Diverse and Fun, Yet Complex

Artifact, the name implies the meaning and goal of the game, which is to discover ancient artifacts then do your best to hold them for a required amount of time. This sounds much easier than it actually is.

You begin the game on a random spot upon an unexplored world with a single settler unit, and some scouts. The quantity of each unit is determined by the game rules, which varies with each new game. You then search for a suitable spot, and create a town with the hopes of growing and living to the next day. This is where Artifact starts to become complex. Not only must you build quickly, but also you must build the correct buildings at the right times otherwise your city could become unproductive and fall into chaos.

Artifact has 13 building types to choose from, each with its own usefulness. There are buildings for construction of military units, as well as for the production of food. Each building can be micro-managed which is needed to gain the maximum efficiency from your city. The resources gained from the facilities are needed to produce more facilities as well as military units. So, an understanding each facility and its purpose is very important in creating a thriving empire and a powerful military.

The game contains 10 military unit types ( 8 land and 2 water ). Each unit has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some are deployed to scout out new territories, while others are needed for defensive and offensive assaults. The rule for military is usually safety in numbers, and it is quite easy to amass a large army in just a day. This is dependent upon the dynamic rules of the game.

The world and rules are randomly generated each game, which adds diversity and gives the game good replay value, which is very important for multiplayer games. The rules can be anything from 4 artifacts must be held and defended simultaneously for 1 hour, to 10 artifacts must be held and defended for 24 hours simultaneously in order for the game to be won. Also contained within the rules are the amounts of population your city will begin with, to the amounts of resources produced by your buildings. Players are also given a limited number of restarts for each game.

The worlds may appear small, but I found they are actually quite large when you begin to search for other cities and of course the much-desired artifacts. It would take many hours to explore every spot upon the map, which reduces the time-spent fine-tuning your facilities for optimal production. Granted, a player must know his surroundings, but they must also have the ability to produce the units needed for conquest, this of course is a trade off between exploration and production. In order to succeed, a player must become efficient with the time they spend in the game, since players are limited to a certain amount of time in each game dependent upon the type of member they are.

The game is played in real-time, with time restrictions given to players based upon what kind of account they have. There are also restrictions upon how many games a player can partake in, which is based on the kind of account as well. There are 7 total account types, ranging from the Free account (3 hours a day in a total of 2 games) to the full access account (unlimited time in a total of 12 games), which also requires a pay account of some type. All accounts besides free and unlimited are on the one-time payment plan that is something many players seem to prefer when paying to play.

The interface is adequate, but could use some enhancement mainly in reducing the amount of menus to go through. There are hotkeys assigned for the most popular commands that players use, this is a big plus and most players will learn these quickly to reduce repetitive mouse clicks. The interface also seems a bit cluttered, but I don't really believe much can be done about this since there are so many commands available to players for command of their empires. Players view the world from a top down bird's eye view. Another good feature is the ability to zoom in and out of the main map, as well as moving the view around the map more quickly via the mini-map. The mini-map is also very useful for quickly relocating previous marked spots or known locations of artifacts.

The graphics are nothing spectacular, but are more than adequate. The game also contains simple sounds that let you know when something occurs, or what type of building you have selected.

The people whom you wage war with or against are for the most part friendly, and helpful when you request it. This is especially true if they are an in game ally, or a fellow member of a clan. Samu Games did a nice job of incorporating clans into this game. I also enjoyed joining alliances to work together with others trying to collect the artifacts and annihilate the opposition. The only downside to the game's community is the experienced players that join the beginner type games only wanting some easy competition. This doesn't do much to help the game gain new players (and potential paying customers), but thankfully the helpful players can offset this.

Overall I found Artifact to be a complex and diverse strategy game, which is quite a bit of fun. Starting out is made easier when you read through the help files, which are extremely detailed and outline all major aspects of the game well, to find out the uses for each unit and building type. Some people dislike the complexities micro-management, and if you are one of these people you may want to look elsewhere. But if you're the type of person that loves to fight the best A.I. there is (other players) and control all aspects of your empire upon randomly generated worlds with random rules to follow, then this game is for you.