With Rock of Ages coming to PC, we decided to review the X-box 360 version for you. We were quite pleasantly surprised.
When I got Rock of Ages I thought “Man this is just going to be Katamaria Damacy”. It wasn’t. Then I saw the RTS elements and through “eh this is just an RTS” and it also wasn’t. So what is Rock of Ages exactly? An intriguing mix of a race between two opponents interspersed with well done boss battles and sprinkled with RTS elements. Overall its originality really amazed me.
In Rock of Ages you play as Sisyphus , who has had enough of rolling his rock up a hill forever. He takes his rock and goes on to defeat some of the greatest men in history, not to mention the black plague itself. The storyline is filled with some serious comedy, albeit only if you have a taste for history. I very much appreciated defeating the “War Pope”. The story mode graphics are basic but pretty, and they fit perfectly in the game.
But how does it play? You start by setting traps for the opposing rock which include ramparts, beasts and catapults. You do this in a very fluid top down RTS view. You really have to make some killer combos if you want to win against humans in multiplayer, which is a great deal of fun.
Once you have all your traps set up, you activate your rock and begin rolling through the enemy gauntlet. You can also change your rock type, from a armored ball to a great ball of fire. This is when the real fun starts are you try to reach the enemy base with as much speed in order to smash his door. Along the way you will crash through enemy traps and crush hapless vases for money.
It is hard to find anything wrong about this game. Overall it is a fast and furious game which makes you think about your trap placement. The game isn’t flawless though, the AI is a bit too easy to beat and sometimes the controls on turning can cause problems for you.
Overall Rock of Ages would be an excellent game at twice its cost, and is easily worth a buy. Despite having some minor flaws, this is easily one of the best XBLA titles up there along with Contra Hard Corps: Uprising. You can get a better taste of the game here: youtube.
Final score 4.8/5 – Near Perfect
- +Original
- + Exciting, fun and easy to play
- + Cheap price
- – A bit shallow, not much beyond the basic concept
- – controls and AI could be improved
