Ipp's Top 5 Current Favorite Flash Games, Continued

Eric Ippolito, Associate Writer

March 2, 2010

1066 #2
1066 is a game of history, strategy, and lots of blood! The game, created by Preloaded, tells about the invasion of Normandy and Viking troops into late 11th century Anglo-Saxon England. 1066 is very creative in that it shows a short history lesson (that you can skip of course) before each campaign level. The layout looks similar to a long chess board, with an animated screen above showing all of your men. Before each match begins, you'll have the ability to choose between several different groups of soldiers (archers, infantry, etc.), and then place them in the arrangement that you desire. Throughout the game, you'll see the choices that you make on the board acted out in the screen above. It's pretty catchy.

I like 1066 because even though it seems like a board game with limited involvement at first, it ends up being a little more than that. There's just something about being able to see the strategies that you make on the board come alive in the action above. 1066 makes the second spot on my list due to its creativity by its mixture of animation, strategy and a real history story behind it. It's not too often that you actually learn something useful from a game designed to occupy your time as you wait for God of War III to come out. There are few cons or negatives in the game, like having to switch sides of your army depending on the level, or having repetitive background war sounds. But in the end, those minor details don't really carry much negative weight. In the end, it actually is a really nice game. I'm confident enough to give this one a 9 out of 10. (10 being your pre-bought God of War III disk when it's shipped to the store.)

Age of War 2 #1
Age of War 2. What an alluring and addicting game! I started out by playing Age of War, the original, and was instantly hooked. It was a smidgen on the difficult side at first, but I quickly got the hang of it. Age of War 2, created by Louis-Simon menard (http://interactive-pixels.net/), is a game of strategy and wit as you try to attack your neighbor's base (or cave depending on which age you're currently in), while defending your own. The game starts off in a prehistoric era and allows you to advance once you get enough experience points. You gather experience points based on how many kills you get and how well you manage your units. Each new age that you arrive at provides new units and improved defense weapons.

Age of War 2, improves upon the original Age of War by the introduction of several new features. Some of these features include new attack specials, upgradeable units, and improved visuals. The first game was very good and Age of War 2 is an excellent improvement.

I love Age of War 2 because despite its 2-dimensional simplicity, the game is pretty in-depth and very fun. The music is incredible and fitting, the level of strategy and action is very satisfying, and the simplistic joy of a really good playable game is priceless. There aren't really any negatives to speak of except maybe the lack of a 2-player mode. I'm not really worried about that however, since Menard, the game's creator, seems good at being creative with improvements, and will most likely include this or other neat features in a third version. After all, the game posts an 86 percentile approval rating on maxgames.com and has a decent following.

Overall, Age of War 2 is a fun and exciting game with plenty of units and additions from the first to keep you happy. I really enjoy the game's fun-factor and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing a third addition. I rate it a 10 out of 10.

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