E3 2012 – Hands On With Happy Wars

During our travels to the Microsoft booth at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, I took the opportunity to swing by the kiosk of a game that will be arriving on Xbox Live Arcade later this summer.  A multiplayer battlefield domination game, Happy Wars is a title sure to bring excitement and entertainment to many a gamer.

Toylogic brings a multiplayer experience unlike any other to Xbox Live Arcade with Happy Wars. Up to 30 players can jump into a competitive game, or 15 can play cooperatively through the many levels of gameplay available.  After choosing your class (warrior, mage, or cleric), you’ll take to the battlefield against other players, or an enemy AI, to gain dominance over the playing field.  The premise is simple: between you and your opponents’ strongholds are waypoints that you must take over and defend in order to keep your foothold in enemy territory.  Once you have secured the waypoints, you can then move to the enemy’s castle to break down the doors and storm the keep.

Of course, while the premise may be simple, the implementation is not. As you’re working to gain ground and take over enemy castles, they’ll be working to do the same.  This makes battle in Happy Wars exceptionally fluid as players will use many tactics to keep each other off-balance.  Your enemy is approaching from mid-field?  Why not sneak in from the flank and take down their towers from behind to force them to pull back while you build your own towers in their place?  How about teaming up with another player for a temporary alliance until the opposition is cleared?  Strategy is key in Happy Wars, and the only way you’ll survive to the end game.

The unique thing about Happy Wars isn’t necessarily the gameplay aspect, but rather the world that the wizards at Toylogic have created.  Cartoonishly delightful toon-shaded characters and models are used to bring a light-hearted look to an otherwise serious style of game.  Tiny bobble-headed characters with joyful looking expressions take to the field in their armor and wreak havoc on the battlefield en masse as you can join with your friends online for some of the most enjoyable combat experiences to hit Xbox Live Arcade for 2012!  Be on the lookout for this game, as well as our review around the launch!