Swords & Soldiers HD

Next up on my video game playlist was Swords & Soldiers HD. I expected to dabble with it a bit and then move on. It surprised me. Once I started the single player campaign, I felt compelled to finish it. The story was corny and nothing special. However, the gameplay was a lot of fun. Swords & Soldiers is a real-time strategy game set in a 2D side-scrolling world. You start on the left and your opponent is on the right. A typical mission involves a bit of back and forth battling until one side destroys the other's main base. You gather gold and purchase units and upgrades. You also cast spells to aid your units or hinder your opponent. The Viking campaign came first, followed by the Aztec and Chinese campaigns. There was also a Chief Meat campaign listed but I was unable to play it for some reason. After completing the China campaign, it did not unlock as I expected. Regardless, I enjoyed the thirty missions comprising the first three campaigns. After the campaigns, I played some skirmishes and several challenges. The developers released a sequel several years later. Based on numerous user reviews I read, Swords & Soldiers 2 has much improved graphics but the gameplay is not as fun as the original. This one was short and sweet and quite enjoyable.