Ace of Spades PC Review

There is no hiding that this is a Minecraft rip off, clone or what ever you want to call it (I’m sure the developers would prefer I use the word “inspired by…”) but the terminology is of little importances to me, it’s Minecraft in any light and now its got heavy weaponry. I really couldn’t get into the world of Minecraft but Ace of Spades alleviates all the issues I had by introducing “back to basics FPS 101” gameplay rules. With its simple WASD + Mouse control scheme, a selection of easy to understand character classes that range from your typical soldier class, sniper and even one that has a jet pack for those who love to be extra mobile.

While each class comes kitted out with a basic selection of weapons such as mini-gun, sniper rifle and rocket launcher, the weapons aren’t terribly powerful which is good in many ways as it leads to some longer gun battles and the destruction of even more surrounding blocks as you battle it out. The most important tool in everyone’s arsenal though, is the ability to build or destroy blocks. Get your spade out and dig or just mini gun your way through a wall, its up to you to literally shape the battle field and in many game modes, it’s vital to success.

There are several game types on offer, all of which offer something unique to play around with:

• Team DeathMatch
• Diamond Mine
• Demolition
• Multi-Hill
• Zombie Mode

Game modes are played out on 32 player maps, generally rather large scale environments such as the centre of London, or at least how London would look if it were represented in a poorly constructed Lego model, it may not be accurate but it does make for a fun map when you can snipe from the top of The Houses of Parliament.

Team DeathMatch sees you aiming for the highest kills in a 16v16 Green vs Blue game. Diamond Mine will have you not only trying to kill each other but also digging up the whole level frantically to find more diamonds than the opposing team, which is certainly a different experience to what you’ll find in Call of Duty or Battlefield. Multi Hill is your typical King of the Hill game type and it wouldn’t be a modern FPS without a Zombie mode would it?

I’ve left the best mode till last though and that is Demolition. Each team is given a base and that base has a health bar, your team’s objective is to destroy all the blocks of the enemy base while also building and reinforcing your own, its a brilliant take on the more traditional king of the hill / tower defence formats and easily one of the more unique experiences this game has to offer.