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Recently, the pantheon of real-time strategy games has seen a resurgence. Whether in the form of new ones or classic titles getting a remake, the RTS resurrection is a fact. Fortunately, the rise of these games is continuing. The next to join the fray is Battle Aces, and after a short hands-on preview, I was instantly allured. Even if it abandons some of the genre’s staples in favor of fast-paced matches, it never loses the essence of an RTS. Instead, it provides frenzied fun that will put your management skills to the test.
Skipping the Micro-Management Part
Whether you’re an RTS fan or not, you should know that certain staples never escape the genre. Regardless of what type of art style, lore, or graphical updates you throw into a real-time strategy game, the mold remains practically untouched. Fortunately, Battle Aces leaves a classic comfort zone to take the player straight into the action.
Initially, I was skeptical about it. “How much can a genre bend before losing its roots?” It was one of my first questions. After all, the shift to something more fast-paced is quite the change. We’re used to that slow burn of RTS games. Slowly amassing an army, managing your resources with surgical precisions to advance your tech tiers, or creating the perfect layout for your village—all of them play a considerable role. So, what happens when you remove some of them? Does it still work as an RTS? In short, yes, and it works perfectly.
After a brief presentation with the game’s Senior Director, David Kim, my hands-on time with Battle Aces began, and, oh boy, it was terrific. Since I’m not one to flex my RTS skills, I decided to do the quick tutorial. You begin with a quick explanation of some of the units you can create and the rock-paper-scissors-like system. Small units defeat Anti-big units, Anti-big defeats Big, etc. Naturally, I felt confident and jumped straight into the new 2vAI mode since I didn’t feel like facing other attendees yet—we got obliterated.
Since I was expecting that slow-burn phase, I took my time reading every tooltip and waiting for my partner to spawn a few units. Frankly, I was trying to mirror them as I was nervous during the first match. So, I left my resources accrue and created the same machines as them. In a matter of minutes, the AI destroyed our cores. Thus, I put on my serious gamer face and queued again for another match. This time, I would not take my time. Instead, I’d spam my keys to spawn as many mechanics as I could. Lo and behold, my robotic army was ready. And guess what? We lost, too. At that moment, I realized that I had slept on the game’s best feature: the mech deck-building.
The Nuts and Bolts of Deck-Building
One amazing aspect of Battle Aces, and my favorite feature of the preview, was the ability to assemble a deck of machines. In other RTS games, while you can unlock certain tech to create specific units, most of them are predetermined. Here, Battle Aces introduces a unique mech deck-building feature that gives you free reins to bring whatever machine you want to the fight, adding a new layer of strategy and excitement.
Before a match starts, you can go into deck-building mode and assemble your perfect team. You have a few rows that let you pick between different tactical drones. For example, the starter row allows you to swap your cheap missile bots for even cheaper yet weaker drones. By doing so, you’ll be able to build units faster at the cost of losing some DPS potential. The same applies to different rows. Do you want to keep your slow-moving but hard-hitting Ballista drone around, or do you want to swap it for a faster but weaker bot? It’s up to you.
Frankly, this was my favorite feature in the game for two main reasons: player agency and off-field strategy. It is exciting to take your time to build a perfect deck before entering a match. In a way, you’re making sure your opponents don’t know what you’re bringing. And yes, while I already feel there will be a clear winning meta, everyone’s experience will differ. Still, it is nice that you and other players have to constantly adapt in every match. Also, it adds an element of a surprise other RTS games have lost by having predetermined units, techs, etc.
The Moment-to-Moment Encounters
Now, let’s move on to what matters: the hands-on gameplay you can expect. As I mentioned before, Battle Aces is all about fast-paced, and it made that clear during this short preview. As soon as a match begins, your resources start accruing, and you can build resource towers to increase the speed at which they are gathered. Once you have enough materials, you can develop drones or facilities that unlock even better units. While that is the overall gameplay loop, there’s much more to it once you learn the ropes.
Previously, I mentioned the rock-paper-scissors system in Battle Aces. This plays a huge part during the first few minutes. If you only brought a deck with starting drones that are weak against everything in your enemy’s retinue, you’re done for. That applies to the mid-game and late-game portions of a match, which aren’t long as each encounter lasted around 10 to 15 minutes, depending on who I played against.
For example, once you have built and upgraded facilities, you can start mixing and matching your drones. You might want to make an army full of giant mechs or a swarm-like entourage full of tiny machines. Regardless, it is crucial to test the waters first before sending your best machines to the front. You might play your cards early and lose your winning hand.
Also, the gameplay isn’t limited to one’s core or main base. Each time you build a new resource tower, this facility will appear on the map. You have to watch for attackers as they might ruin your main source of material income, thus affecting your run. Also, the fog of war is constantly present during the match, so you need to be careful with how far and wide you expand across the battlefield.
An Ace in the RTS Hole
As the preview reached its end, I was satisfied with everything Battle Aces had. It was great to see so many familiar elements but streamlined in a way that can offer you a quick match without removing the RTS rush we all love. Furthermore, I never expected to have such an in-depth deck-building system in a real-time strategy game. It was a game-changer.
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait for more beta tests and the official launch. However, the road looks pretty promising right now. All the mechs are fun to use and even have active abilities you can enable during battle. Also, the fast-paced matches are an excellent decision, as they can provide players with that short dopamine rush of mowing down an enemy army. Hopefully, Battle Aces won’t take long to launch because I can’t wait to deploy my drones into this small yet chaotic arena.
