PixlBit

Mushroom Wars is the seventh PSN game that Creat Studios has released this year, and while I can't say much about their previous efforts, I can say that Mushroom Wars is fantastic. It is an easy-to-pick-up real-time strategy game with an adorable aesthetic and a good deal of content. However, it is not without its flaws, as there is a curious lack of anything online-related outside of leaderboards and the controls have some issues.

The game puts you in command of little creatures that are in the midst of a large war and must fight for possession of structures, including villages, the basic areas where your warriors spawn; forges that give you attack boosts; and towers, which shoot out ranged attacks in a limited radius. The art style is adorable, and the sounds that the characters emit are cute. The music is playful and memorable.

Controlling your troops is simple. You select different structures with the analog stick, hold the R1 button and point to whatever structure you want to send troops to, and then press a face button and send off 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of your troops off to the area. Problems only arise when the screen gets more populated and you find yourself frantically switching between each of your structures and oftentimes accidentally sending people to the wrong one, which can screw you over in the heat of battle.

You can also upgrade your structures to make them more powerful and your troops more effective. Additionally, as you successfully attack your opponent or defend your ground, you get morale boosts that make your fungi soldiers stronger.

There are two main modes: Campaign and Skirmish. Campaign takes you through 25 missions with different goals ranging from destroying the enemy or collecting specific structures. Skirmish features more than 10 maps where you can wage war with up to three opponents in three different game types: Conquest, Domination, and King of the Hill. There are also three difficulty levels (easy, normal, and hard), with the easiest level giving the player a lot of help, such as pointing out when a base is going to be under attack and showing how many enemies are residing in a structure.

There is also a local multiplayer component where you can battle against a friend in the two-player Skirmish maps. This is fun, but it's a tease of how the multiplayer could've been bolstered by four-player battles or online compatibility. The only online component available is online leaderboards.

Even when you're just playing by yourself, Mushroom Wars is still a simple yet awesome real-time strategy game. It is loads of fun and very addictive. While it does have its issues, namely the difficulty of the controls in tense situations, this game is delightful and well deserving of a purchase for any fan of the real-time strategy genre.