Clash II (PC)

Geoffrey Wright | March 8, 2024 | Review | No Comments

Originally released to early access back in October 2022, Clash II finally made its way out of that with its 1.0 release a couple of weeks ago. Offering an RTS & RPG mix of gameplay, will you try to keep the Pure Ones zealotry at bay, or choose the other side and crush the Old Ones? Lets take a look

Clash II is set in a dark fantasy world where battles have raged for years between invaders bearing the signs of The One, religiously calling themselves the Pure Ones, and the pagans who have worked the magical lands of the unknown continent for generations – the Old Ones. The story here takes place decades after these events, with the Pure Ones continuing to push further into the continent and conquer more regions of the land inhabited by the Old Ones. Tensions continue to reach boiling point with the future of the magical continent hanging in the balance.

While there’s no sweeping cinematics to pull you in, delivery is usually voiced dialogue sections, the story Is decent enough. What helps sell the single a little more is that there are two campaigns from either side of the story to complete. There’s only a dozen or so missions to fight through the campaign but getting both sides keep it interesting (especially given the length of some missions) and when that’s all done there’s other options like skirmishes to keep you popping back every now & again.

Being primarily an isometric tactical RPG/RTS adventure, there’s no sweeping vista’s and towering structures to catch the eye, as the game just focuses on providing you with what is needed visually. The maps do have some nice details here & there, which you can zoom to, as the various structures are unique and detailed enough to be recognisable even on a quick browse. Entering battle switches things out to a more barren looking plain, but you do at least get to appreciate the model detail for the characters and enemies a little more, alongside some additional special effects.

Luckily all this means that performance should be pretty good for your system. On my PC (R7 5800X3D/32GB/RTX 3090) the game had little issue running maxed at 4k/120Hz. You would get the odd drop down to around 115 fps when something like rain starts, but it would always settle back at 120 soon after. This means you should be able to run this on something far below my own, the turn based nature of the game means even a 30fps lock is playable – should be good on the go with Steam Deck. Only obstacle to that I guess is the lack of controller support, but the game can be played pretty much with just a mouse so even a touchpad should suffice. Another obstacle could be the bugs. They crop up often enough to be noticeable, luckily the game game autosaves each turn, and usually effects the AI. Outside of that the UI can be a bit unintuitive until you get used to it.

Gameplay primarily consists of two aspects with the one you’ll be spending the most time in being the adventuring. Once your army is ready (recruited from barracks or tavern for more powerful, but expensive, followers) off you head out into the world. The combined movement points of your army gives you the total for exploring each turn, with some things like camps boosting that. Out in the world you can find all manner of boosts, mines for added gold, farms for population, shrines for gems & abilities, with many more waiting to be found. These add to the coffers to upgrade your towns for research and recruitment. While exploring just be mindful of roaming warbands, they can really do you over if unprepared or reeling from a previous battle still.

Battles are the other side of the game really, which are optional in a sense as you can just auto them if the odds of victory are high enough, and take place on a separate battle plain to the main map. Movement & action points also count here too, multiple actions per turn are possible if ranked up enough to have excess, which adds a little more tactical flavour. Tactics are also possible here, such as formations with different unit setups offering a different bonus. AI will also adapt to these, creating a central shield wall will see them trying to flank to the sides to reach archers or pincer the wall for example, but a balanced enough army will usually win out in the long haul – you can also have multiple armies if you want to try specialising as well for more tactical flexibility. At first all this can seem overwhelming, not much is explained, but its relatively simple to get to grips with within the first hour or so.

Clash II is a decent little game that offers an interesting mix of strategy and RPG elements, similar to something like Heroes of Might and Magic, and gives plenty to sink your teeth in to. The Early Access roots sometimes still bear their fangs as bugs crop up and some other aspects, like the UI, probably still need a little tweaking. There’s definitely an interesting game here tho if you can overlook these, with intriguing gameplay and a dual campaign which should keep you returning.