Well, that was a surprise: out of nowhere—ex nihilo, if you will—Peter Molyneux has released a new game. Godus Wars has freshly dropped on Steam Early Access, pretty much wholly unexpected, and it’s an entirely different take on the original Godus. The other side of the same coin, if you will. As you can gather from the name, it’s the war side. Let’s take a look.
Godus Wars: The RTS Take On The God Game
Godus Wars , which is part of the “Godus universe,” comes with the original Godus and is now available for $14.99 on Steam Early Access. For the the people that own Godus already, Godus Wars is free. Molyneux describes the game as “a true mix of a god game and a RTS with the ability to build your own deck of powers and buffs." It’s a fulfillment of a long-time promise from Peter Molyneux and developer 22 Cans to bring combat to Godus. But don’t misunderstand: This is an entirely separate game, albeit one set in a similar metaphysical universe.
So here’s how Godus Wars works, gameplay-wise: It blends an RTS and a god game, and players control one of four deities. Battles take place over seven continents (or rather, they will eventually—the Early Access version only comes with one, with a second being purchasable). Decks of power cards let players modulate the difficulty to their whim and get out of sticky situations, which are presumably numerous. And, of course, there are god-game style powers. You can mold the land itself (although not to the same degree as in Godus), and use various other God Powers. It’s cool stuff.
Godus, a reinvention of the ‘god game’ genre that made Peter Molyneux famous, first came out on Steam Early Access back in 2013 and then on mobile in 2014. The game has been… controversial. Peter Molyneux has a reputation for overpromising features he doesn’t deliver. Incidentally, Steam Early Access has a similar reputation and so does Kickstarter, which was the source of the game’s funding. The game is still missing some features, according to Gamespot, and hasn’t fulfilled all its backer promises yet. It has caused grief both to Molyneux and to the game’s fans. This is all a bit of an understatement— as Eurogamer reported, the Godus backlash nearly drove Molyneux out of the games industry. But he’s recovered, and the game has made progress, and its next step has now arrived in the form of Godus Wars.
Reviews of Godus Wars aren’t in yet—it just dropped, after all—but the game is definitely a step forward for Godus… and a bit of a new direction. As Molyneux notes quite carefully, the company is not abandoning Godus. It is, the official FAQ claims, just the opposite. It’s the next stage, the next evolution.
What do you think? Are you interested in Godus Wars? Will you try it on Steam Early Access?
