About Arcen Games
Our games make you think -- through environmental puzzles in an adventure game, strategy
and tactics in an RTS game, or tricky fights in an RPG, you won't be able to button-mash
your way through. Read More
AI War
AI War Meeting Grounds
Articles
Technical Support
AI War IRC Chat
Upcoming Games
Here are our current release targets for upcoming projects (subject to change):
Jan '10: The Zenith Remnant
Q2 '10: Casual Puzzle Game
Q4 '10: A Valley Without Wind
Q4 '10: AI War Expansion 2
2011: Alden Ridge
2012: Cayenne
Contact
For information about the company or our games, please send inquiries
to
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Press And Player Reactions
Reviews are still coming in, but we're already getting a great response from those
players and review /magazines/sites/blogs that have seen it.
Here's what people are saying about AI War.
(Also see us on MetaCritic)
AI War breaks most of the genre’s rules. Which is precisely why it’s incredible... This
out-of-the-blue one-man passion project is one of this year’s finest strategy games.
- PC Gamer UK Review, November 2009
I can't recommend it any more highly to strategy fans and fans of space games in general.
Innovative, absorbing and most importantly a hell of a lot of fun to play, AI War is the best
indie game I've got my hands on so far in 2009.
- Steve Blanch, Bytten Review
I think I've stumbled across this year's Really New Thing. There's a lot of 2009 to go, but I'll be surprised if
anyone else twists the RTS formula this dramatically and this effectively. And I'm hoping it'll be the
Next Big Thing, because it's big, different, entirely unprecedented and an exciting way to play an RTS.
- Rush, Boom, Turtle: And Now for Something Completely Different, by Tom Chick (Crispy Gamer)
It's a powerful experience when a game's less frenetic moments are just as absorbing as its action, and AI War
manages to engross from all available angles, challenging the player with strategically demanding
scenarios and framing it all in brilliant 2D visuals that provide ample visual stimuli but maintain
easy access to statistics. Expertly crafted resourcing and development tools prevent stagnation of
the game's simple conquest objective, and the sheer scope of ships, maps and difficulty levels – not
to mention co-op – is likely to keep this gem afloat for some time. RTS fans rejoice.
- Adam Hall, Boomtown
[AI War] manages to propel the RTS genre forward and beyond its usual trappings with an innovation that
is so simple it’s amazing it hasn’t been done previously, while still managing to keep the spirit of
those classic RTS games alive. Best of all, it does so with one key element in mind: co-op is not
just a bullet point on a box, but a way of designing, creating, and playing games.
- Jason Love, Co-Optimus Review
AI War is, quite simply, the best experience you could have with co-op or single-player
real-time strategy in this or any year. It combines grand strategy with emergent AI to form
an excellent game perfect for parties and multiplayer. It is easily worth double the price
that the developer is selling it at, and anyone with any affinity or taste for strategy games
should not miss it. It may be daunting at first, but an excellent tutorial and amazing
gameplay mechanics alleviate this into a game that almost anyone can - and should - play.
- James Murff, Big Download
My views of indie games have forever been altered. When was the last time you played an indie game that
contained the amount of content of several retail games? If you have ever played and enjoyed Sins of a
Solar Empire but cried because you couldn’t play it on a laptop or that the scale just wasn’t grand enough
for you, then you should pick up AI War – Fleet Command right now.
- Derek Duncan, DarkZero
It’s a Sins of the Solar Empire meets Supreme Commander meets Simply Nothing Else, and I think a
lot of you will find this very intriguing.
- Kieron Gillen, Rock, Paper Shotgun
Sure, the genres are different, and the settings couldn’t be more varied, but here we go. A.I. War:
Fleet Command
is more addictive than Diablo II. ... A.I. War: Fleet Command
is the rare game
that comes along out of nowhere and makes you pay attention. ... It won’t break the bank, you don’t
need a brand new gaming rig to enjoy it, you can lose yourself in the story, and you can keep playing
it for hours. Fans of space battles should do themselves a favor and pick this game up as soon as
possible.
- A.J. Hess, Diehard GameFAN
One of the most methodical, challenging and unrestricted games I have ever played, AI War is the embodiment
of nearly everything that can go right in an RTS game with few drawbacks... I've seen some good developer support,
but Arcen Games really takes the cake... I hold Arcen Games up as the standard that all developers and publishers
should be held to.
- Sandy Warnstaff, Reclaim Your Game
For me, it’s a rare thing indeed for a game to move from total obscurity to a fixed place on my hard drive in
the course of a handful of days... [AI War] is just brimming with innovative twists on the 4X-style RTS.
- Tyler Sager, Gaming Nexus
I've come to test AI War - Fleet Command yesterday, and I got totally hooked to it. What started as a "ten minute
test", became a two hours first sip. This indie game is made of pure awesomesauce... it's probably the best RTS
Artificial Intelligence I've ever met. And that's the best part, you can actually feel there's a mind behind it.
- Dungeoner.net Review
Since you specify the parameters of the Universe you play in, there are a lot of replay
opportunities and the degrees of AI difficulty and play style will also further add to that,
so you're getting a lot of indie-fuelled strategic play for your $20. But you are also
encouraged to become part of the AI War community, and participate in its future evolution
and development. With DLC already being rolled out regularly, and a planned expansion in
the works, you too could be a part of its emergence.
- UK Gamer Review
On the surface, AI War seems to be a traditional real-time strategy, not unlike its similar
space-based cousin, Sins of a Solar Empire, with large numbers of units across huge, mostly
empty, maps. However, this assumption would largely be inaccurate. Instead, AI War is a rather
novel blend of RTS, tower defense, grand strategy, and, strangely Warcraft III “creep crawling.”
- Christopher Beck, The Wargamer Review
Challenging and multifaceted AI that increases in difficulty as you become more powerful,
extremely large battles with lots of varied units that promote strategic variety, ample
interface designed to handle a large scale.
- James Allen, Out Of Eight PC Game Review
AI War: Fleet Command provides the kind of gameplay depth rarely seen in today's mainstream RTS offerings,
and it does so with one dimension tied behind its back.
- Derek Hidey, Cheat Code Central
[I]f you love realistic, complex and thorough space-based real time strategies, purchase this game
right now as it is an aspiring space commander's dream.
- Tom Clark, AceGamez
While the casual gamer will find the sheer volume of this game very intimidating, AIW:CF will
undoubtedly have a strong draw to the RTS enthusiast. Because of its support for a vast number of
units, and exploration of a seemingly endless planetary system, it will leave gamers playing the
same map for hours on end.
- Curtis Takaichi, Gamer Limit
If it hadn't been brought to my attention through an email, I probably would have never heard of
AI War: Fleet Command. This would be a shame because it turned out to be one of the more
entertaining games I've played recently. It isn't something for everyone, but fans of
well-thought-out strategy games will want to download the game and give it a try.
- Ricky Tucker, Game Vortex
If you've been looking for a challenging, detailed RTS that will fill your strategy needs
for a long time, and particularly if you have a few friends who would want to join you in your
battle against the AI, then this could very well be what you've been looking for.
- CaptainD, CaptainD's PC Gaming Blog: First Thoughts
I've played quite a few space RTS and empire builder type games in my time, but AI War feels
like it's on a different scale ... one of the more epic tactical RTS games I think I’ve seen to date.
If you’re an RTS nut this is not one to pass over!
- Andy Yates, PC Games and Reviews
I am highlighting (not reviewing) this game mainly because it’s the first selling game,
indie or otherwise, that is actually built on top of SlimDX. [...] What is interesting about
AI War is, well, the AI. Since I haven’t actually played the game yet, I can’t actually tell
you how effective it is. But as a strictly technical piece of work, it’s really quite impressive.
- Promit's Ventspace Highlight
Ekko and I just finished our first Coop game. It was 40 planets and we finished in 7 hours.
I have to say this game is just plain fun, one of the, if not the best RTS experience I've had
in a long time. All in all it was a wonderful experience, really it felt more like an
experience than just a game, and when something like that finally ends after 2 or 3 days
it's almost sad.
- Zulgaines, AI War Player
I downloaded your game AI War just from viewing the UI / tutorials / and overall
game design. I decided to purchase it even before playing the trial. That is how awesome the
game looked to me, and it didn't let down from the game play. You have created the RTS I have
been looking for for awhile. I played a game with 4 other people today and it was the most fun
I have ever had in a while playing an RTS.
- Tyler Moskowite, AI War Player
