Review: Tryst

Title: Tryst
Platform: PC
Developer: BlueGiant Interactive
Publisher: BlueGiant Interactive
Tagline: An RTS that needs work to compete
Family Friendly: Click here for more information.
Verdict: Skip It

With the recent struggles of the Command and Conquer franchise, and the meteoric heights of Starcraft, there is a nice sized middle ground that is waiting to be grabbed by some enterprising developer that wants to make a fun RTS. You know, something that is easy to get into, has a decent sense of humor and keep you busy for a spell. Tryst is not the RTS to fill this void. Instead, Tryst looked to those stalwarts of the industry and made an RTS title that checks off the requisite boxes, but does nothing to really make itself shine from the competition.

Tryst does try to deliver on the promise of a good RTS game, and on some things it does come through. The campaign is short, but it never overstays its welcome, looking more to focus on Skirmish and online play instead. It does mix things up with multiple choice objectives, where you will have to choose from two goals during a mission. There is no way to do both, so it comes down to making hard choices. Even the backdrop for the game as a whole looks unique and different from other games in the RTS genre.

But Tryst starts to fall apart when you really start to dig into it. I know that for years, the voice acting in most RTS titles has been minimal outside of the cutscenes, but here, that minimalist nature somehow finds a way to grate on a nerve. I know that the game is developed in Eastern Europe, but hearing quick quips that come straight out of Call of Duty does not work here. I don’t need to hear “Oscar, Mike” 52 times in a mission.

While it has a beautiful backdrop, the building and units themselves feel very generic. Buildings have basic animation but never really have any features that pop off the screen. And I was routinely baffled as to what units I was using unless I zoomed in with the mouse. It just feels so run-of-the-mill, which never helps set you apart from all the other contenders when looking to build an audience in the RTS field.

And remember that single player story that seems to be at the right length? It is, and I did not have a problem with that, but the missions did not have a good balance when it came to their order. I walked through the first mission without issue, and then spent an hour trying to beat the second one, that had timed objectives and ran me through a meat grinder of opposition. Come into the third mission and it is once again, a cakewalk. Difficulty should be a progression curve, and Tryst never plays to those rules. Some may like it, but I found it to be more frustrating than fun.

All of these complaints go away if the multiplayer hits on all cylinders, as that is where an RTS earns its stripes. Multiplayer is solid, with little to no lag, and battles that can be fought quickly, but most will start to tire of the minimal supply of maps. Worse is the idea that after a couple of weeks in release, there is little to no one playing online, so you can bet that those that have stuck with it are going to be pros when it comes to taking their game online.

No one starts out to make a bad game, and I do think there is a lot that could work well for another release of Tryst in the future, but right now, there are a load of ideas and a lack of polish on any of them. There is room for a player in the RTS genre to make a play for gamers that are looking for that diversion, but people will have to keep on looking, as Tryst misses the cut.

Oscar Mike:

• Decent Multiplayer gameplay
• Unique Environments

On My Six:

• Multiplayer is mostly dead
• Uneven difficulty in single player
• Repetitive sound clips are annoying

Family Focus
While Tryst may not be a great game, it is relatively harmless in its subject matter. While there is some blood and people that do get killed, it is never focused on for any period of time. Parents might have more of a problem with the broader themes of rebellion, terrorism and ongoing warfare, which are all themes discussed at points in the story. Be on the safe side and opt for kids over 12 for this one.