Summary
Worshippers looks and feels like a 4x built around a CCG. An interesting and unique mix that while solid, does miss the mark on depth and freedom.
Lets get the Early access bits out of the way first: Outside of a (severely) limited set of options the game runs smooth, stable and steady with (almost) no bugs, and no performance or other issues that I’ve encountered. For an Early Access title that is noteworthy in itself.
From a visual perspective the artstyle is fairly unique, and while not “high fidelity” it still has enough detail and nuance between the tiles and cards not to bore to quickly. audio is unremarkable and only noteworthy in that it doesn’t annoy, but neither does it enhance.
The technical things thus aside, lets talk gameplay depth and some of the issues… because while i love the combination of a 4X-Lite and deck building to get cards you then play as buildings and units and build from there, which creates a layer of planing with a little bit of “luck” thrown in, the experience feels to directed and lacking in depth to often.
You might get the idea that you have a lot of freedom, but the constraints of every mission require a “objective only” approach much like a tactics or puzzle game, and less like a 4X where the objective is a recommendation and the road you have to pave yourself. Here often the road is set and your choice is limited to how efficiently you want to build it, not if you might want to approach it from another direction or method.
For me personally, that is the biggest flaw in the title: It looks like you have a lot of freedom to experiment, expand and “mess about” in terms of a 4X… but the reality is that you have to play it like a puzzle game with limited moves and that makes the rest of the experience a lot less fun for me.
Note i less lot less fun, not boring. Because this is a solid title, that only requires more content, more depth and more freedom to the player. Which is where early access comes in.
