4 Kingdoms Review
iPad App
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4 Kingdoms Review

Our Review by Campbell Bird on May 24th, 2013
Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar :: YET ANOTHER KINGDOM GAME
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4 Kingdoms offers familiar menu-based, freemium management gameplay with a fresh coat of cosmetic paint.

Developer: li hao
Price: FREE
Version: 1.1.2
App Reviewed on: iPad

Graphics / Sound Rating: Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar
Game Controls Rating: Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar

4 Kingdoms is a freemium management sim that has players building their own kingdoms by completing quests and gathering resources. Much like many games that have come before it, the hooks in this game are based on using multiple forms of currency and using various cooldown timers so that players always have something to look forward to. There really isn't much that differentiates 4 Kingdoms from these games beyond its art style, but the game is perfectly playable and seems capable of holding the attention of anyone that has not already had their fill of this style of game.

In 4 Kingdoms, players will choose their character portrait and starting location, and are then led through a series of tutorialized quests that introduce the players to some of the core game concepts. The unfortunate thing about this tutorial is that all the text that explains the game has a formatting issue where line breaks are determined by letter rather than by word, making everything pretty difficult to read. This problem carries throughout all in game text, including chat windows, making reading in the world of 4 Kingdoms harder than it needs to be.

Beyond the text issue, 4 Kingdoms will task players with upgrading their kingdom's buildings, fighting NPC enemies, building defenses, and gathering resources, among other things. Much like every other game in this genre, there is very little animation or actual gameplay surrounding these tasks either, with every action laid out in menu form. To vary up the experience a bit, though, 4 Kingdoms does allow players to expand and build multiple cities after reaching a specific level, but that just results in doubling the number of tasks rather than adding new gameplay elements.

Overall, 4 Kingdoms doesn't really bring anything new this genre of menu-laden management games. The game is a bunch of systems and mechanics that lead to nothing but progress for the sake of progress. If you've already had enough of this genre, then steer clear.

iPad Screenshots

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4 Kingdoms HD screenshot 1 4 Kingdoms HD screenshot 2 4 Kingdoms HD screenshot 3 4 Kingdoms HD screenshot 4 4 Kingdoms HD screenshot 5
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