RAD Soldiers is a multi-player focused, free-to-play, turn-based strategy game from Splash Damage, the British developers best known for creating Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory for the PC. Although it has very little in common with any other games Splash Damage has worked on, RAD Soldiers is a great package that puts its best foot forward and remains a fun experience on iOS, despite having some flaws.
The game presents the player with a cartoonish London landscape that is constantly peppered with crash-landing rockets that you and your band of odd bounty hunters feel compelled to capture. Of course, there are similarly-minded bounty hunters ready to fight you for control of the rocket, making the core gameplay of RAD Soldiers about having to strategically hold a perimeter while dispatching all those that dare oppose you.
Once in the game itself, players will be maneuver their squad around the map by using tap controls to perform any action in the game, whether it be using a special ability, attacking, or simply moving. Despite there being only one stated objective (mentioned above), players always have a second choice: Eliminate all enemies. Planning a strategy is crucial to completing either objective, and although the game seems relatively simple at first, there appears to be a hidden depth that can entertain and challenge players battle after battle. Even if experimenting with tactics doesn’t necessarily hook you, there is plenty to keep players coming back to the game. With a progressive unlock system that allows players to buy or unlock new weapons, outfits, abilities, and characters, RAD Soldiers creates an addictive feedback loop for players, regardless of whether they are perfecting their skills or just having some fun.
RAD Soldiers, though quite fun, is not without flaws. Unfortunately, the free-to-play model of the game led to some design decisions focused on trying to get players to spend money. More specifically, this means player progression is very slow for anyone unwilling to pay money for “RAD Bux,” one of the game’s two forms of in-game currency. Additionally, there is no way for non-paying players earn access to expansion packs; the only way to get this content is by paying for it. That being said, the game avoids being a pay-to-win model through the use of a “point system” which assigns values to units, weapons, and abilities and is used to ensure an even match between players online.
Although RAD Soldiers’ design can make progression feel like an endless grind, the core game itself is fun and interesting enough to keep players coming back for more. Fans of turn-based strategies should definitely download RAD Soldiers, and anyone with even a passing interest should check it out. It is free after all… for better or for worse.
The game presents the player with a cartoonish London landscape that is constantly peppered with crash-landing rockets that you and your band of odd bounty hunters feel compelled to capture. Of course, there are similarly-minded bounty hunters ready to fight you for control of the rocket, making the core gameplay of RAD Soldiers about having to strategically hold a perimeter while dispatching all those that dare oppose you.
Once in the game itself, players will be maneuver their squad around the map by using tap controls to perform any action in the game, whether it be using a special ability, attacking, or simply moving. Despite there being only one stated objective (mentioned above), players always have a second choice: Eliminate all enemies. Planning a strategy is crucial to completing either objective, and although the game seems relatively simple at first, there appears to be a hidden depth that can entertain and challenge players battle after battle. Even if experimenting with tactics doesn’t necessarily hook you, there is plenty to keep players coming back to the game. With a progressive unlock system that allows players to buy or unlock new weapons, outfits, abilities, and characters, RAD Soldiers creates an addictive feedback loop for players, regardless of whether they are perfecting their skills or just having some fun.
RAD Soldiers, though quite fun, is not without flaws. Unfortunately, the free-to-play model of the game led to some design decisions focused on trying to get players to spend money. More specifically, this means player progression is very slow for anyone unwilling to pay money for “RAD Bux,” one of the game’s two forms of in-game currency. Additionally, there is no way for non-paying players earn access to expansion packs; the only way to get this content is by paying for it. That being said, the game avoids being a pay-to-win model through the use of a “point system” which assigns values to units, weapons, and abilities and is used to ensure an even match between players online.
Although RAD Soldiers’ design can make progression feel like an endless grind, the core game itself is fun and interesting enough to keep players coming back for more. Fans of turn-based strategies should definitely download RAD Soldiers, and anyone with even a passing interest should check it out. It is free after all… for better or for worse.
