8-Bit Hordes

8-Bit Hordes
N/A
Metacritic
80
Steam
72.755
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$7.64
Release date
12 August 2016
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
80 (454 votes)

From the team that brought you 8-Bit Armies comes a new fantasy RTS as fast-paced and friendly as the original! 8-BIT HORDES is a colorful strategy-arcade game that is easy to learn for players of all skill levels. Collect resources, build up and defend your base, amass your army of orcs or humans and ultimately crush your opponents!

Show detailed description

8-Bit Hordes system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows Vista SP2
  • Processor: 2.6 GHz Dual Core Processor
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia Geforce GTS 250 or ATI Radeon HD 3870
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 2 GB available space
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Reviews
Write a new review
Captain Diabetes
Captain Diabetes

Super fun, each unit have different strengths and weaknesses, you got a lot of maps with different objectives. This is a game for every RTS fan saying that they dont make good RTS anymore. They do and 8-Bit Hordes is that.

skirvin
skirvin

simplified warcraft, really fun with a bunch of friends

dementedhobbit
dementedhobbit

Game of who can grow the biggest shlong the fastest.

E-Dragon
E-Dragon

Just a little more complex than 8 Bit Armies as you have to keep an eye on your unit count, but still there are tons of much better games in the genere out there. As there are not many changes to 8 Bit Armies this would have been better as a dlc.
Making this it's own game feels like a cash grab.

Basically anything I said in my 8 Bit Armies Review here also applies for this game:
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198054316613/recommended/427250

BearlyCanadian
BearlyCanadian

Please Read my 8-Bit army Review. Overall I recommend the 8-bit series as they bring back that good old Command & Conquer feeling...well minus the live action cutscenes and crazy story campaigns but overall a nice series to get into if you like RTS. Also you can play against the 8-Bit army players or the 8-Bit space players online with your 8-Bit horde game which is rather awesome to have.

Ettow  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) :^)
Ettow ( ͡° ͜ʖ…

Classic warcraft 1 and 2 look and atmosphere and classic command and conquer made for modern systems with modern RTS features and you got a match made in heaven :V

Kefka
Kefka

Does literally nobody realize these are all just copies of warcraft, starcraft, and C&C???
They're just copy pastes with little cutesy graphics, and all 3 games are laid out in the exact same fashion, with the exact same interface and resource gathering. You can't get more of a copy-paste than this.

Blackblade
Blackblade

I am not recommending this game even though there is nothing particularly bad about it and it has some good aspects. I am only interested in the story campaign so I am probably a bit unusual for this type of game. One of the major reasons I am not recommending it because that aspect of the game is lacking. The story consists of one paragraph to read per mission. Nothing else. The objectives are not particularly fun either. Every mission is divided into three types of objectives: bronze, silver and gold. Bronze is required to win and you get more rewards for completing each objective type you complete. Once earned they never go away so they are very helpful, maybe even necessary to completing the harder missions later. It was all a bit too much of a formula and too dry for me.

For the battles themselves, it is a real RTS even though the graphics may imply it's not. It is a bit simpler though. You can only build one building at a time with no queuing (or if there was I couldn't figure out how to do it). I found this very, very annoying. Having to consitently go back to base to build 1 build is just no fun. It takes away from the fighting that you should be concentrating on, in my opinion. Also starting a 2nd base is quite hard as you can only build in a certain radius around your other buildings, so you have to build a chain of buildings to the new location. Usually it just isn't worth it. There is a nice variety of units and some synergies and counters but nothing that hasn't been done before and better. Due to the build speed and building requirements I found myself just throwing large groups at other large groups most of the time. Not exactly my ideal RTS. They pretty much all have this but this one if much worse in that respect.

Still a bit of fun and most missions aren't too difficult (with some major exceptions) so not a bad game to pass some time on though but there are better options out there.

Andrettin
Andrettin

Pretty cool game :) I'm enjoying playing through the campaign, and am excited to see what game (or expansion?) the developers will come up with in the future.

Dantounet
Dantounet

Game is correct.

I rarely play RTS but this game attracted me by its style but .... I don't know I just did not find it fun.

Still there is nothing for not recommending it.

So if you like RTS, give it a try,

The Notorious Negan
The Notorious Negan

4 months after I purchased the first 8-bit armies I purchased this. the 2 added factions are really good but the levels were poor and short it gave me a rushed vibe. after I'd played about 2 hours I just used the 2 factions on the base game and that disapointed me a bit. i'd payed the £12 for just 2 new factions. the online capabilitys were much worse the 8-bit armies and so are the menu screens. I'f you are willing to pay £12 for 2 good new factions this is for you. I rate this game 2 stars.

-[DNL]- Shadonis
-[DNL]- Shadonis

I love these games! The AI is brutal, the tachtics are intresting, and I still haven't been able to finish the campain! It is brutal and amazing. Yes you have to get 3 games to play all the factions but each game is worth the price, and all of them with the soundtracks is basicly as much as a full massive game like this, so I don't get why people freak out over the fact that you have to buy 3 games.

Dodsy
Dodsy

Really a fun RTS game for the causal RTS fan.

greentiger
greentiger

PROS
+ very command and conquer-like, CnC people will feel at home
+ the graphics are cute and accessible
+ you can play the campaign co-op
+ I got this game to get my MP CnC like fix and not for the SP
+ a "warcraft" CnC! cool idea and you can play these armies with 8-bit armies

CONS
- the term "campaign" is used loosely--it's just a series of maps with no story that I can see
- I have yet to find a way to expand and build a 2nd base in SP, you might be able to build a 2nd HQ in MP but I don't have anyone to try MP out with
- no one I know was willing to get this game
- 8-bit Armies: Arena kind of screws you if you just wanted MP (it was released after I had bought the series)

Prior to 8-bit Armies: Arena, thumbs up
After 8-bit Armies: Arena, thumbs down

Nazeracoo
Nazeracoo

What midevil RTS doesnt have wall building??

PickleVick
PickleVick

Old school Warcraft look, command and conque feel, if you like RTS then you'll probably like 8-bit Horde, really enjoyed the game, wish there where more missions in co-op campaign but cant go wrong with the value for money here

Jason is Here
Jason is Here

A quality game. It's a cross between Kingdoms and Castles and Northgard, with fast and furious gameplay. Not terribly complicated, but funny and ultimately satisfying. As mentioned by others, the AI is fearsome even on beginner level, which makes the game more intriguing and challenging for single player mode. Haven't tried multiplayer yet. There is also a good quality campaign mode that walks you through how to play the game.

MateCRO
MateCRO

Its just like Comand and Conquer very nice.

Would recommend

yanhoosic
yanhoosic

This game's fonts is too small,I can't see the various constructions 's detail brief.Please update the fonts.

greenghost2008
greenghost2008

If you like the old warcraft RTS games you will like this.

Topher Doll
Topher Doll

Has probably the best campaign and you really get that Warcraft feel that they were going for. At this point though the 8-Bit games aren't too much about the campaign sadly and it is hard to play at times because of the poorly designed missions, despite it being the best of the three games.

But you mostly bought this for the new multiplayer factions and they are a blast, with all the factions the game feels really great and using the Horde against Space Aliens while fighting off rebels in a FFA is a blast.

Value metric: Does it have a value of $1 per hour of gameplay? Yes

Khaos
Khaos

Command and Conquer made love to Warcraft inside MineCraft. I like it.

Lewish
Lewish

Extremely entertaining with a group of friends. The art style is just beautiful and animations are simplistic yet add to the game so much. The best part is when you build up a big army and steam roll your opponent!
I rate this 4.5/5

Forsaken
Forsaken

Player Bases
☐ Kids
☑ Everyone
☐ Mature
☐ Casual Players
☐ Pro players

Graphics
☐ Potato
☐ Really Bad
☐ Bad
☑ OK
☐ Good
☐ Beautiful
☐ Masterpiece

Price
☑ Full Price
☐ Wait For Sale
☐ Refund It If You Can
☐ Don't Buy It
☐ Free

Requirements
☑ Minimum
☐ Medium
☐ Fast
☐ High End
☐ Super Computer

Difficulty
☐ Easy
☑ Medium
☐ Hard
☐ Very Hard
☐ Death March
☐ Dark Souls

Game length
☐ Really Short ( 0 - 3 hours)
☐ Short ( 2 - 8 hours)
☐ Medium ( 8 - 16 hours)
☑ Long ( 16+ hours) (For the campain)
☑ Endless

Story
☐ It Doesn't Have One
☐ Horrible
☑ Ok
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Fantastic

Cinematic/Art
☑ It Doesn't Have
☐ Horrible
☐ Ok
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Like Watching A Movie

Music/Sound
☐ Horrible
☐ Decent
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Amazing

Gameplay
☐ Terrible
☐ Ok
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Fantastic

Bugs
☐ Game Itself Is One Big BUG
☐ Game Breaking Bugs
☐ Lots of bugs
☐ Few Bugs
☑ Nothing (I've seen)

Others
Multiplayer: ☑
Singleplayer: ☑

Final Score:
7/10

ardasVarah
ardasVarah

Boring, regret buying 10mins into game

Bob O
Bob O

All 3 of these games are pretty good, though u will want to own all of them for the complete package

SleepyFruitBat
SleepyFruitBat

This game was alright, but not enough to keep me from refunding it. It's a decent strategy game, and I love the 8-bit fantasy theme to it. Just did not end up as something I would keep.

First, the good. The game itself is well made and has alot of interesting and varying units for alot of versatility in terms of units and armies. The graphical look just goes to show a game can be 8-bit but be all kinds of nice as long as the gameplay is good, which this does well enough. The faction choices were limited, but also good overall, giving it a sort of old Warcraft style to it.

Then comes the bad. The amount of defensive structures in the game is very, very limited. Each faction only has a single defensive structure that really can be torn down by a sizeable force, offering little to nothing in terms of defense. This makes the game only favor a single, aggressive playstyle, of building up massive armies to basically Zerg Rush an entire base for great effect. If there were more variety and more powerful defensive structures, this wouldn't be the case.

In the end, the game itself is not terrible, and to most players is probably pretty damn good. But for me, the singular playstyle option really limits the game's potential. Like to Turtle or feel safe with a nice defense at your base, you might want to look somewhere else. However, if you do favor the rush style in other strategy games, this is a must pick.

Ben Shapiro Gaming
Ben Shapiro Gaming

im sure the game gets better but i just coudnt get into it
standard cartoonish rts that should be 2.99

Cooper
Cooper

Good game but not REALLY worth £10.99. Should be a £5 - £7 game max.

7thsojurn
7thsojurn

AWESOME GAME RATTING #1

The add hordes just gives you more cool units to use or enemy to fight, still another great idea and worth buying its a great add on to the best first game 8-Bit game ever made! Also it adds a lot of cool new maps done in a new style and items,lots of other new creatures, love this add on!

Mintydog
Mintydog

Short review since I've already reviewed 8 bit Armies. This game works the same except it's fantasy
Very fun to play, humerous little story throughout the game.

It's quick and easy to pick up and play. If you enjoy C&C you will enjoy this game, or all of the 8 bit games.
Get all 3 games, they are definitely worth it.

GrimSenpaii
GrimSenpaii

its a really good game, the player base sadly died ;-;. but if your okay with bots. clear you schedule you'll be entertained for hours xD

Toadragon
Toadragon

Not a bad game.
Short.
There are bugs and balancing.
The balance of the light campaign is very bad.
Fewer missions from the first game.
The method of save is quite bad.
It is better with a discount.

Keebs
Keebs

Blast from the past, simple stupid fun, and worth it, if you can get it for under $5. Basically a dumbed down version of Warcraft.

netooboy
netooboy

oh man this game is so much fun

Rafael Cavacchini
Rafael Cavacchini

In summary this is a very addictive game. It is really well thought out and accessible to all skill levels. This is a delight to play and I am sure that it is going to pleasantly surprise a lot of people as it did for me. It will provide a fun and comfortable experience to new players of the real-time strategy genre.

Sido Olavich
Sido Olavich

if you liked warcraft top down, you'd like this. simple.

Valadorn
Valadorn

Over 30 hours and not regreting a single one of them, I am pretty sure this game is worth the go, especially if u love fantasy.

elijahjns
elijahjns

I liked the game. I played through on hard mode. I wasn't able to get one of the bonus objectives done on the good guy's campaign but I was able to do all the rest of the stuff.

Issues:
- Controls feel poor at time.
- Unit attack priority is horrible.
- Timed objectives often make the game less fun.
Pro's: (everything else)
- It's an RTS.
- It's fun.
- Pleasing aesthetic.
- Fast paced.
- Challenging but not impossible.
- Plenty of play options.

am NateTheGreat
am NateTheGreat

So im a huge rts player and all the reviews made me think this would be a fun experience. i was sadly mistaken, even went for the refund which i never do but its a game after playing a few matches you see has little to offer. From lack of team variety like each game (8bit hordes, army, etc.) only come with 2 sides, which can battle across games but makes it seem unbalanced and unenjoyable imo.
I didnt like fighting swords against aliens and the 8bit design for everything they chose in my opinion was childish and poor quality. i Still play OG C&C and that style just looks good to me but this art style, music, sound effects were just too annoying for me to enjoy. Save your money and continue to play starcraft, C&C, or AOE. You wont end up like me wondering who actually likes this sieries.

lord of choking
lord of choking

I myself felt nice meditations with this game's content(monologues, Westwood staff etc...)

Sigh

Just how crucial leadership is to a game studio or any companies. I'd slowly study such ideas...

BRAVESTONE
BRAVESTONE

LOVE THE GAME, WOULD LIKE TO SEE(IF POSS.) CIVIL WAR 8-BIT GAME.

Gunga
Gunga

Not enough active players dead game

ItsChrisGibson
ItsChrisGibson

Its like Command & Conquer, only with pixels, or lego as my son calls it.

Its a good game to pass the time. I am not sure about the longevity but if you want a game with a nostalgia feel but with a twist, give this a go!

Tax Evad3r
Tax Evad3r

Very fun single player campaign. One of the best art designs I've seen for a long time and overall a blast to play. Best played on long trips if you don't have wifi

Kalaster
Kalaster

If lego made the first warcraft RTS, this would be it.

Fritzocalypse
Fritzocalypse

A simple RTS, very enjoyable and quick to pick up. Almost too simple... could use a blacksmith for upgrading weapons and armours, or some additional tech trees. Wonèt stop me from playing though.

milford
milford

Very fun with friends, would recommend!

OnFriday
OnFriday

If I could give a neutral, I would.

Single player wise, I enjoyed the small part of the campaign that I've played, but then I went and bought a second copy for my friend so we could play it together.

Well, sadly, there is no progression in co-op, there's still 3 medals to earn, but they don't do anything at all for you progression wise. I love how the single player campaign makes you want to jump around and earn medals out of place, but the co-op medals here are clearly just a tacked on after thought.

If your aim is co-op campaign, you're much better off putting your energy into StarCraft 2's Co-Op Commander mode which is also FREE!

Gitany
Gitany

Unlike other RTS games, 8-bit armies does not try to make itself stand out by further implementing new "revolutionary" features. Instead, they took a good look back and saw what actually worked. They took the features that made old games like the early command and conquer games so successfull back, while adding whatever improvements newer games had to the mix. By reducing the amount of features and abilites the game manages to focus on whats most important: resource/production management, choice of unitcomposition, placement and timing without making the game too advanced to enjoy. In my opinion, 8-armies manages to be the most straight forward and enojyable rts experience among all rts games (while other games have other strenghts such as cool units, interesting mechanics or lore). The game does need some polish especially when it comes to balancing, which I think the game would get if people actually gave it the attention it deserves

Aquatius
Aquatius

Didn't realize this existed until I attempted to play 8-Bit Armies / Invaders online.... I noticed there were two factions I could select that I didn't have....

Needless to say I searched there names. I found 8-Bit Hordes. I didn't wish list. I didn't follow. I didn't wait for a sale. I put it in my cart and purchased it as quickly as I could click and the transaction would go through.

I installed. I started playing. I had a blast. I'm now typing this to you.

Petroglyph is outstanding. 8-Bit series is amazing! I want to say many curse words as adjectives.

8-Bit Series are going to stay in my library and I'll be playing and returning as the need arises.

Lahmacun Yiyici Beğ
Lahmacun Yiyici Beğ

Too shallow, too empty.

This is just a pixel graphics game which happens to adopt the most classic and traditional RTS aspects. There aren't many unique features and the replayabiliy is quite low.

Buy this game if you are a really huge pixel-graphics + RTS fan.

chrisd
chrisd

No Windows 11 Support. I would change my review if I could play this on modern PCs with Windows 11 support. I don't get to choose older Windows now because 11 is all that is available when you buy a new computer. These 8-bit games are great games but need Windows 11 native support to be playable. I've tried compatibility modes and they do not work. When attempting to run the game from Steam it acts like its going to load then the Steam icon goes from Stop back to Play without ever launching the program.

Fortunately I still have a Windows 10 gaming laptop and it works fine there but this issue needs to be addressed by the developers.

staunton16
staunton16

I've been looking for a game like the original Warcraft and this is a lot like it. Not too complex, but still intriguing

Thicc AF
Thicc AF

I liked the game when it worked, but i cant launch the game. It acts like it is going to start then it doesn't. I've read some forums and it seems like this problem isn't too uncommon. i can't say that i'd recommend this game unless this problem gets fixed.

913euphoria
913euphoria

fun game but campaign is way too difficult even on beginner

Magos Contrium
Magos Contrium

This is now essentially just the 8-bit Invaders DLC pack if you include armies.

FoodForTheWin
FoodForTheWin

Having trouble launching the game. Sadly it just gets stuck on the client loading screen.

Психаря от Лъгът
Психаря от Лъгът

Imagine if Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was made today with cute Lego-like pixel graphics and by the masters of RTS games, Petroglyph. That's basically what we have here. This game is really fun, great selection of units, nice setting, fun tongue-in-cheek style and an awesome soundtrack (it's Frank Klepacki, of course it would be awesome, and he went all in on the fantasy sound here).

I am also reminded of the fact, that C&C Tiberian Dawn very early in it's development had a fantasy setting quite like this one and bore the name Command & Conquer: Fortress of Stone. So perhaps this game is a peek into an alternate reality, a different view of what C&C could've been. Either way, more options is always better!

In short, if you want a fun, fast, simple to learn fantasy themed RTS while also staying far away from Blizoo, don't hesitate and buy this. It's very enjoyable.

Important note: this game becomes so much more fun and interesting when combined with it's two brothers: 8-bit Armies and 8-bit Invaders. All factions and maps become available across all three games. Meaning you can fight orcs with tanks and aliens with dragons. How epic is that?

taekwondotony34
taekwondotony34

What a fun game! It brings me back to my Red Alert 2 days!

Philosoraptor
Philosoraptor

Good, fairly simple gameplay, with some options that I am surprised are not present in other RTS games.
Pros:
Simple, fast paced gameplay
''Battle Cam'' feature enables you to see the arcade-y map from a closer view, as if a news corp helicopter was flying nearby
Dragons, Trolls, Cyclopses, Phoenixes, Skeletons, ballistas
Two 36 mission-long campaigns

Cons:
No cutscenes
Soundtrack is kinda arcade-y and get boring over time
Hotkeys are very different from traditional C&C games

Hudson633
Hudson633

A shallow reskin of 8-Bit Armies, which itself was a poor clone of better entries to the RTS genre.

Swearengine
Swearengine

Every time I try and get into an RTS (every few years or so), I always fart around with too many others before returning to the 8-Bit ones. These just do it for me. The fact that I can't change the game speed to a crawl (can't change the game speed at all as far as I can tell) makes me actually have to play which helps me to learn to be a better keyboard commander. I'm not very good at RTS games, and I've heard these described as good for beginners. There's plenty of challenge here, and I would not consider these lighter versions of an RTS. Northgard is more RTS-lite I think. Give these a try. I think you'll like them. So far I've played Armies and Hordes, but I've also purchased Invaders.

autistic penguin
autistic penguin

I'm going to recommend this game so people on my friends list will see this horribe game on their steam store

Hy60koshk
Hy60koshk

Voxelated degenerate result of an unprotected sex WC3 had with C&C.

RemoteWorker.id
RemoteWorker.id

Ow my! This is a down to earth Warcraft style RTS with a touch of pixel art!
I love this kind of art.

I think I am going to purchase two more for my kids to play in multiplayer: they love this kind of art too!

Buckles
Buckles

10 Questions:

1. Does this game require the use of an account other than steam?
🔲 Yes, It requires an X account. (0)
☑ No (1)

2. When I click play, does it launch the game or a launcher?
☑ Game (1)
🔲 Game Selection Launcher (0.5)
🔲 "Launch Game" Launcher (0.5)
🔲 3rd Party Launcher (0)

3. Can I play the game without an internet connection?
🔲 Yes (1)
☑ Yes, but multiplayer would be unavailable (1)
🔲 Yes, but some content/features are unavailable offline (0.5)
🔲 No (0)

4. Can the developers revoke my ability to play the game in any way for any reason?.
☑ Yes, technically access can be revoked, but it's unlikely. (0.5)
🔲 Yes, ability to access multiplayer content can be revoked. (0.5)
🔲 Yes, ability to access the whole game can be revoked. (0)
🔲 No (1)

5. Is my saved game/profile progress saved on my computer?
☑ Yes, all saved game/profile data is stored on local system. (1)
🔲 Yes, some saved game/profile data is stored on local system. (0.5)
🔲 No (0)
🔲 N/A (1)

6. Can I make a backup of my saved game/profile progress on an external drive?
☑ Yes, external physical backup and restore is completely supported. (1)
🔲 Yes, external physical backup and restore is supported for some data. (0.5)
🔲 No (0)
🔲 N/A (1)

7. Is this a phone game?
🔲 Yes, game was made for phones then ported to computers. (0)
🔲 Yes, game was made for computers then ported to phones. (0.5)
☑ No (1)

8. Does this game use real money for in-game purchases?
🔲 Yes (0)
🔲 Yes, but an in-game point system can also be used. (0.5)
☑ No (1)
🔲 No, but it has an excessive amount of DLC. (0.5)

9. If the developers go out of business or the servers go offline, will I still be able to play?
🔲 Yes (1)
🔲 Yes, but multiplayer would be unavailable (0.5)
☑ Yes, but some content/features would be unavailable (0.5)
🔲 No (0)

10. Does this game list Windows 10 as a minimum requirement?
🔲 Yes (0)
🔲 Yes, but XP, Vista, 7, 8 or "64-bit system" are also listed. (0.5)
☑ No (1)

BONUS QUESTION 1: Is this game "early access" or "greenlit"?
🔲 Yes (-1)
☑ No (0)

BONUS QUESTION 2: If I buy this game, but don't play it for a year will I miss content?
🔲 Yes (-1)
☑ No (0)

Conclusion:

Total Score = 9/10
☑ I recommend this game. (7.5-10)
🔲 I recommend this game, but it has it's issues. (4-7)
🔲 I don't recommend this game. (0-3.5)

floss
floss

Feels too much like a watered down RTS. You can only build one unit at a time. Units often get confused and don't do what you told them to do. The main thing this game does right is with single player progression. Beating levels and challenges give you bonus resources so that you can start the next playthrough faster. The first level you start with a single worker and base. Then as you move through you start with more initial workers, buildings, etc... It nicely solves the problem of starting a base from scratch too many times while giving you a reason to do level challenges.

But, it still wasn't enough to make it fun. There is no story to speak of, and each level's tasks weren't very good. It all just felt bland and was missing some of the core stuff I have come to expect from even decades old RTS games. One cool new feature doesn't fix the lack of a decent single player campaign or proper base building.

ByYoMaMa
ByYoMaMa

Great title , well made , Complex yet simple to learn I encourage anyone interested to give it a try.

Letande
Letande

“While money can't buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”
~Groucho Marx

There's nothing as sad as seeing one of your most favorite video game developers falling. And man, Westwood Studios sure fell. Like many other legendary developers (including Bullfrog Productions, creators of Populous, Syndicate, Theme Park and Dungeon Keeper, and ORIGIN Systems, creators of Ultima, Wing Commander and Crusader), Westwood Studios was killed by Electronic Arts. You don't need glasses to see why EA wanted the guys. The Legend of Kyrandia, Dune II, Lands of Lore, Blade Runner, NOX and, of course, Command & Conquer were huge names back in the days. Heck, according to statistics, Westwood games had about 6% of the entire market. Of course, EA wanted that. But what did EA do after purchasing Westwood? They did exactly what they usually do. They've put a lot of pressure on them (even though Joe Bostic claimed that they didn't interfere in the process directly, you can totally see that their games under EA were pretty rushed and we all know that EA killed a lot of good projects by rushing the developers, Anthem is a nice example of that) and then just closed them in early 2003.

Naturally, I was really excited when part of the ex-Westwood employees (including designer Joe Bostic) founded Petroglyph Games. Mr. Bostic was there, Michael Legg (who coded The Legend of Kyrandia and Blade Runner) was there and, of course, Frank Klepacki, one of my most favorite VG composers of all times, was there too. Like I said, I was really excited. And you know what? Petroglyph's first game was pretty good. Sure, Star Wars: Empire at War wasn't the very best RTS ever made, but, like I said, it was good and gave me a lot of hope for the future. Unfortunately, right after that, things started to fall apart. After their next two games (Universe at War: Earth Assault and Panzer General: Allied Assault) received mediocre feedback, Petroglyph started to release all sorts of crap. From ultra-cheap games that felt almost like scam (Guardians of Graxia is a nice example of that) to f2p nonsense with pay-to-win microtransactions. Like Victory Command. And like I said at the very beginning of this review, it was really, really sad to listen to Frank Klepacki's music while playing all that garbage. Good Lord, f2p crap with the music from Frank Klepacki himself... The man who composed Act On Instinct, Hell March and one of my most favorite VG tracks of all times – Huline Jungle from Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny... Good grief...

Anyway, you've got the idea. At this point, Petroglyph is nothing like Westwood. They're terrible, terrible developer that makes all sorts of crap. And here comes exactly that – yet another form of crap – shovelware. Sure, 8-bit Hordes doesn't look that bad. And let's just admit it - “8-bit” stuff sells. That's pretty much the idea. Everybody loves 80s. Old farts like yours truly love such stuff because it reminds them of their youth, the new generation loves those because of a pretty cool “retro” aftertaste (say whatever you want, but there's a certain magic in 80s that appeals to pretty much everybody) that makes everything better... Like I said, 80s sell. Not only in video games. On big screen (I think everybody saw 8-bit Christmas during the holidays?), in TV format (Stranger Things), in comics (Brian K. Vaughan's Paper Girls is one of the very best things I've read lately) and so on. And even though what we've got here is a 3D title that looks more like 3D Dot Game Heroes than real 8-bit, let's just admit it – the game looks pretty tempting. Right?

Unfortunately, 8-bit Hordes is not nearly as good as it looks. And the first reason for that is the fact that... it's a scam. Simple like that. Petroglyph's “8-bit” series is a shameless scam. Quite a lot of publishers are trying to sell us the same game more than once. Nintendo is selling their retro stuff again and again in every generation, there are always those “retro collections” like Mega Man Legacy Collection, there are all sorts of remasters (including pretty basic ones like Shenmue) and so on. But Petroglyph? Petroglyph decided to do even worse than that. They literally made one game and sold it to us three times. How? Easy. After finishing the game, they've made three basic “skins” for it. 8-bit Armies got Command & Conquer-like look, 8-bit Hordes got fantasy look, while 8-bit Invaders! (note the exclamation mark, Sid Meier with his Pirates! sure approve) got aliens. End of the story. All three are exactly the same game. I'm not overreacting, I'm not exaggerating, I'm not saying that just to make my review more funny. It's the... same... exact... game. Just with different visuals. And there's a nice word for such stuff – scam.

But OK, OK, maybe it's a good game? Maybe having more of it is actually a good thing? Of course not. What we've got is an ultra-cheap RTS that feels almost like mobile game. It's so basic, cheap and unsatisfying that it was hard to force myself to keep playing, even though I'm a huge RTS geek and more RTS is always welcomed by me. But honestly, 8-bit Hordes is just so slow and cheap and... ew. Just ew. I've played some one-man titles that felt way better than this. Marcell Baranyai's BC Kings for example. Made by one man, way better game. Way better. The worst thing about 8-bit Hordes, though, is its “optional” objectives. That thing pretty much killed 8-bit Armies. It was so-o-o obvious that it broke the entire balance and it was obvious that it needed to be fixed, but since nobody really cared about the actual product and all Petroglyph wanted is to sell us 8-bit Armies again without doing any work at all, they didn't bother to do anything about it. So, what's the problem? The problem is – every mission in this game (excluding tutorial) come with two “optional” objectives. Doesn't sound bad so far, but the thing is – those optional objectives are the only way to unlock new structures and units. Simple like that – you missed one of the “optional” objectives during the mission – you'll miss something important for the rest of the game. In other words, those “optional” objectives aren't really optional and end up being a huge pain in the butt.

All in all, though, this game doesn't even worth talking about. Like any other shovelware out there. It's close to impossible to consider this game as a real deal. Just because it's way too obvious that Petroglyph didn't even try this time. Like the rest of Petroglyph's “8-bit” games, 8-bit Hordes feels like one of those cheap mobile games that you pick up just because of nostalgia and then uninstall after a couple of minutes because of how unsatisfying it is. It's a bad game. Dull, cheap and uninspired. But the worst thing is? The worst thing is that it's from Petroglyph. Seeing ex-Westwood guys falling so low? It's sad. And the fact that Frank Klepacki's soundtrack for this game is very nice? It only makes things worse. People who worked on bloody Dune II and Command & Conquer wasting their lives on cheap shovelware scam? It's sad. I'm sad, guys. And nothing can cheer me up. Is that a cake?

David
David

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☑ Kids
☑ Teens
☐ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second live for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ Cyberpunk 2077
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Anon
Anon

Fix the mouse cursor. It clicks at the tip of the left side instead of the tip of the top.

Epsilon
Epsilon

Its like the original World of Warcraft games.