1.1x Review

I came back for the release of 1.1. I think it has only improved. I already thought it was the best mobile RTS out there and just a great RTS game in general and so far I think it's just gotten better. (Currently I'm level 16 with all units unlocked at Diamond III for GDI and Plat I for Nod. Up until today I'd only put $50 into the game since launch.)

The fairplay system has mitigated some (not all) of the frustration of losing to over-matched people. The new level system has added more and higher level crates. It also inflated the max medals making levels effectively easy to gain so now I have made it to level 16 and unlocked the Mammoth Tank. While it no longer matters to me, knowing how it felt to have these units locked away, I would personally still say that the level locking system should either be squashed or the medals inflated even more so that players of even moderate skill can unlock everything. The bounty system also has been completely improved for the better. I still think it could be more robust, but it feels much better. Rerolling is nice, you get constant progression win or lose, and always gold crates. 

The increased fuel is nice. Now, if you want to spend five dollars or so, you can pretty much just play and open lootboxes every few matches for quite a while. 

The new units are good to great. I love the Giga Cannon (admittedly an older unit) and the shock troopers are cool. My tick tank isn't a high enough level yet to use, but I've played against it and it seems cool too. I don't really like the APC for some reason, there's something about it just 'turning into' rocket men, but it's still a good unit. 

The better player profiles are good. The CC TV is slightly improved. Though I still wish it was more robust, and showed things like money, builds, etc., I assume that will come eventually.

We're never going to get rid of the leveling, and maybe it's a little Stockholm syndromey but now that it isn't as bad, I at least find it interesting. Since being overmatched means I won't lose medals, that's not so bad, and when you're evenly matched, but there's slight differences it can add a layer of strategy. That's more of a silver lining as this is still the worst part of the game, but what can you do.  

I don't think EA has the pricing down yet. The ridiculously over priced bundles seem to have gone away. When I made it to level 16 I got a $50 offer I actually paid for as it seemed worth it. I don't mind paying a few dollars occasionally for crystals in order to turn over trucks more often. But I really think there should be more small offers that are actually worth paying for. For example, at $3 there's probably no Epic unit I wouldn't buy a bundle for, especially before I had unlocked it. Even now, if something like Tick Bundle had been $5 I would definitely have paid that for the units I liked. Having daily offerings at $1-$3 (maybe common, rare, epic) like the cards would be nice. 

I also think the rare and epic daily cards are basically never worth buying. They're way too expensive. And while you get to 'pick' since there's only one per side each day and they rotate, it's not actually enough to ever make any noticeable progress towards leveling a unit up. If the rare's price were cut in half, and the epics were cut by a third, I would be a lot more likely to buy them ever day, which would translate into real money from some players (buying gems to get gold to keep the steady card flow) and allow players who didn't want to pay a steadier stream of cards as well. I think this is especially true since commons come in more often than rares through trucks, donations, and so on, and so many of my epics are underleveled. Especially those I just unlocked.

Gameplay wise, I think my only complaint now is the maps. They get boring after awhile. With so many maps to choose from, I find it very strange that in my last 100 games I'm basically on the same five or six. 

And I still think you should get a card or money or something when you lose. I just don't think you should ever get absolutely 0 progression from a game.