Path of War

Path of War Review

By, Herman Y.

Path of War is a free-to-play, strategy war game developed by Envision Entertainment, the company behind Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, and published by Nexon, the huge game publisher behind the mobile games, DomiNations and Mabinogi Duel. After the huge success of DomiNations which garnered over 17 million downloads in less than a year, Nexon is back with yet another strategy game in 2016. Path of War is essentially a city/base building strategy game like Clash of Clans with some slight differences, and with a heavier focus on PVE. Despite being developed by Envision Entertainment, the spiritual successor of EA Phenomic, Path of War is, unfortunately, a very repetitive and generic game limited by its large PVE focus. In a mobile marketplace that is already oversaturated with city builders and Clash of Clan clones, Path of War finds itself buried beneath its competition with nothing that really stands out.

Liberating America
Path of War takes place in a futuristic United States where a tyrannical regime has taken over and it is up to the rebels to liberate America. As part of the rebels, players get to build their own base, much like in a city building strategy game, in order to defend against the “evil” Regime. The game begins with an overly long 30-40 minute tutorial before players are finally on their own in a nation scattered with Regime and other players’ bases. Players can build up their bases with a variety of different structures including defenses such as MG nests and cannons, buildings such Steel Factories, Oil Wells, and storage, and “Other” structures which includes walls and various obstacles. Like most strategy games, these buildings and structures can be upgraded and it takes a long time (minutes to hours) waiting for these structures to upgrade. The player’s base can be attacked by not only other players, but by the Regime (AI) so it is important to create defenses and place them strategically around the main Headquarters. If players are attacked, their structures are temporarily damaged until they fully repair themselves. The game has a huge map and unlike other games, players can actually move their bases anywhere on the map at any time but consumes resources. This “Travel” feature is necessary because players can only attack enemy bases close to them.

Operation Base Takeover
The combat in Path of War is similar to Clash of Clans but with a unique vertical lane system. Players can initiate combat by attacking Regime or player bases around their base in order to obtain resources. Before battle, players can scout the enemy base to observe the defenses and develop a strategy. Then players can deploy their units along a vertical grid by tapping on the ground to summon the selected units. Different units have different advantages so it is important for players to summon the right units in order to break through the enemy’s defenses. Units will move upward toward the enemy’s Headquarters, and can attack enemies in their lane as well as enemies in adjacent lanes. Players will successfully defeat a base if they destroy the enemy’s Headquarters, which is located at the far end of the base, and obtain resources to upgrade their buildings/defenses as well as resources to attack more bases. Each battle takes at max 3 minutes and there is a button to speed it up. The combat is fairly strategic but does get quite repetitive since there isn’t much to do other than to attack base after base until the player runs out of Fuel (resource used to attack).

Troops and Structures
There are various units and structures to unlock in Path of War. Units are deployed in battle, and different units have various advantages in different situations. Units are divided up into infantry, vehicle, and planes, and each unit is specialized against either infantry, structures, or vehicles. New units are unlocked after players defeat Veteran Bases every couple of levels, which are kind of like AI Boss battles, and each unit has different Command Point costs to deploy in battle. There are also rockets that players can launch in battle if they fill up the purple rocket bar via destroy purple buildings. In addition to units, there are structures to unlock which include Civil (resource generating buildings), Military (stationary infantry and cannon/guns), and Other (other defenses such as walls, barbed wire, mud, and traps). Structures can be upgraded which require resources and time, and upgrading the Headquarters unlocks new structures and increases the max level they can be upgraded. Overall, there is a decent amount of units and structures to unlock, which adds base customization and variety to each battle.

Uninspired Gameplay
Despite having unique features such as the vertical lane-based unit deployment and base travelling around the map, the overall gameplay in Path of War is quite generic and monotonous. Games like Clash of Clans are very successful due to the competiveness, community, and strategy associated with its PVP, and the increased focus in PVE in Path of War feels like a step in the wrong direction. Players will spend most of their time in Path of War attacking AI bases, which are randomly generated, and there isn’t much incentive to attack other players; AI bases usually give about the same or more resources than other players so the game almost feels single-player. Even with the various units and structures in the game, attacking bases feel very repetitive, and most of them don’t offer much challenge other than the Veteran Bases. The game doesn’t offer anything that really stands out, and combined with the lack of social aspects, especially for a strategy war game, the overall gameplay is quite disappointing with the only reason to play being to unlock new units and structures.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
Path of War doesn’t have much in-app purchases but what it does have gives convenient advantages in game progression. The main use of Diamonds (premium currency) is to automatically finish building/upgrading structures, which would normally take minutes to hours. This is not an uncommon feature in city building games, and spending Diamonds allows players to quickly build up their bases. It is not necessarily pay-to-win since all players can eventually build up their bases; they just have to wait much longer if they don’t spend money. Players can also use Diamonds to purchase Construction Cranes which allow for more building and upgrading at one time, and can use Gems to recover spoiled resources, which decline over time. That is pretty much it in terms of in-app purchases and although there aren’t that many, they give an undeniable advantage in faster base upgrading and game progression.

Final Verdict – Fair
Path of War is a decent but fairly lackluster base building strategy game whose downfall is linked to its focus on PVE rather than PVP. Although the combat is kind of unique and there are many units and structures to unlock, the overall gameplay is very repetitive and generic with limited social aspects or reason to continue playing. While some casual players may enjoy the game, there are much better strategy games to be found in the mobile marketplace which is currently saturated with these types of games.

Path of War Screenshots

◄ 1 2 3 ►

Path of War Videos

Path of War Links

Path of War Official Site
Path of War Google Play
Path of War iOS
Path of War Facebook

Path of War System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.0.3 and up / iOS 8.0 or later

Path of War Music & Soundtrack

Path of War Additional Information

Developer: Envision Entertainment
Publisher: Nexon
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: January 28, 2016

Path of War was developed by Envision Entertainment, the German company behind the browser game Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, and published by Nexon, a large gaming publisher behind the mobile games, Pocket Maplestory and Mabinogi Duels. Known as the spiritual successor of EA Phenomic, Envision Entertainment teamed up with Nexon to make Path of War, their second game since 2012. Path of War is Nexon’s 5^th mobile game within the first 4 months of 2016. Nexon is also the publisher of the popular mobile games, DomiNations and Fantasy War Tactics.