Battle Group 2 Review

Wanna police the seas? Battle Group 2 might be the ticket.

In many respects, the game can be looked at as a seafaring form of castle defense. A warship floats from the left of the screen to the right, taking all comers with aplomb. Various cutscenes and effected dialogue give players an idea of where the gameplay is to take us, which in this case is the completion of missions. Completing missions generally means taking on belligerent craft and structures, which can be land-based, sea-based, and especially airborne. The threats start off easily enough with targets coming into view, and the object is to fire upon them via taps.

One interesting aspect is the aiming mechanism. Tapping on an aircraft causes our protagonist ship to fire on it automatically; however, the planes move quickly, and if one does not take travel time into account it’s quite possible to miss it entirely. Thus, one has to extrapolate a bit to fire to where the aircraft is going to be. This small element makes the gameplay that much more challenging.

As the gameplay advances, the challenge ratchets up. Players get stuff like inbound missiles, or enemy planes that fly in elliptical paths that are harder to pinpoint. There are boosts and bosses, and it mostly feels like an arcade adventure. When a level is finished it’s ranked based on efficiency, and game cash can be earned. Game cash can be used to improve attributes (like reload times and armor) and upgrade one’s ship(s).

The graphics help frame the experience. It’s mostly 2D, with an abbreviated top-down view, and the artwork is utilitarian in nature. However the animations work within the gameplay, and the use of color is fairly inauspicious.

Battle Group 2 is one game where I feel like real cash is needed to enjoy. One can go without, but it’s a long road. Also, it does feel a bit monotonous at times, what with the repetitive actions. Still, it can be a fun time waster when one want it to be, which indeed might be the toughest battle of all.