App Review No. 1 Battle Nations

Unfortunately, this game is no longer downloadable or playable

Strong Points:

Massive map

Long, humorous storyline

Loads of great units of different types and many stats

Loads of great and detailed buildings of different types

Great fight sequences

Great enemies

Regular updates

Promotion is great

Could be a computer game (and now is with the Steam support!)

The in-game characters are great and each have their own interesting personalities

Boss strikes are a great addition

Weak Points:

Loading times are too long 

Crashes a lot (As of update 3.0 this doesn't seem to be as much of a problem)

Most units and buildings aren't needed and are just for fun

Too many real money items and units

Too many resources (21)

Upgrading buildings isn't great (although adds a lot more content to the game) as you can only upgrade one building at a time

Most of the missions are the same - battling or collecting
Lots of lag on older devices (iPhone 4 and below)

In-depth review:

Release Dates:

World Wide: November 17, 2011

Controls:

Tap screen to control various options

Battle Nations is a great build-em-up app with a brilliant storyline and variety of units and buildings. For those people that have always dreamt of controlling an army and a base camp without the blood, sweat and tears that come with the occupation then this is the game for you.

Spoilers:

In Battle Nations you play the role of the newly appointed captain that is overseeing the running of an imperial outpost far in the north, (don't ask me why, as captain, you are not allowed to speak or fight and why you’re second in command actually gives the orders). You a division of the Empire, the 95th Rifles to be exact, and you have been sent to the north to find a deposit of uranium (yet again, I am not completely sure what happened to the uranium as you never find it and it is forgotten about until your second in command actually asks what happened to the uranium, mirroring the gamers opinion) that the Empire can use. The Empire is currently fighting the rebels led by the traitor general Ashe (strangely enough, he doesn't seem to be mentioned as much as his character should be either), and you come up against them a number of times while building up your outpost. Even though these are meant to be the main enemies you definitely come up against the, quite smelly, Raiders, and their, even smellier, leader Warlord Gantas, a lot more.

Characters:

The main characters include:

Captain- that's you, the non-talking, non-fighting, non-appearing Captain!

Lt, Morgan- Second in Command- Hung Over

Floyd- Civil Engineer- Tree Hugger

Sgt Ramsey- Best of the Best- Cat Lover

Zoey: Mechanical Genius- Just Happy to be Here

Perkins: Rookie- Wants to Go Home

Rating: 96%

Update: the two most wanted additions to Battle Nations are here! 1) Fight your way through ten tiers of enemies with your Guildmates or donate resources to help in your cause. Whichever way this is one of the best additions to the game and it gives you great units and resources! 2) These units include air units. Ones that have been asked for since the game began. Enough said.

Update: ready for competition? Ready for more fights and better boss strikes than ever before? With intraguild leader boards and another 80 quests these questions have been answered. Thank you Z2 Live.

Update: have you ever wished that you had gotten that limited edition unit but found that you didn't have enough Nanopods to do so? Or perhaps you are at a lower level and hope to get some higher levelled, more powerful units? Then try your luck at the Secret Vaults! Use the Nanopods you've been saving to roll the dice and try your hand at getting a new unit! Also in this update are some new limited time Valentine Day missions as well as a new prestige unit.

Update: round up, round up, get your new Guild UI here! Also included in this amazing bundle are three new roles (Vice Leader, Strategist and Operationalist) for those who like to have more structure for their Guild. And we'll even through in 80 Guild Levels (for more Gold of course. Please donate to your Guild to level up) which increase the amount of Leaders, Officers and Members you can have as well as increase a XP and SP bonus. Plus, Enemy Adult Bigfoots and Enemy Bigfoot Child can throw rocks at flying units but, sadly, Bigfoots raised by you in captivity will not. Finally, there have been sightings of Silver Wolves nearby and we are offering a big reward of 5000 Nanopods for the 5 Guilds that eliminate the most of these troublesome pests, spread between the top 20 players of these Guilds.

Update: and as if last updates UI wasn't enough! Now, the purchase screen has been improved and I can promise that more will be on the way. Also, have you ever felt that you were thrown into the deep end in your junior days at Battle Nations? Did you ever feel that the tutorial was too slow? Well, even if you didn't, you won't have to ever again with a new and improved tutorial! In addition, Guilds have been given a weight multiplayer which enables them to gain more boss strike points depending on their depending letting you compete with the best of the best and the biggest of the biggest! Finally, the Arctic Units have (Tank and Trooper) have been given a 60% damage defence against a cold attack (which makes sense, I suppose) and the Frostbite has been given a 50% damage defence against cold attacks (why does the frostbite get less protection against the cold than a measly Arctic tank we will never know).

Update: gold! Get your gold here! (for some nanopods of course). That's right, you can now trade nanopods for gold in the build menu! Also, several major bug fixes have been implemented. They include: a restored link to Friends in Guild 'Member Info' window and an iOS 7.1 bugfix that fixes the bug that slowed moving units into battle. As well as this, Korean is now fully implemented while Traditional Chinese is in the process of being implemented. Finally, the tutorial has been further improved to help newer players get the hang of the game.

Update: do you want non-guild related content? Do you want a larger level cap? Do you want more missions? Do you want yet another resource?  Do you want an update?! If you answered yes to any of those questions (and I'm sure that you did) then you'll love this Battle Nations update! Five new levels (we're out of level 65 limbo!) introduces 80 new levels consisting of fractured Rebels, Spiderwasp Queens, disturbing news for Perkins (?) and the Rebels ask for... peace? There also two new repeatable bosses to join the Ancient Sentinel in the form of the Spiderwasp Queen and The Goliath Tank as well as two new areas to go with them. The Rebel Base holds The Goliath Tank while the Spiderwasp Nest holds the Spiderwasp Queen (obviously). But that’s not all the Spiderwasp Nest holds, oh no. Due to the lava and low ceilings every non-immune unit takes fire damage every turn and aircraft and vehicles are banned (and I thought the Ancient Sentinel was hard!). Then there are the new units: the Electric Fence (no joke), the Royal Spiderwasp Warrior (new prestige unit), Missile Defence System (defence for your outpost), Plasma Tank, Plasma Artillery, Plasma Trooper and Plasma Turret. Wait... Plasma? Oh no... Yes, that's right, its new resource time! Plasma is a new resource (that brings the total up to 21!) that is used to train new plasma units (go down to the walkthrough for more details). Some of the raiders in the Prestigious Academy have also been moved to the Raider Training Camp as it was felt that they weren't prestigious enough (which I think is just insulting). There are also new buildings: the Plasma Weapons Factory, Plasma Refinery, Advanced Plasma Refinery, Research Lab (a new shop), Recycling Plant (a new shop) and the Chemical Reservoir as well as 8 of the Arbor Day trees in the Decorations section. Last but definitely not least is the HUD/UI update to end all HUD/UI updates! Absolutely everything has changed and absolutely everything is better and clearer to see. Check it out yourself!    

Update: two worlds collide and the Battle Nations world will never be the same again. Starting from level 10, you can team up with the BLU team from Valve's Team Fortress Two in order to defeat the RED team in a series of exciting new missions. Help BLU hunt for a mysterious and powerful artefact whilst recruiting some of their members (Heavy, Scout, Soldier, Demo-Man and Pyro with the other four on the way). Two worlds collide but will the world be better for it? Yes, I think it will. 

Update: ship just got real, commander. This is the tagline for the Battle Nations update and it actually sums it up pretty well. The 'ship' involved is actual naval units and story lines! This includes gunboats, subs and destroyer class ships as well as new buildings and decorations to navy up your outpost. But all is not well as there is a new boss here! The Dreadnaught class ship! Also, you can now battle and defend real players asynchronously through the Arena! Set up your five man/critter/vehicle/plane/infected zombie thing defensive formation and set off for battle! And all of this content is unlocked at the low, low level of 25! See you on the high seas, commanders! Also, you can now build on rough terrain!  

Update: the drums of war are sounding, commander and it's time to fight for the glory of your Guild in the new Arena Challenge event! Points are awarded for a win in the arena and deducted in a loss (for both attacking and defending). The top Guilds will receive epic new units, huge loot/resource payouts and more and the top Guild will receive the coveted Arena Champion Award which is displayed in the Arena for all your underlings to see! Finally, there are more performance updates and other improvements as well as more navy themed quests.  

Update: a short update to fix some problems. One: matchmaking has been improved for level 70 players for Anytime PvP. Two: you are only allowed to use a maximum of two of the same unit for defensive and offensive battles in Anytime PvP (so no more five plasma tanks!).

Update: the high seas contain many bountiful treasures, including: 45 new naval missions, 7 new player units and a repeatable Dreadnought Boss Encounter (level 40+) with a new Ironclad Boss Drop! Let us pillage the seas 'till nothing is left! (did I just say that out loud?). Finally, there are more behind the scenes improvements.  

Update: are you ready to defy the odds? Then you'll need some back up! And they way you can do that? Well what about Spawning on Death? That's right, for certain units, on death they will spawn special Rank One reinforcements with special stats that will last until the end of the battle and give you a last ditch attempt at victory. In addition, there are a load of performance updates and behind the scenes improvements. 

*The following paragraphs are the first part of a walkthrough*

Resources and currencies:

There are many resources in Battle Nations and they keep releasing more in every couple of updates, seriously though, after 21 resources and 4 currencies surely Z2 Live know that enough is enough.

The resources are separated into tiers:

Tier 1, the basic resources, these are the ones found on the map that you have to gather:

Stone: this resource is found in Stone Outcrops and needs a Stone Quarry to gather. Used to build the most basic of buildings and can be turned into Concrete.

Wood: this resource is found in Dense Forests and needs a Logging Camp to gather. Used to build the most basic of buildings and can be turned into Lumber.

Iron: this resource is found in Iron Deposits and needs an Iron Mine to gather. Used to train units and more advanced buildings and can be turned into Steel.

Oil: this resource is found in Oil Fields and needs an Oil Pump to gather. Used to train more advanced vehicles.

Coal: this resource is found in Coal Deposits and needs a Coal Mine to gather. Used to make Steel along with Iron and some decorations.

Tier 2: more advanced resources that use some of the basic resources to be made.

Concrete: created with the use of a Concrete Plant and Stone. Used to make more advanced buildings.

Lumber: created with the use of a Lumber Mill and Wood. Used to make more advanced buildings.

Steel: created with the use of a Steel Mill and Iron and Coal. Used to make more advanced buildings and units.

Tier 3: these resources are used to create special and powerful units and are gathered from quests, VP, through the use of prestige and occupying friend’s buildings:

Gears: this resource is gathered from quests, VP, through the use of prestige and occupying friends Vehicle Factories and are used to make more powerful vehicles and heal existing ones. The easiest tier three resource to get if you have a friend with a Vehicle Factory.

Bars: this resource is gathered from quests, defeating Rebels and Silver Wolves, VP, through the use of prestige and occupying friends Special Ops Centre, which, as it takes Bars to make is quite hard to do.

Skulls: this resource is gathered from defeating Raiders and is used to make a Raider Training Camp, Sandworm Ranch and train and heal Raiders.

Teeth: this resource is gathered from defeating Animals and is used to make the Animal Trainer building and train and heal Animals/Critters. Go to the Raptor Nest or Boar Badlands to get this resource a bit quicker.

Chemical Vials: this resource is gathered from battling Rebels who have chemical weapons and is used to make special buildings and train/ heal special units.

Tier 4: these resources are used to promote units to level 6 and to buy very advanced units. They are gathered by processing tier 3 resources in the Process Plant (and Plasma Refinery for, guess what? Plasma).

Widgets: Widgets are made by processing Gears, 5 Gears=1 Widget, and is used to train certain advanced vehicles and promote other vehicles to level 6.

Laurels: Laurels are made by processing Bars, 5 Bars=1 Laurel, and is used to train certain advanced soldiers and promote other soldiers to level 6.

Powder: Powder is made by processing Skulls, 5 Skulls=1 Powder, and is used to promote Raider units to level 6.

Necklaces: Necklaces are made by processing Teeth, 5 Teeth=1 Necklace, and are used to Promote Animal units to level 6.

Plasma: Plasma are made by processing Chemical Vials and Oil, level based jobs like a shop to change Chemical Vials and Oil to Plasma, and is used to train Plasma Units.

Special Resources: these resources are used to make special units and buildings:

Prestige: this resource is gotten when you get to the max level and then advance again. Every level up=15 Prestige. It is used in certain, special, decorations, Gears, Bars, XP and units. These units are trained in the Prestigious Academy and the resources are made in the Hall of Bounty.

Merits: this resource is gathered randomly by helping friends and is used to good units early on.

Black Nanopods: this resource is gathered by killing the Infected in the Northern Frontier and is used to train Infected troops and through the use of a Black Nanopod Facility can be used to make Nanopods, 5 Black Nanopods=1 Nanopod. They used to be used to make special, Infected decorations but these have been deleted.

Currencies: these aren't technically resources but are still gathered:

Gold: probably the easiest currency to gather, Gold is gotten from completing jobs in buildings and battling enemies.

XP: the next easiest currency to gather, XP, is gotten from completing jobs in buildings and battling enemies.

Nanopods: this is the premium currency that you have to pay for; it can be gathered by other means mentioned above, watching videos and doing jobs on Tapjoy. It is used to buy premium units and buildings.

Z2 Live Points: these are gathered on both Battle and Trade Nations and is used to buy a few special buildings and units.

VP (Victory Points): these are gathered by beating people online and are used to get certain prizes. They reset after a day and the prizes only go up to 40 VP.  
Energy: this regenerates automatically (up to a maximum of three) and are used to battle in PvP 

Goodbye for now, Harry.