Age of Darkness: Final Stand Review – Feels Like Wasted Potential?

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I initially tried Age of Darkness: Final Stand upon its Steam Early Access release in 2021. Initially, it seemed like a fitting successor to They Are Billions, a highly underrated yet exceptional RTS game, as it boasted an appealing aesthetic, seamless gameplay mechanics, and intriguing concept. I eagerly anticipated its completion. However, the story took an unexpected turn…

  • Genre: Real-Time Strategy
  • Developer: Playside
  • Publisher: Playside
  • Release Date: 15th January, 2025
  • Price: $27.99/ 26,99€/ £22.99
  • Buy at: Steam
  • Reviewed On: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.70 GHz, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GTX 2080

To get us started, let’s discuss the fundamental concept of Age of Darkness: Final Stand – it’s a real-time strategy game similar to They Are Billions from 2019. Your responsibilities include constructing your town, acquiring resources, enlisting troops, designing elaborate defenses, and periodically warding off colossal waves of monstrous entities that the game introduces based on Lovecraftian lore.

Instead of multitudes of the undead, enemies in Age of Darkness: Final Stand are more ethereal and spectral. The terrifying nightmares originate from “The Veil”, and their appearance is distinctly otherworldly: skeleton-like mobs, haunting specters, disfigured multi-legged creatures, colossal hulking beasts, all in vibrant spectral greens, evoking feelings of madness and despair. Despite a unique design, these units don’t seem to present a significantly different threat compared to those in They Are Billions or other zombie games.


In my review, I’ll explain why the main issue I have is the limited variety of enemies in Age of Darkness: Final Stand. Despite appreciating the design of the unit, it seems a bit lackluster at times. The game excels at delivering numerous enemies simultaneously, creating a sense of overwhelming hordes. However, without diverse enemy types to introduce fresh mechanics and challenges, each horde eventually feels repetitive, even with more enemies.

The concept behind ‘Horde games’ typically involves two key elements to keep players engaged: an escalating number of enemies and an increasing variety of enemy types. Age of Darkness: Final Stand delivers on the first aspect, but falls short on the second. This lack of diversity feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering the game’s potential for designing unique and intriguing creatures, such as flying units, ghostly siege engines, more animal-inspired creatures (like the sewer centipede from Dark Souls 3), and enemy types with distinct attack patterns, similar to the Crusher.

Instead of merely having large health bars, these enemies could have been given interesting mechanics to fight against. Most enemies, aside from the basic ones, end up feeling overly powerful without offering any engaging combat experiences.

In a fortunate turn of events, this issue does not affect the game’s human characters. There are three playable factions: The Order, The Rebellion, and the Volatist, each boasting two unique heroes. These six hero units exhibit distinct behaviors, all with their individual abilities. Edwin, for instance, is a knight wielding a large claymore, slicing through multiple adversaries with every strike. Merek is a muscular knight armed with an axe. Aelis summons her loyal troops and boosts them in combat, while Vizargo and Aurelia harness powers from The Veil; Aurelia even uses Dark Essence as currency for certain abilities. As for the common units, they follow standard expectations: swordsmen, spearmen, archers, healers, crossbowmen, and knights. Additionally, there are exclusive units for each faction such as the cultist (quick, dual-blade-wielding lunatics) and the hunter (an improved marksman with traps). Unlike their enemies, what makes each unit enjoyable is their tactical application in battle, and this applies to both regular and siege units, although there are only three siege units: a catapult, an impaler (a ballista), and a flamer; these are highly effective, but costly. In my opinion, a few more human units like arquebusiers or cavalry would have added a nice touch.

Let’s delve into what I found most enjoyable: the campaign. Initially, I approached it with no anticipation, thinking it would quickly lose my interest after a few missions. However, I found myself making time to play it over several hectic weekends. Despite its predictable plot and being somewhat generic in terms of fantasy, it’s like a comforting meal – you know what to expect, but the enjoyment is still there. I won’t reveal the story for you, but if you’re a fan of fantasy, you might find it entertaining. However, what truly elevates the campaign is the way the developers kept it engaging by switching the factions you control. You’ll find yourself as The Order, striving to prevent chaos in one mission, leading The Rebellion in another, and even playing as The Volatists on occasion. There’s a variety of missions, ranging from desperate last stands, stealthy escapes, full-scale battles, resource struggles, and more exciting elements.

The main problem I find with the game’s campaign is that it ends quite suddenly without much lead-up to the final mission. It lacks the sense of climax you get from reading an engrossing book or watching a gripping movie, where things gradually build up towards a dramatic conclusion. Instead, the last mission arrives and there’s no real sense of anticipation or grandeur. I believe this may be due to the ending being designed to hint at future content expansions. While I’m looking forward to playing those, it seems like a missed chance to bring closure to this story in a more satisfying way.

In essence, Age of Darkness offers an acceptable overall experience. It doesn’t stand out as exceptional or groundbreaking, but it also avoids being criticized for poor presentation. The graphics are satisfactory, with units and buildings featuring some detail and good textures. However, the sound is merely functional without any standout elements like memorable unit barks, a captivating music score, or remarkable sound effects. The animations could use some refinement, as they sometimes appear awkward, particularly with certain units, especially heroes, feeling somewhat floaty. There were occasional technical issues such as frame drops and stutter, which may be due to the game’s optimization or my system. I’ve provided my system specifications at the start of this review if you’d like to compare. The user interface is well-designed, being simple and easy to navigate with all necessary information readily available. Age of Darkness won’t leave you gaping in wonder, but it also won’t disappoint. A minor issue I encountered was units stacking behind each other, which can result in those on the back doing nothing if not constantly adjusted, suggesting potential issues with pathfinding. Some users have reported bugs, although I didn’t encounter any during my 50 hours of gameplay.

In summary, Age of Darkness: Final Stand primarily focuses on horde-defense strategy gameplay, which can become repetitive over time. However, the charm lies in devising strategies to manipulate randomly generated maps to your advantage, constructing barriers and defenses excessively, and planning for potential failures by building multiple layers of redundancies. If you appreciate this style of gameplay, Age of Darkness: Final Stand could be an enjoyable choice for you. On the other hand, if you seek a more traditional RTS experience, this game may not meet your expectations. Additionally, it offers a decent, albeit somewhat tacky campaign, which might make it an intriguing pick for your next game.

Final Score: 6/10

Originally, I’d have given this game an 8 or higher due to my general enthusiasm towards the games I review. However, despite the positive aspects I highlighted, such as the engaging campaign, a score of 6 out of 10 feels more fitting because of the limited enemy variety, technical issues, and lack of strategy depth. Perhaps my expectations for Age of Darkness: Final Stand were simply too high, or maybe it didn’t quite reach its full potential. Despite these reservations, if you enjoy single-player campaigns, I believe Age of Darkness: Final Stand is still worth a try. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if it might not have the longevity I had hoped for. Fingers crossed that my initial impression proves incorrect.

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2025-03-08 19:44