Games are evaluated in a certain context, and for better or worse that context often includes some form of judgement regarding price. In other words, a review includes a component which judges value, if for no other reason than to identify a particular game's main competitors. SunAge is a value title (with an expected price of $29.99 USD), and it's tempting to suggest that value titles should be reviewed with a bit of leeway regarding quality. But a budget-priced game should make concessions in scope of content and not quality of execution, and this axiom reveals the main fault of SunAge: the game is simply untested and unfinished. It is an ambitious project that grew beyond its means, and when development resources ran out, the build-of-the-day was pressed to disc and shipped to retailers. Even if the North American release features the patched version of the game, SunAge is still fundamentally a mess, and no degree of post-release support can excuse an early release.
Score: 45/100
Vertex 4 has revealed that it's working on a patch for Sunage, along with a demo for those people that are interested in buying but haven't had a chance to try out the game before they make a decision.
Incredibly buggy, packed with design flaws, seemingly a decade old... SunAge is a real-time strategy disaster.
The Good
* Atmospheric music.
The Bad
* Loaded with show-stopping bugs
* Deeply generic and dull game design
* No proper skirmish mode
* Worthless multiplayer
* Ancient visuals.
In a far distant future Earth is dying. Mankind retreats into sealed cities but a Cult spreads, delivering chaos. Our hero battles to protect his Federation and strike at the heart of the Cults creed. SunAge is a futuristic RTS where the player can experience 3 different races with each there arsenal of units, buildings and upgrades, taking place across 2 different worlds.
The reviewer Tom Baker's verdict:
"When I first started playing Sun Age, I felt a pang of nostalgia for the way games used to be, but it was quickly replaced by the feeling that this would have been a broken title even back then. Games have come a long way since WarCraft, and even though it may be tempting to take a stroll down memory lane, you'd likely be run over by this title. There is no sense in trying to recapture the experiences of previous games in a title that doesn't do quite it as well. Pick up StarCraft, WarCraft or Total Annihilation from the bargain bin at any game store - all of them are better than this title. It has its charm, but as a game that has been in development since the PS1 first came out, Sun Age is more old-fashioned than retro, and it just can't compete with recent RTS offerings."
