Finally got around to getting the game today and created my character-look for 'Reprobate' if you're already playing the game.
Battleforge is the latest game from Phenomic, now an EA studio. They have a long history of quirky RTS/RPG hybird games with the Spellforce series and they've returned to RTS hybrids with Battleforge, a quirky yet sublime dabble that is RTS fused with collectible card gaming, and some of the best elements of MMORPGs design.
First, let me get this out of the way because it is the main hangup people will have with the game if they aren't sure of it going in. The CCG trappings are all here, but unlike, say, Magic the Gathering all you need is one of a card (instead of, say, four) which makes dealing with the rares pretty painless. Once you get your one that's all you need provided you don't auction it later or trade it away. Only a few rares are really stong anyway, just like a few commons and uncommons are really strong too. I really wouldn't fret too much about this being a huge money sink, though if you want to be able to create, say, every possible combination it'll take some extra spacebucks. The game right off the bat gives you a TON of cards and you get 112 more with the activiation of a retail cd-key, so it's not like you are starting off with nothing.
It's also important to note that if you don't plan on playing the game in PvP that much, buying additional cards isn't needed, and there's a very beefy set of 1player and co-op missions you can do with just the cards you get when you activate your account.
One nice thing is that you can sell cards on the in-game auction house for the same spacebucks that you use to buy them in the first place. Having a market for cards basically makes trading easy-if you can't trade stragiht up, you can sell cards to buy the card you want since there is a currency. Works really well.
Also, compared to other online CCGs out there it's dirt cheap in comparison. And none of those other CCGs have the kind of RTS chops that Battleforge has.
I've only played a few of the solo "campaign" PvE scenarios and about eight ranked 1v1 games. What really jumped out at me was that this was a bit more of a hardcore RTS than I had given it credit for in my little time playing the beta. There's all sorts of nice high-level decisions that can happen (tech to tier 2 and save up resources to drop two fast T2 units right when it completes? or play it safe and build more equal-costing T1 units while my tech finishes, etc.). The maps are pretty darn great, and economies are usually pretty open to harassment as the game progresses. If anything the game actually makes me think of what would happen if you took Rise of Legends and trapped it in a room full of Magic the Gathering booster boxes.
Really happy with the 1v1 in the game. I've build a couple of decks-pure fire that's designed either for heavy fire dancer harass on maps with lots of ledges or air harass into fast T3 on open maps. I've got a nature deck that's all about units that "link" themselves together and plays a lot like a SC fast lurker build, and a frost/shadow deck that's just a rolling display of crazy imba. Completing a PvE mission gives you XP, gold, and upgrade "drops" which you can use to improve your cards along with the gold you got in the mission. Upgrades don't need any sort of actual real money to get, only new cards, and upgraded cards are marginally more powerful, making it a good goal to strive for in the game. There are also co-op missions for 2,4, and 10 players in the game, which feature multiple fronts, MMO-style bosses, and all-around team awesomeness. Each mission can be played at three levels of difficultly, with the highest level giving you better upgrade drops,XP, and gold.
I think the game is going to have some balance issues between the cards, but I'm really digging the way that new cards into the game are going to add to the metagame and the way that all the unit and ability combos will keep new flavor of the weeks coming and go. Since the game lets you basically mix and match colors for two-color decks (realisitcally) you get a game that focuses more on CCG-style card combos rather than RTS "sides", which is a neat mechanic and allows for a lot of creativity.
They also added in a CCG-style "sealed deck" feature that will allow players who don't want to commit completely with keeping up with all of the cards and combos to play in an environment where there's a strong degree of ingenuity and even luck. Very cool feature, and as a bonus the rewards are better for playing in this "tome" mode.
Really ace game. Not cheap-$50 and that's before you put any coin down for their spacebucks to buy new stuf you swing that way-but totally cool. There's even a sort of "sealed deck" PvP option where you take six boosters and make a deck out of the cards just from those boosters. I think in time that's going to get really popular if the game takes off. Right now in the game automatch times are really fast (like COH or AOE3 fast) so hopefully since it's essentially free to play once you pick it up people will keep playing.
There's a free demo of the game out there that I think starts you out with the basic starter decks and lets you play through some of the missions.
http://www.battleforge.com/portal/site/BattleForge/landingpageSo you can goof around a bit. If you decide to buy the full game you activate your account and get the battleforge points to buy some cards.
