BATALJ (english review)

Timechess from Space

BATALJ is a tactical level strategy game played against a human opponent. The goal of the game is to gain five winning points from the play area. The game is firstborn from the Swedish startup Fall Damage. Founded by four former DICE employees the focus is on a visually modern turn-based asymmetric strategy, with some wishes of it being viable for e-sports.

Game Information

Name: BATALJ Publisher/Developer: Fall Damage
Platform: PC Type: turn based asymmetric strategy
Age ratings: ?
Reviewers: Rami, Duck
Pictures and links:
Launch Trailer
BATALJ Gameplay Smash Look

From the perspective of the gamer?

Compared to XCOM-series, BATALJ is fishing on the same lake. It's simple mechanics, and straightforward UI is reminiscent of the latest XCOM iterations. At the core, the game is a turn-based strategy, with both players planning their moves at the same time. The units move their initiative accordingly, so faster units might dodge the attacks by jumping off the line of fire or appearing where you least expect them to. The gameplay is mobile and guesswork on opponents next move is highlighted. Denying the enemy from scoring the points is crucial for the victory.

The core game presents three factions which the player can form his team from. By choosing a hero and the support units, the gameplay can be tailored to tactics of the players choosing. Fifty-four units mean that the opponent doesn't know who to play against. The reinforcements drop in after the game, so the game keeps its dynamic gameplay till the end.

The visual design of the game flirts to the Overwatch and other current games, the teams being funny generic. Re-Linked is a bit like Warframe, Rusters being the Battletech-guys and Splicers some kind of genestealers. If the player wants mobility, the choice is Re-Linked, Rusters go with the big guns and Splicers are tricksters with reflection and resurrect skills.

The gameplay balance is a little tricky to say anything concrete about. A large amount of units does mean that the player needs to test many combinations to find the correct ones. I think the 'Emergent Play' term can't be applied here because while the rules are somewhat simple, the game is not straightforward because of special powers. The balance is, by nature designed to the game.

At the launch, the game didn't sport too many players, so I have to say 'it's nice.' The game isn't free of logical problems like unclear UI which doesn't tell which unit is not ready? The game uses left mouse click for cancel, instead of the right click that player might be used to. It's hard to see the ranges of the weapons and UI could be more informative.

The plotting goes about like this. Video: Princess Bride (1987)

As the victory is often close, players should be able to play with sensible tactics. However, the new player is somewhat overwhelmed about the special effects. One unit stuns another reflects. What's the deal here? The tutorial doesn't really teach much. Instead, the game needs the player to figure them out through the gameplay. What is shock absorb? It would seem it is actually being reduced from 'True damage' so 'True damage' is not sure damage. The player would like to use the resources provided here but often doesn't know how the game ticks. The 'sandbox'-mode helps a lot as the player can test special situations.

Winning over the victory areas is not a new game mechanic. Even the great children programming game Switch&Glitch had this kind of multiplayer. The graphics seem to be top of the line, and gameplay is laggy even with the hardcore PCs. It feels like the optimization was left unfinished. The asymmetrical gaming works basically well, meaning that the opponent has a minute and a half to make up his movement before the game continues. This means that gameplay is rather fast.

The game will have new features in near future. For example, the play area could well fit four teams at the same time. Still, it would have been rather good if we had several game modes at the launch. Additionally,  AI and singleplayer would have been helped the starting player.

Perspective of the ratings?

The game is fantasy action in a fantasy context. Light balls and twinkle beams don't generally lift the Finnish age ratings, however, PEGI could give some age rating from the implications alone, but I don't see that their rating being high either.

Parents and game education?

One thought about developing the games is that new game mechanics are not really invented anymore, but games are versions of classic games like chess, rock-paper-scissors and the Labyrinth. BATALJ is a chess influenced game, and it resembles slightly 'African Chess' developed by Finnish chess players. The core idea of that game is to add special abilities to chess pieces, making them strong and the game less depended on the positions. Generally, strategy gaming needs brains, so that is one reason why players have never had to defend or explain the benefits of the strategy gaming games to teachers and parents.

During the game you can talk about

• Does the game need a background story?
• What kind of game modes would you prefer?
• How do I figure out which team is stronger?