Cubemen 2
Review
One more time around the Block
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Collecting Cubes (cntd)
The Cubes earned can then be used to purchase more units or can be used to upgrade the current units. This upgrade function is new to the Cubemen series and works quite well, effectively giving the units an increased line of sight and range. And at a price that is cheaper than buying another unit, it is often beneficial to upgrade the unit rather than buying more.
New Kids on the Block
Most of the units have made their way across from the original, meaning that if you’ve played the original, the units will be familiar to you. One unit that hasn’t made it to Cubemen 2 is the Healer, a unit that was able to move around from unit to unit healing those that required some first aid. Instead, on certain maps, there is a health square which works like a hospital. The unit simply walks across to the Health square and re-energizes. Units can also heal when they upgrade, so the upgrade has a dual effect.
In the place of the healer are a couple of new units – one that acts as a wall (known as Waly) requiring enemies to go around him, and one that acts as a minefield (Milo), blowing up any enemy that happens to walk over him. Both are great to use in bottlenecks within the map, although Waly cannot be used everywhere.
Crate, Just Crate
During the game, random crate drops appear. These crates can contain either Cubes (which you use to purchase units or upgrades), team Upgrades or can weaken enemies. At times they can make or break a game, especially if you can snaffle a Cube crate early on in a game as it enables you to build up your army much quicker than the opposition.
The game comes complete with a heap of maps to play, but there are also a ton of user-generated maps that you can play with too. But for those with a creative mind, they can design their own maps for others to play using the Level Editor. It is a simple to use feature that adds a certain amount of replayability to the game.
With its square lines and electronic beats, the game continues the retro feel of the original. The graphics remain largely the same from the original title, although having said that there are numerous skins available now for your units rather than the red versus blue option of the original. The maps can also be coloured to suit your mood with a range of colours and themes now available, rather than the Tron-like colouring of Cubemen. It doesn’t do anything for the gameplay, but is it bit more fun watching as your units patrol a Mindcraft-style terrain or Aztec themed environment. The music also has a retro ambience further enhancing the early era game atmosphere that is present throughout the game. Even the sound effects could have come straight out of your favourite 80’s arcade game.
Improves on the original
Although the single player game is quite short, it serves as a pseudo-tutorial for the multiplayer game, enabling gamers to experiment with the features of the game. But it is the multiplayer that takes the cake. At times it can be hard to find human opponents, but the AI can still fill the void. The fast paced games with up to six players can be hectic. It is definitely more fun than the original one-on-one of the original Cubemen. The new features and the new game modes certainly make the Cubemen 2 an improvement on the original and for the small price tag it is certainly worth a look.
7.2
fun score
Pros
New units and skins, and heaps of new game modes and maps
Cons
The single player campaign can be a little tedious at times, but it serves as a pseudo-tutorial.
