“Use ninjas, witches, archers, vikings, samurai, and a slew of other units to destroy your opponent’s capitol and make yourself the superior season! You will have to conquer spires and golems as you battle and make them your own. Design custom maps, possess units for special abilities and auras, and discover all the secrets!”
Seth Ringling’s strategy title substitutes mystical and historical classes in place of galactic marines and aliens, but the basic goal remains the same: destroy the opponent’s base. Instead of a space opera narrated by the wars of humans and extraterrestrials, Four Corners’ tale is that of a free-for-all amongst the seasons as they engage in skirmishes via agents that just stepped out of an episode of Deadliest Warrior. Albeit odd, at least it’s a new story.
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Players of certain FPS or MMORPG titles might appreciate the domination-style feature that Four Corners adds to the RTS template. Players have the option of spawning seasonal essences that march toward the map’s spires, and once enough of these units have Infiltrated a spire in your name, you’ll begin earning extra resources. As a secondary raison d’être, these special forces may instead be sent to Possess golems, putting the reigns of these powerful beings in your hands.
The various other units can be instructed to take up Assault, Guard, or Suicide roles. Assault units will mount an offensive, attacking enemy forces. Guard units will defend the player’s own starting point. Suicide units will rush headlong towards the other faction’s camp, ignoring everything else in an attempt to destroy the opposing control center.
With a fairly novel story (that seems to get more attention than the instructions) and a few means of attack at your disposal, this title could have been great if not for a few oversights. The scant instructions are one drawback, but there’s a genre-specific flaw that seems to be a pretty big mistake. Only one unit can be built at a time. Though this mandate could be in place due to the player encampment serving as the command center, it’s still peculiar that a string of personnel requests can’t be entered and fulfilled, provided the player commands sufficient resources. There’s no music, which is another puzzling aspect of this game. Most titles tend to have at least a tolerable underlying background theme, typically set to loop, but Four Corners has no music at all.
The Wintern Empire, the Summerean Kingdom, the Spri’Jing Dynasty, and the Autumnic Gathering all await your command in Four Corners. Though there’s the capacity for two-player battling, the lack of sufficient instructions may call for a little solo play for each player before engaging in this mode. At 80 :MSPoints:, this RTS entry in the XBLIG category is a good game; with a bit of retooling, it could have been great.
You can find more information on Four Corners on the Marketplace.
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