Age of Darkness: Final Stand – Early Access Review

Our Score: 8/10

Age of Darkness: Final Stand by PlaySide is an RTS game that breaths fresh air in a genre held up by titans. A dark fantasy survival RTS, light is humanity’s ally against the darkness of evil. 

Taking inspiration from genres other than just RTS, Age of Darkness: Final Stand has a lot of depth for a game that is still in Early Access. With devs who are always listening to player feedback and a community that adores this game, the future looks bright.

What is Age of Darkness: Final Stand

“The darkness is an entity of evil. Some say it is the manifestation of human fear and nightmares, others say it is a wandering mass of damned souls haunting us.

The origin of the darkness itself is unknown, but one thing for certain is that we can keep it at bay through the power of light and fire.”

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is a dark fantasy survival RTS where you must illuminate, build and defend humanity’s last bastion against hordes of Nightmares.

Set in the remnants of a kingdom consumed by a deadly fog, you decide. Will you hide in the light? Or take back your world. It might sound easy but when it comes to it, you’ll be making some choices that could make or break your settlement.

Gameplay of Age of Darkness: Final Stand

With the help of unique heroes, face off against the horde of nightmares during Death Nights. And to make things a bit more fair and interesting, the Nightmares have their own elites soldiers that could turn the tide of battle.

With a multi-faceted skill tree, improve your units to fit your style and methods. Level up your heroes to assist your units. But beware of the Death Fog. It not only hides enemies but going in it will drain the HP of your units.

When you’re not fighting in the night, you will have to expand and improve upon your settlement in the day. After all, it is a survival game, and the better equipped your town, the better you’ll ward off the dark.

As it’s in early access, the game is still being tweaked. The developers are constantly listening to player feedback in an attempt to improve and polish the game.

Look and Feel

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is the gorgeous-looking title. With such a strong emphasis on Light and Dark, the game does use them appropriately. There are loads of gorgeous particle effects and vibrant colours in the heat of battle.

But where this game truly shines is with SwarmTech. SwarmTech allows the game to render over 70,000 enemy units on the screen. That is an insane amount and really goes to show the danger of the horde.

The sound effects and music in the game are enjoyable and don’t take away from your immersion in the game.

Final Verdict

Age of Darkness: Final Stand is an early access title that offers an RTS experience like no other. With unique and interesting new systems, it freshens things up. And because it’s in early access, this game is constantly being updated with new content. I’m really excited to see where this game goes from here since it is already incredibly fun and engaging.