Stratosphere

"Excellent in concept, not so good in practice"

Stratosphere truly has an interesting concept - build up a castle on a floating island and go to battle with other aerial castles. It doesn't hold up that well in practice.

Graphics: 7
This game has quite a sense of atmosphere. The game seems to be in a realm both technological and magical. This atmosphere does not carry through to the main selection interface, which is based off of Windows Explorer! Anyway, the rest of the interface is very classy. The majority of the weapons have decent firing effects, but the explosions are very simplistic - just a white flash. There are almost no fire/flame effects in the game. The environments of the game are quite varied, with pleasant meadow-lined valleys to torturous volcanic rifts. The movie sequences are nothing to write home about, but certainly advance the story.

Sound/Music: 8
Very nice dynamic music score. It definitely fits into the atmosphere. The sound effects are decent, but not exceptional. You can easily distinguish the sounds various different types of weapons. The voiceover is good and gives advice at appropriate times.

Plot: 5
Very simple, villain invades the country and you must rise to the occasion. Some plot twists arise later in the game, and are lead to a final confrontation with the big bad guy. However, strategy or action games do not need an excellent plot if the gameplay is good enough.

Gameplay: 3
That is not the case here. The fortress is quite easy control with keyboard and mouse, but the learning curve is VERY steep. The final (third) training mission is not easy - expect to fail it a few times. The first regular mission is by far the most difficult starting mission I have ever played. You face a series of ledge forts with the wind pulling you into their range with a very tiny fort. I have yet to beat this mission without using a cheat code. Perhaps a sequel will be released with more gradual increase in difficulty.
In addition, ramming is a very difficult attack to counter, and nearly useless in your missions. Brushing against a rock wall is deadly to an unprotected fort, and you can expect that to occur often unless you are very careful.

Replay Value: 9
The builder is the most fun item in the game. Look online for super fortresses, or build your own. You can even take them for trial run. I'd imagine the multi-player would be fun, although I have not played online.

Final Score: 6.4, rounded to 6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/04