Julian Gollop's latest gem is not XCOM and is out now: Chaos Reborn Adventures

Originally published at: http://statelyplay.com/2018/09/13/julian-gollops-latest-gem-is-not-xcom-and-is-out-now-chaos-reborn-adventures/

iOS Universal, Android •


The wonderful folk in our forums directed me to some questionable reviews posted on the just released mobile strategy title Chaos Reborn: Adventures. One of them gives the game one star on the sole basis that Julian Gollop, the creator of the original XCOM, created this game and it’s nothing like XCOM. I found this funny as hell because we usually criticize when creators keep redoing the same thing over and over but now Chaos Reborn is being flogged because it’s not just like another game that the designer created 23 years ago. What’s even better is that Chaos Reborn: Adventures is actually a remake of a game that Julian Gollop designed well before the idea of cryssalids ever entered his brain. Anyway, I’m rambling here. The major point to take from all this is that Chaos Reborn: Adventures is now available for both iOS and Android.

Chaos Reborn was a remake/sequel of a 1985 game designed by Gollop called Chaos: The Battle of Wizards and was released on Steam back in 2015. Chaos Reborn: Adventures was developed by Big Blue Bubble and seems to take everything from the big-screen version and squish it down to fit on our touchscreens. Players play battling wizards using cards to cast spells and place their summoned creations on a hex grid where they can battle it out, chess-style.

You may be able to tell from my description that I haven’t played either the 1895 original or the 2015 reboot, and I haven’t had time to play the new mobile version either. I could be all wet on their similarities, but just reading descriptions and looking at screenshots I’m sticking to my story. For a better description let’s blurb it out:

From the creator of X-COM [even though it's nothing like X-COM -ed.], Chaos Reborn has arrived on your mobile device with Chaos Reborn: Adventures!

Defeat magical wizards in tactical turn-based combat in this spellcasting strategy RPG! Chaos Reborn: Adventures combines RPG-style turn-based combat with the tactical positioning of chess and the bluff of poker to create an entirely unique strategy game. Customize your wizard with 100s of gear items, spells, and mythical creatures to secure victory!

Battle your friends in a head-to-head competitive multiplayer mode, or try your hand at a robust single-player narrative campaign as you discover a complex tale of warring wizard factions, mystical realms, and supernatural forces. The choice is yours!

 

FEATURES
• Tactical turn-based combat
• Competitive multiplayer
• Challenging single-player campaign
• Gorgeous 3D graphics
• Deep and enthralling lore


It sounds a bit like Magic: The Gathering without the billions of cards and brain-burning deck building. I’m in and, if early reviews are accurate, I’ll be staying for a long time. There’s a campaign for solo play as well as online multiplayer once you wrap your head around the card-based combat not to mention the “deep and enthralling lore”.

The game is $10 for iOS Universal and Android but it’s a purely premium title with no IAP in sight. At least not in my first pass through the app which, thankfully, contains a multi-chapter tutorial for newbs like me.

https://youtu.be/FdJVnhT5R-o
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I’m definitely intrigued, but $10 keeps this from being an impulse buy. Looking forward to hearing impressions from all of you, though.

I enjoyed what I played of Reborn on Steam, but lost interest in it fairly quickly; I’ve picked it up again now that I can try playing it on my phone, though. (One word of warning: you need to be connected to the Internet the first time you fire it up, even to then be able to access the offline modes. Wish I’d known that before trying to play it on my train journey to work.)

a 9/10 review on pocketgamer suggests it to be “without a doubt the best turn-based strategy game you can get for your phone or tablet.”

It is certainly a glowing review, but it doesn’t really tell you anything about the game.

Reviewers, man … nine of 10 are an unforgivable drain on the world’s oxygen.

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yup, pocketgamer is definitely not Stately Play :wink:

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Yeah, we don’t do reviews! (I’m sorry about that…I’m really trying but am just not finding enough time to play new games enough to feel confident writing a full review. Still hoping I can get my shit together soon)

For Classic battles (in Law or Chaos Mode) every wizard uses a standard staff and bodygear (on the PC it is the same staff and bodygear so I assume that also applies to mobile as it is the same game/code). For Equipped (Law or Chaos) battles every wizard chooses equipment and talismans that they have gained in the game or bought from the shop.

You pick alignments for your wizard in the Single Player Campaign.

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maybe pocketgamer is fishing lots of small ones with nets at the surface, but SP goes down deep to bring the heavy pounders to the feast.
substance wins over mass appeal.

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6 player async you say?

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:flushed:

in teams and/or each on his own. really?

Still in the tutorial, but I like what I see till now.

Whoa, what? Not that I’m doubting @Snotty128 but can anyone else confirm this and expound?

According to this screenshot I just did make, you can battle up to 6 persons. Teams are possible. Sync and asynchronous.

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Invites are possible.

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wow!
WOW!
WOW!

How is one player differentiated from another? Are there different wizards to pick when starting a game? Or does everyone have the same creatures/spells?

Well now. Looks like it might be worth 10 of your Earth dollars.

For Classic battles (in Law or Chaos Mode) every wizard uses a standard staff and bodygear (on the PC it is the same staff and bodygear so I assume that also applies to mobile as it is the same game/code). For Equipped (Law or Chaos) battles every wizard chooses equipment and talismans that they have gained in the game or bought from the shop.

You pick alignments for your wizard in the Single Player Campaign.