaping up to be a game to watch for strategy fans. It will have to be, given the stiff competition coming from Age of Empires 4's recent stress test.
Players take control of one of the final bastions of humanity resisting the endlessly encroaching darkness. During the day, players have limited time, and light, to expand their base, gather resources, research new technologies, and prepare defenses for the coming hordes. At night, players must resist the savage attacks of increasingly powerful night creatures that swarm in growing numbers. Make it to the day, and players can push on to prepare for another night. The premise was done fairly well in Numantian Games' They Are Billions, but Age of Darkness's interesting twist is that it rewards aggressive exploration much more than similar games in this genre.
Rather than focus entirely on defensive behavior, Age of Darkness encourages players to strike out into the gloom to take the fight to the enemy. On one hand, this is a nice development that rewards risky plays. There are resources out there to be collected and fighting gains experience for heroes and soldiers. On the other hand, it can be difficult to balance base building and aggressive expansion. It will take all but the most deft StarCraft II veterans quite a few attempts to wrap their heads and fingers around Age of Darkness's difficulty. Difficulty is, of course, part of the tension that makes these kinds of defensive strategy games enjoyable, but it is nice to see Age of Darkness has included plenty of modifiers to difficulty to allow players to scale up. Without a complete narrative or campaign option available during the Early Access, unless that difficulty is something players look for, it might be better to hold off on Age of Darkness until the full release.
Visually, Age of Darkness is very pretty. The shadow effects that signal the invasions of enemies swirl and reach into the darker corners of the bastion. The technology that allows tens of thousands of monsters to swarm players is amazing to witness. It all comes together in a terrifying, rippling tide of horror that swarms over defenses and defenders alike. Watching that horde get repelled with artillery, fire traps, and arrows is thrilling every time. So far in the preview copy, there have been a few visual glitches and flickering textures, but presumably they will be ironed out before release. The aesthetic is reminiscent of a brighter Darkest Dungeon while maintaining it's own unique vibe. Fleshing out the story to tie the aesthetic to something more concrete is the next big step.
Whether Age of Darkness: Final Stand is something to invest in comes down to the enjoyment players get from base building, risky excursions, and watching it all go up in shadow and flame as the last remnants of humanity fall beneath the waves of shadow monsters. There are plenty of strategic decisions and RPG elements to make this Early Access foray worth checking out for those looking for a challenge. For those put off by the singular focus of the release or the lack of a more coherent narrative, they might want to wait until the full release to see if Age of Darkness: Final Stand is for them.
Age of Darkness: Final Stand will enter Early Access October 7, 2021 on Steam. Screen Rant was provided with a Steam download code for the purpose of this preview.
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