Arcane Battlegrounds Review
+ Universal App
FREE! Buy now!

Arcane Battlegrounds Review

Our Review by Jennifer Allen on June 9th, 2014
Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: FORMULAIC BASE BUILDING
Share This:

It's not so much that Arcane Battlegrounds is a bad freemium base building game, it's just that it's one that's been done before. A lot.

Developer: Spacetime Studios
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar
Playtime Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Clash of Clans has proven to be (understandably) pretty popular. Why that means we need to encounter so many clones of such a format, I couldn't say. Arcane Battlegrounds is one such clone. It's the usual mixture of base building and attacking other bases. Sure, it's briefly satisfying but it's all been done before - and with more style.

Starting out with a small Kingdom, one must build things up to a substantial level to have any real chance of success. A careful balance of resource management, ensuring that one always has mana and gold at the ready, is vital here. Hiring troops is similarly useful, although don't expect to get attached to any of them given that they can only be used once in a battle before being wiped from play.

Arcane Battlegrounds offers up a fairly significant single player campaign to try to be a little different from the rest, but with no strong storyline to speak of it's mostly there for grinding resources in order to upgrade buildings. It's all pretty formulaic stuff and far from gripping. There's further structure through the series of quests to guide one's progress but, oddly, the only reward here is to be given a new quest to complete, rather than any monetary gain which would have been far preferable.

It's possible to form alliances with other players, which is something at least, but there's still that steady sense that one has played this title before. Similarly, the unlocking of new units and weaponry is useful but far from exciting.

Arcane Battlegrounds is a title that's been done frequently before, and while using the world of Arcane Legends might endear it to some players, but that doesn't make it a good game.

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 1 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 2 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 3 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 4 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 5

iPad Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 6 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 7 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 8 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 9 Arcane Battlegrounds screenshot 10
Share This: