Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon was originally released exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U as a WiiWare title. With the success of Awesomenauts, Ronimo Games decided this was a good time to rerelease Swords & Soldiers II to Steam, PS4 and later on to the Nintendo Switch. Instead of just offering a direct port of the 2015 release, Ronimo Games added a multiplayer option and tweaked the original based on fan input. The subtitle “Shawarmageddon” is added to this release to distinguish itself from the original release.
Viking, Persians, Demons and a lot of food
Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon tells a tale where somehow a good kebab meal is what wars are fought for. Epic battles are fought between clans of Persians, demons and long bearded Vikings. During the story, wives get stolen, sheep are gathered, Aladdin’s lamp changes owners’ hands and much more. Needless to say, the humor in this game is a big appealing factor. The word puns are all over the place which all helps to get a chuckle out of the player. I sure laughed while playing the campaign.
2D RTS
Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon is an RTS type game, stripped to its essentials. Don’t expect big 3D maps and hour-long battles. Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon instead chooses for short battles in a 2D variant. The battlefield might be very linear but be warned that the gameplay is a lot more complex than you might expect. In the game, you gather gold and mana to spend on building units and casting spells. These units and spells are all needed to traverse to the other side of the level and destroy the enemy base and thus winning the battle.
Custom build armies
The first few levels introduce the different units and spells to get familiar with. After each battle, you unlock units and spells to choose from for a later stage in the game. After a few tutorial-like levels, the training wheels come off and you get to experience the game in its fullest. At the beginning of a new battle, you can now choose which units and spells you would like to use. These custom build “armies” gives you almost endless possibilities to experiment with.
Managing resources is key to success
You won’t be able to use everything from the start of the battle. You actually need to spend money to research your units/spells before you can use them. Timing when to research a certain unit and when to release it on the battlefield is really important. Your opponent could already be sending attacking units your way while you’re still defenseless. Units and spells are divided into three tiers. Each tier gets more expensive so going for the biggest unit might be beneficial for your attack power but disastrous for your defense once that unit falls in battle.
Online and couch multiplayer possibilities
To further beef out the initial Swords & Soldiers gameplay, Ronimo Games added multiplayer to this version. You can now battle Viking, Persian or Demon clans from all around the world. Playing the full campaign is highly recommended before trying your hands on some multiplayer fun. Besides the online possibilities, I really like the inclusion of a local multiplayer. The use of split screen adds to the tension. You can see what your opponent is trying to do which adds a different feel than the normal multiplayer.
Conclusion
This game might have a cute look to it and the 2D RTS premise might even sound simple. But be warned, this game is actually a lot harder than it looks. If you want to master it, be prepared to encounter a whole bunch of trial and error before finding the right strategy. Even then, you’ll often be surprised by what great army combinations your opponents, come up with. Swords & Soldiers II Shawarmageddon is a deceivingly rich RTS game which will have you laughing (and possibly yearning for kebab) along the way.
