Conquest 3 Kingdoms
This is a side scrolling beat ‘em up like Streets of Rage or Golden Axe, but the crude graphics are more akin to Double Dragon. You control a legendary Chinese fighter with an onscreen d-pad and a single attack button. The aim is simple: go through the levels and slash the hell out of everything you see! Every stage has a simple, common and hard difficulty mode and after completing the stage you’re ranked out of 5 stars based on your performance.
Conquest 3 Kingdoms (C3K) Mobile is the best Massively Multiplayer Online Simulation Game (MMO-SLG) with 3 Kingdoms background story. Set your own strategy, conquer all the Kingdoms and become the greatest General in C3K.
One of the game’s most obvious issues is that it tries to cram the equivalent of a full-blown RPG overlay onto the relatively tiny display of handheld devices. On a 4.3-inch screen, everything is barely visible, which can make keeping up with the action a bit of a chore when the swords start swinging and the spells start flying. The small size makes controlling the game a bit of a problem as well; the basic movement and attack controls are alright, but access to more advanced commands or dedicated magic buttons can be tricky, especially in the heat of battle.
And while they’re functional, the movement controls aren’t a vast improvement by any stretch. Your character is directed on his journey by four buttons – up, down, left, right – which offers a very limited degree of control. By laying the controls over the playing field, Conquer 3 Kingdoms makes it very easy to move the action directly below your thumbs, which (unless your thumbs are invisible)means you won’t be able to see what you’re doing. Lift your digits to have a look? You’ll stop moving or swinging, making it easy for one of the baddies to take a poke at you.
Although the game description says this is an Adventure RPG, its not entirely clear where the “adventure” part comes in. But there are some RPG elements with character levels, inventory and skill points. Unfortunately we weren’t able to confirm if the other characters were any good because we didn’t have enough diamonds in this free game.
On this note, we should make it really clear that to play this game you need to get the diamonds from downloading the other games on their advert list. So it is “free” to an extent, but we’d classify it more as a short demo rather than a playable free game. Once you have the diamonds you can buy stages, characters and upgrades… buying stages one by one is a new feeling and makes me wonder why I’ve never experienced it before… probably because it really stinks.
To add to the special game feel there’s poor text translation meaning that humorous spelling and grammar mistakes are littered throughout. You have to forgive the developers since English clearly isn’t their first language.
Fortunately, they don’t always seem inclined to do so. In the finest tradition of classic kung-fu movies, enemies in Conquer 3 Kingdoms will often hover around the periphery of the screen, more or less ignoring you as long as you don’t venture too close to them. The downside to this is that sometimes they’ll skulk mostly (or even completely) outside the boundaries the screen, hidden in the netherworld that exists outside your phone; accordingly, you won’t even know they’re there until you try to walk somewhere else to have them steal upon you!
Music and Sound Effects: There are two versions of Conquer 3 Kingdoms out there. Only the one labelled “deluxe” has any sound for us (maybe you need to buy for the sound in the other one??). When you’re able to get the full experience then you’re greeted with pretty good majestic war music. It’s very upbeat and gets your blood pumping ready for the hack and slash mood.
Graphics: The theming and stylisation is probably what most people nowadays would recognise as Dynasty Warriors (though there are thousands of three Kingdom type games out in China). The pixelated sprites are somewhere between Double Dragon and Streets of Rage so it’s quite nostalgic for our review team. Overall the special moves are very snazzy looking and you do feel like destroying everyone and everything.
Controls: You’ve got a D-pad and an attack button. There are only 4 directions on the D-pad, so you can’t move diagonally! This is where Bomberman vs Zombie’s relative D-pad would be awesome, or at least if there were 8 directions available then you could move more fluidly. Just in case the limited movement wasn’t enough to annoy you, the buttons for the D-pad are only sensitive on the tips of the arrows. This means that sometimes you can’t always slide your thumb to move the character without him stopping briefly.
On the plus side, LeTang follows through on part of their promise. This is certainly a big game, with 36 areas to explore and 16 playable characters of differing abilities. That is, sixteen potentially playble characters. Outside of “Guan Yu,” available at the start, the rest of your roster must be unlocked with “diamonds,” the in-game currency. There are a number of “tasks” to complete, like killing a given number of enemies or honing certain abilities,but everything seems to earn you skill points, leaving diamonds frustratingly out of reach.
So yes, although Conquer 3 Kingdoms is “freemium,” many of the more powerful and advanced (read: enjoyable) features must be purchased. What’s even more odd, I can’t seem to figure out any way to actually buy the diamonds needed to access them. Options for earning diamonds by signing up for other games and services, like eHarmony, Netflix or Big Fish, are readily available, but I can’t find any way to actually give these guys money.
AI Opponents: I grew up with these kinds of beat ‘em up games because they used to be very common and fun to play. Some of my favourites include: Final Fight, Captain Commando, X-Men, Captain America and The Avengers, The Simpsons, TMNT… I could go on all day (and yes I did spend far too much time in the Arcades!). I’ve never really associated any computer intelligence or complexity with the AI in these games, but actually it’s crucially important. In Conquer 3 Kingdoms, the enemies are numbskulls and generally stand around waiting for their turn to be slashed. What happened to the AI patterns and methods which appeared years ago in games like Final Fight?
Freemium Games: LeTang have a bizarre Freemium setup whereby you need to buy pretty much everything. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that people need to make money for a living, but there are tasteful ways of doing things. If players spend time with your game then surely they should be rewarded with diamonds for free in order to keep them playing. They at least left that avenue open with their Raiden game. Unfortunately, it seems that the only way of getting diamonds here is by downloading other games.
Rating: 2.5/5 All the elements of a great game are here, but the game is let down by the unpolished control interface. The graphics are perfect for those who enjoy a bit of classic gaming. The whole Freemium diamond setup is a bit of a farce, but if you just download some games then you’ll be able to enjoy some of the other stages they have locked away.
As you make your way through the game, the excitement of finding new and better weaponry is tempered by the distressing number of them that can only be used by a particular character, once more driving you in the direction of the game’s premium, mysterious diamonds. And while Conquer 3 Kingdoms does support character growth, as all RPGs do, points are applied automatically to health, magic, attack and defense skills. You’re not actually playing a role, in other words, you’re just pushing buttons and letting the computer do all the thinking. Even the RPG components have taken on the qualities of button-mashing brawlers.
Conquer 3 Kingdoms Tips from Android Games Review:
Stay in the mid ground and avoid the bottom left and bottom right where dead zones are effectively present under your thumbs.
Since movement is slightly restricted then consider buying the eagle which will automatically pick up items for you. (Thus reducing the need for you to run into any danger.)
How to get diamonds: Press the “FREE” diamonds button and download games from the list. Be careful though, if you’ve downloaded the game already then this might not work. I’ve always found this process to be really flaky, so go for the easy downloads and try not to signup with anything as there’s no guarantee you’re be rewarded with diamonds.
How to beat the enemy easily: The trick is to understand that although hitting the enemy with the combo slashes looks cool, usually it’ll move you out of position and also leave you exposed briefly after you’ve completed your attack. So instead of doing combo slashes all the time, pause briefly after tapping the attack button. This intermittent controlled attack doesn’t put you in a vulnerable position, and the enemy can be drained down to zero faster without waiting for them to get up from the floor.
Capping the experience is the half-baked translation from its native Chinese to English, which isn’t disastrous but is most definitely distracting. Your inventory is your “Porperty,” explanations of your various tasks are found in the “Task Describe” section of the screen and the occasional bits of dialogue have all the smooth-flowing, easy English of early 60s Godzilla flicks. Sound is an issue too, in that there is none; the game offers an option to turn “music” on or off but regardless of what I picked, the whole thing played out in complete silence.
Perhaps that was for the best however. Even a small amount of time alone with your thoughts, and you’ll come to your senses on this one.Conquer 3 Kingdoms isn’t the worst game ever, but it’s barely what I’d call enjoyable. With so many better options on the market, I can’t imagine why you’d want to spend very much time with this one.
•Manage your Kingdoms•
Build and expand your cities, increase your wealth, repel all the enemies that threaten your kingdom!
•Live the Story•
Became a part of history! Finish scenario quests that are based on historical events from the Three Kingdoms era, pitting yourself against many legendary characters such as Guan Yu, Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang even Lu Bu along the way!
•ENDLESS WAR•
Enemies can attack your kingdom 24/7! So be prepared to protect your kingdom at all times!
•Godly Equipment•
Collect unique and exotic equipment based on mythological creatures such as Phoenix, Dragon or Tortoise, each with its own special powers!
•Became the EMPEROR•
Think you got what it takes to become an emperor? Then prove your might, conquer all Three Kingdoms and make your kingdom the strongest of them all!
•Legendary Generals!•
Recruit Legendary Generals from the Three Kingdoms era to lead your army! Use their mighty skills and plow your road to victory!
•VOICE CHAT!•
Use voice chat to plan your strategies with other players in your Kingdom! Don't let your enemies know your
strategies and get the upper hand!
Choose your own destiny between SHU, WU, and WEI. Once you have chosen your Nation, there’s no way to go back! Protect and fight for the sake of your Kingdom!
Enemies and traitors will seek for chance to destroy your Kingdom anytime when you’re unguarded. Prepare and feel most thrilling and challenging Never Ending War ever made in MMO-SLG game history!
Recruit all the greatest Generals in 3 Kingdoms history and defeat all your enemy with your own tactical and strategy formation!
Join and complete different Kingdoms mission everyday! Upgrade your Nation, become the biggest and most successful Kingdoms in C3K History!
Hundreds of events and features waiting for you! Gather the entire resource available, collect and upgrade your troops, equipments, weapons and many more! So, what are you waiting for?! Come and fulfill your destiny as the Greatest General in C3K!
