Developer Vile Monarch and publisher Gambitious, last seen dropping the well-received indie game Oh…Sir!, have come together again for Crush Your Enemies. It's a violent, foul-mouthed, somewhat offensive RTS about creating hordes of barbarians to throw at other hordes of barbarians to complete specific goals—and it might be one of the best indie games of the summer.
Real-time strategy games come and go, with simple ones often being a quick and easy way to get a game out there, especially on the mobile market. Crush Your Enemies is a breath of fresh air in the genre. From the gate, it's clear an amount of effort has been put into the game; while the graphics aren't flashy and the character portraits aren't animated, the game looks and sounds solid enough. Where it shines is its writing and gameplay. Players take control of loveable barbarian Grog on his conquest to crush his enemies (which may or may not include a giant snail).
Groups of up to 50 barbarians can be sent around a field, which will change colours depending on which team controls it. Sending them to specific buildings can change their type, so regular fighters can become better fighters, or archers, or shield-carriers. Each type has advantages and disadvantages to others, which is where strategy comes in. It's not simply a matter of throwing more men at a task; players will have to be able to think and adapt their strategy on the fly. In between missions, the story unfolds, with the foul-mouthed Grog and his son Fuzgut trading jabs with friends and enemies alike. The biggest flaw is probably its length, with the tutorial lasting well over halfway through the first of the game's two campaigns, but a player vs. player multiplayer mode should add plenty of replay value.
