Etherium

 PC
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 19
  3. Negative: 3 out of 19
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    May 12, 2015
    40
    RTS lovers will be satisfied as long as they are the encyclopedic fans only. Repetitiveness of the campaigns, soulless environment and a weird interface make this game extremely boring and odd. [Issue#252]
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  2. Games.cz
    Apr 23, 2015
    40
    Although Etherium is a complex strategy, its tactical fights are boring and global section is trivial. The repetitive nature of the game undermines any other effort, so eventually you will again reach for its obvious inspiration called Empire at War.
  3. Quarter to Three
    Mar 31, 2015
    40
    Since there’s no way to play the campaign multiplayer, you’re stuck beating up the sad confused AI players in space, while falling prey to its ruthless efficiency planetside.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 27
  3. Negative: 8 out of 27
  1. suneater
    Apr 25, 2015
    1
    Have you played an RTS within the past 10 years? Then you probably have seen everything worth seeing in Etherium already. The biggest issueHave you played an RTS within the past 10 years? Then you probably have seen everything worth seeing in Etherium already. The biggest issue with RTS games nowadays (and other "dead genres" being "revived" lately) is that they try to get away with being just "good enough". There is nothing groundbreaking, nothing creative or inventive, no new game design ideas present here and, despite having its release pushed back multiple times, feels like instant bargain bin fodder during a genre drought.

    Outside of the mandatory multiplayer, you have a campaign with convoluted rules (with each side having their own secondary victory conditions) and a skirmish mode. The campaign is very frustrating because of simple oversights, like not being able to save during your opponent's turns and a star system UI that doesn't provide enough information. I spent easily almost two hours defending my territories during opponent's turns simply because quitting the game meant restarting the opponent's turn. This is of course on top of all the issues present in the actual gameplay...

    ...of which there is little to mention. The main objective (and single game mode) is to either destroy the other player's main base or deplete their tickets by bombarding their mothership with turrets high in the tech tree. Regions of territory are strictly defined and can have only one base inside for adding upgrades onto. The problem with the territories having a fixed size is that smaller territories only allow smaller bases. This creates claustrophobic maps, with clearly defined chokepoints that force you down a corridor to your opponent's base. Most of my campaign victories were from converting the neutral factions on the map and attack-moving them into the enemy's main base.

    The absolute bare minimum went into Etherium's factions and their unit design. Units for each race have creative names like Standard Infantry, Siege Vehicle, and Bomber. Races share all the same units (!) with each having only 4 unique units. This might be acceptable in a turn-based strategy game where you have 20+ factions or dozens of units, but here you only have about 6 different units for each unit type. Each race also shares 3 of their 6 faction skills, similar to Dawn of War's faction ability system. Everything about the races just feels very cut-and-pasted and bland and makes me wonder why this game's release was pushed back multiple times.

    I am ashamed to have fallen for the hype for this game. If you are thirsty for a good (or great or amazing, whatever) RTS, then revisit an old one instead of wasting money on this. This game couldn't be any blander or generic if it tried. If a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter could eventually type out the complete works of William Shakespeare, then this game is proof that they can code a video game too.    … Full Review »
  2. Faust-RSI
    Apr 1, 2015
    9
    I gave it 9 despite I'm not too far into this game. But I'm really fond of its ideas. It's not too strong graphically (especially talkingI gave it 9 despite I'm not too far into this game. But I'm really fond of its ideas. It's not too strong graphically (especially talking about unit models), but does it matter for an RTS? Personally, I discovered many new aspects of the genre, and mostly in terms of economics and technology development that are strongly dependent on territory control and force you to constantly seek and count the balance of defence, attack, technology and some smaller nice nuances. Besides, for the sole ability to look into the sky of the battlefield I couldn't give this game a low score!… Full Review »
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