Do you miss the RTS games of old? Ones that actually had a plot driven and LARGE single player campaign for EACH faction? Ones with maybe not top of the line graphics but definately appealing charm in the art style that was pleasing to look at? Ones with awesome sound effects that actually made sense? Ones with UNIQUE factions let alone unique game design? If you liked old school RTS games I'd pick this up... I honestly can't even say WHY I have so much old time video game fun feeling when I play this... but I do... at least 15 bucks worth thats for sure. I own every wargame especially RTS ever made, I'm not even kidding.

For 15 bucks after the first mission I knew this was worth it.

If youre looking for a company of heroes type matchmaking system and crap like that this isn't your RTS game, this is oldschool.

Played a bit of the campaign and skirmish so far. Pretty good game, better than I expected it to be after what I heard of the original release. I like the aesthetics and lighting and I like that the weapons sound like weapons :)

Controls take a little getting used to. Squading up and selecting different unit types in particular has led to a few mis-clicks but it'll grow on me :P

Gameplay feels solid. Mostly everything feels and responds as I expect it to and the fighting is fun to watch and play out.

There are a couple things I'm not too keen on. Lack of AA capable infantry is a bit odd but I was caught off guard in my skirmish game so I'm not sure if it will prove to be a balance issue. Also, I don't like how the music goes quiet when there's an audio cue (units being attacked, Need more storage etc.)

All in all, a pretty good game :)

As a beta-tester I can openly recommend this game. Refined classic and simple RTS which was already in development in 1997 finally on one of the major platforms.

In this game you play as one of three races: Sentinels - mechanized robots that will destroy everything in its path Raak-Zun - mutants who live in deserts or radiation contaminated Federation - the last normal people who are trying to survive in bunkers. Each one has different strategies and units. Of course there is multiplayer, albeit still poorly done, but I think that this is not the biggest problem because it is possible to play. One of the best things about this game is sooooo long campaign of all three races and (at least for me) a great post-apocalyptic story. For those who complain about the short and simple game - I recommend a campaign where you will spend some good time :)

I recommend this game very much, the game is great! :)
(A review created by SzalonyRandom, not me!)

This is a in progress review. I will add/change more as I go.

TDLR version: This is a solid 2D rts game with Tiberium sun/starcraft vibe to it. Singleplayer is solid so far from what I have played. This is not a replacement to C&C or starcraft. Its fun and entertaining never the less.

Recommended towards people who want to get into the genre and hardcore fans of the RTS genre for right now.

Wall of text version: This game as stated in TDLR version is a solid 2D rts game. The singleplayer is solid and sort of interesting. The gameplay is fun but the control scheme is a bit weird and something to get used to. As for Multiplayer not much of a scene at all as of right now. The selection of units is pretty good. Gameplay wise its a interesting take but nothing really innovating. There is nothing mind blowing from the game. Here are the upsides:

+Solid gameplay
+Art work and graphics
+Story looks promising
+Sound effects are so far good
+Content for the price

Now on to complients and feedback. I hope if the developers read this:

Negative:
-Ai pathing (I ran into a mission when trying to avoid posion clouds the AI had some major problems to taking commands to going around and getting around the map in general)

Feedback:
It would be awesome if you guys could add modding tools. It would extend life of the game and I can see a amazing star wars mod to this game. It would sell like hot cakes.

As for now its all I can think of. I will add as I can go along. When I have beaten the game I will finalize the review. This is my first time I have done a review like this and I hope some of you find it helpful.

Note that this review has only logged 3.4 hours of gameplay, so I have not delved into the depths of every aspect of the game.

Pros:

In the first 3 hours of playing this game, I can definitely say that anybody who enjoys a classic RTS-style game would enjoy SunAge: Battle for Elysium. I've only played a few of the campaign levels, but I already have discovered a fluid squad system, decent tutorials and understandable controls. Every RTS has a learning curve, this game is no exception, but it is intuitive to catch on to. The learning curve, in short, is short. The combat is also very exciting; the varying units make for challenging, but not overly complex gameplay and the multiple resources and base building mechanic make for an interesting management mechanic which is similar to Age of Empires or Starcraft games (with a few differences.)

Major good thing: I have not run into any strange bugs or game-breaking issues since playing the game. (I have not tested this in an online setting though.)

Cons:

The only thing that saddens me is the lack of playability online. This is not due to any problems with the game, but rather a shortage of people playing. I know that, it being almost a brand-new release, this game will grow in its player base, but for now there are not a lot of players online. This makes it difficult to skirmish because via the internet. However (not a con), if you have a group of friends, you can play via LAN or Steam connection privately, so that is a huge bonus.
The campaign levels are a little bit cheesy, with comic book-style cinematics and not-always-compelling dialogue, but that level of cheese is present in a lot of RTS games and not a large problem. (The emphasis is on strategy as it should be.)

The gameplay itself is exciting and fun to partake in; I also imagine actually skirmishing PvP would be equally exciting if not more so. Overall, I would recommend this to any strategy fan! If you like it, spread the word so more people are playing!

This initially looks like a low-budget StarCraft ripoff, but after taking a chance on it and playing it for a few hours, it's clear it's much more than that.

It has solid graphics and sound, with easy to identify and well charactered units. Base building is a charm with the power-node system, and the resource distribution (four types!) forces exploration and additional base-building. The game borrows some of the best ideas from StarCraft, Generals, Tiberium Sun and Supreme Commander, and balances them out extremely well; it's less macro-y, faster, and less fiddly than Age Of Empires, but less micro-y, speedfreak tournament hotkey nonsense than StarCraft or Dawn Of War.

It really feels like some of the best bits of the C&C Games, (sneaking transports into the back of enemy bases), but with a little more depth, and it just has a really solid, classic RTS feel that's familiar, yet fresh at the same time.

This one is a hidden gem, and has sleeper hit written all over it. Multiplayer is probably going to be a *blast* with this game.

Summary:
+ Pretty 2D graphics
+ Interesting story (even if not the most original)
+ 3 different factions with unique units
+ Old-school RTS spirit (4 different resources, slower pace, interesting base-building mechanics and etc.)
+ Beautiful soundtrack (even though there are not many different songs)
- Very glitchy unit controls and pathfinding which makes you frustrated from time to time (especially air unit control... Nightmare)
- No 8 player skirmish mode and in general - not enough skirmish maps
- Enemy AI sometimes behave weird and doesn't function properly
- Some bugs there and there...

It needs more polishing but I would still recommend this game to RTS fans.
I hope to see some patches :)

Been playing sunage since before the Steam release and I can say that the game has evolved A LOT! The Steam version is WAY BETTER than what we had before. This is the best 2d RTS game to date, beautiful graphics, awesome gameplay and the game is very well balanced. The fact that almost all units has a secondary role double your tactics options. You can press SPACE while in the game to do a synchronous attack with several group of units, this is very helpful when you know how to use it. Also the developer will keep evolving the game over time, and that is a key factor.
If you like Tiberiun Sun or KKND or StarCraft 1, than you gonna love this game.

Amazing game! Brings me back to the tiberium sun games. Must buy!!

Good, super fun, and simple RTS made in the style of an old 2.5D Command and Conquer game, yet with enough features and UI improvments in recent updates to make it feel like a modern game which is recreating the nostalgia of older games. This is a very well made(I've had no crashing issues or anything playing it so far), and well supported(frequent updates addressing issues, including even one just this morning), indie game that I'd argue should be rated with Star Craft 2 as one of the best, TRUE, RTS games to come out in a while. The plot is fairly boilerplate, but is well executed in the cutscenes, and despite its "stereotypical" framing, is well written and an engaging experience. Graphics, are well, they are the graphics of games ten years ago, only with high deff sprites and partical effects for once, which, in its weird 2.5D way, does look gorgoues during the fire fights. Sound quality is amazing for what the game is, actually really impressed by this aspect of the game.

If you've got nostalgia for the old days of RTS games, or are sick to your stomach as well with EA for shutting down their online servers...then buy SunAge: Battle for Elysium.

The game is ok. Is it worth 15$ I spent? I guess so. Nothing really wows me, but also there is nothing that is like oh man this sucks I want my money back. (I'm only 90 minutes into SP, have not touched MP yet) It's an ok game with some nice features. I'm sure it will get a nice little bit of playing time when I'm bored with other games here and there. You might very well love it, it all really depends on what exactly you want.. I was looking for something more faster paced and perhaps it will get there as I progress further it is like that in multiplayer.

Multiplayer could totally changed my opinion off this game and I will update once I play online skirmish. If you want a story that you can get into then you will probably like this. One of the main things I don't like is that there is a story and it forces you to be part of it. In these types of games I try to always skip thru all the story and just play. I want to play a RTS to play and could really care less what the plot is, but that's just me. There are several scenes thru the SP where a unit might move from one side to another during conversation taking place and you just have to sit there and wait for it to end which I really can't stand. If that's your thing then it has lots of that for you.

I will say they seem to put a good bit into developing the story, so i'm sure if you follow it, it's pretty good. The game has some cool units and some nice options for the units. Your basic infantry can switch into a non movement sniper mode when you hit A, almost every unit has a special ability like this. The gameplay is very smooth and hotkeys are good for the most part. You can Q up buildings and movement paths for several different squads at once which is very helpful.

There was one thing I did not like as far as gameplay goes. If I move a squad to a point across the map and they engange an enemy halfway to that point they just keep running while firing and eventually they run past the enemy and keep going to their location. When I changed the stance option from defensive to offensive it did not seem to change this. If my units run into someone I want them to stop and fire or go after them. At least an option to say during the path either stop and fire on contact w/ or w/o pursuit involved or fire and move but don't go off course. Even a way to maybe say go off course to get the kill then continue back on path. This wouldn't be a huge issue in MP b/c it would apply to both teams so it would make it interesting, but in SP it's kind of frustrating. I got the game on sale so I would say overall i'm satisfied, definitely has that old school RTS feel to it. I would say 7/10 so far w/o touching the MP.

I play this game since it's not on steam all i can say in that time is the game suck since i expect old school gameplay from it but the game end up just experimental of new basic control than using tradition rts control make the game nearly unplayable and make basic control scheme become too busy to work with than it should be. other than that game UI in that time really unfriendly and hard to understand.

even so i love graphic and art style of this game make me give sunage another chance when it coms to steam and i can say i'm not dissapoint!

they nearly fix all problem found in early release version such as.
1. The game now allow player choose different type of unit and command them as one.
2. The game alot faster and stable.
3. Game UI now more friendly than before.
4. The game now allow player to order unit attack target directly [unlike early version where all you can do is try to move unit around and hope they will attack unit you want to kill first. 5. unit control become more tradition than early game which is the best thing happen on this game [i never though they will do this but thet did it!] however the game still have some problem [like unit path finding and some time they not response your command] but i hope t
5. unit control become more tradition than early game which is the best thing happen on this game [i never though they will do this but thet did it!]

however the game still have some problem [like unit path finding and some time they not response your command] but i hope they will fix them in the future.

overall SunAge: Battle for Elysium impress me and i want to recommed for everyone who love classic rts just like me.

If you liked Starcraft 1, command and conquer series, or supreme commander, you will probably like this. game is well worth the $

Need more micromanagement than expected. Nice graphic 2D graphic though.

Great game but HORIBLE CONTROLS

Meh - i was hoping for more.

But all in all a decent RTS game, nice graphics, neat unit control.

cool game ever