[Xperia Play Themes and Apps] BrianChase:
Hey guys, I'm somewhat new to Android (got my Play a 4 months and 2 days ago :D upgraded from a T-mobile Dash 3g [I actually got good at KOF '98 using the ****ed up keyboard on that beautiful phone]) and touchscreen phones but I always assumed RTS games would flourish on the medium. Hell, my old Windows Mobile 6.5 had Machines at War and that was one of the best strategy games I had ever played across any medium. Sadly, the RTS genre seemed all but dead on Android. Rusted Warfare has potential but it has a long way to go, and Starfront Collision was far too neutered in comparison to its source for my liking. Yesterday I bought a game called Star Armada that could, with a bit of love, become the best RTS experience Android has to offer. On to the review!

Star Armada was not received well in the majority of the reviews because Star Armada is not a traditional RTS and many players will not sit and read through the 40 some page tutorial that is absolutely integral to understanding the game. The game tends to think outside of the box and it presents you with a strange set of rules and options. First of all, we have planets; to capture a planet you must have it in your line of sight and build one structure on it. Planets are necessary not only for building structures and mining resources but also because you must maintain control of more planets than your enemy to effectively beat them. This is very important because there is a set amount of resources in the galaxy. The enemy AI is going to attack your planets while you attempt to defend them all while you are trying to take planets from the enemy. You can choose between 5 and 8 planet maps with their locations, resource allotment and bonuses (some planets give a bonus like speed boost or cheaper ship building costs) all procedurally generated to give you a unique experience each time. There is incredible depth to the game, especially when considering there are only 3 offensive unit types. Each unit can be upgraded through researches (shield, weapons, and then you can also upgrade the four weapon types which are not exclusive to the ship), or by receiving veteran status. Each of the 3 ships can carry one more weapon than the last (cheapest ship=1 weapon, mid-powered ship =2 weapons) and the weapon load out can be customized for every ship while building it. You can also individually assign specific behaviors to each ship such as attack and follow vs. attack and hold or more interestingly, kamikaze (when low on health the ship blows up dealing damage to surrounding enemies) or return to nearest planet allowing the ships to be repaired.

Now for the bad. The very very, no good, ****-awful, bad. The game has 2 major bugs. First, when I attempt to load games the game crashes back to the home screen. Second, when you have an ungodly number of ships in a battle at once (end-game scenario for my 5 planet match) the game freezes and must be force closed. I have contacted the developer to see if any fixes are planned for slower devices and will let everyone know when I hear back. The game is on sale for $1.99 and is available on google play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stararmada&hl=en

Final word: I cannot recommend this game in its current form to Play users but if you have a tablet or higher end device this game is an absolute must have. As for the Play, it will be one to watch much like Rusted Warfare.