Ekuos under Flames (video game)
| Ehbas Desgu Geude | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Dezdvinu Games |
| Publisher(s) | Sybac Systems |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | RTS Action |
Ekuos under Flames or EUF was a game released in 2007 by Dezdvinu Games. The game met moderate success in Vaniu and Soltenna as well as some parts of non-Miraria. The game was known for its use of magic and steampunk aspects merged with a slash 'em up and strategy gaming style.
Features
Ekuos under Flames was noted for improving the graphics from their previous title Holy Crusade: Enemy at the Gates! which failed financially despite selling more than 75,000 copies. Players are expected to fight in first or third person against enemies while commanding regiments of troops to obtain objectives or eliminate enemy armies. The game features two campaigns that show cutscene sequences using footage of actors rather than animated scenes. Originally Ekuosia did not have its own story but a DLC installation disk a year after the game's release added a fleshed out Ekuosian storyline.
Players in the game are expected to make decisions about their army as well as the route they wish to take. City names were randomly created to avoid legal issues in several countries. There was only three localizations of the game in Shohuanese, Lugidan, and Terminian respectively but some unofficial localizations do exist.
Players are expected to encounter various troop types such as handcannoneers, longbowmen, elemental casters, and various medieval, magic, and steampunk troop types.
Plot
The game's introduction begins with a credit sequence showing the year as 1302, saying that as tensions rose between the Holy Vaniuan Empire and the Grand Ekuosian Empire, the two ended up in a holy war between Pauegism and Iovism.
Vaniuan Campaign
The Vaniuan Campaign opens up with a scene featuring troops landing on the coast of Ekuosia and beginning their campaign under the player's character Geultu. The player is given a choice in the battle whether to continue the failing attack on the Ekuosian garrison of the city Esgos, or to fall back and take another strategy of attacking the nearby villages to pull out the Ekuos garrison. If the player chooses to attack nearby villages, character dynamics occur where Ekuosian and Vaniuans speak while in Battle with the Ekuosians extremely upset as they fear or cry for their loved ones.
The campaign after that drags on with several battles concerning a magical weapon of immense power being planned to bring forces of darkness to aid the Ekuosians against the Vaniuans leading the Vaniuans to bring in their own powerful weapons using the latest steam engines and cannons that were developed.
The campaign hits its high point when in the final battle the main character clashes in a three way battle that becomes all the more confusing as various troops switch sides leading to a climax as troops fight for an item called the "Waning Heart", known for its ability to grant its wearer any wish of their desire. The campaign ends as the main character is seen charging with troops into a sandstorm at the Emperor of Ekuosia as he flees towards the known location of the Waning Heart leading to a flash of light and a switch to the credits.
Ekuosian Campaign
The Ekuosian campaign begins as the main character, Sevos, responds to a report of brigands attacking a village. The regiment doesn't find the 'brigands' until night sets in only to find out they're in reality the scouting party of an unknown army. Cutscene dynamics play and the player learns of the Vaniuan army. The player is left with a choice of letting the Vaniuan scouting party survive to bring back to the Ekuosian Emperor, or to kill them all off. This decision plays an important choice in the story as the scouting party will meet the player again in a scene where they save the player in a moment where a battle turns against them.
The storyline continues to play in a sort of correlation to the Vaniuan Campaign which ultimately leads to the final battle of the war, where the character can ultimately stop Geultu, the playable character of the Vaniuan Campaign, from stopping the gone insane Ekuosian Emperor, or to help Geultu in chasing after the emperor. If the player decides to help in chasing the Emperor, it shows a hidden scene that was not shown in the Vaniuan Campaign where the Ekuosian Emperor crowns himself with the Waning Heart and summons an army of "corrupted" which the player has to fend off to save the two armies as the battle turns into a three way between the Ekuosians, the Vaniuans, and the Corrupted undead soldiers of both sides. The battle ends in victory for both sides who only barely survived the onslaught and a cutscene opens where Geultu is close to where the Ekuosian Emperor is seated only to see that the spire of which he's hidden in slowly sinks to the ground before a blinding rainbow light ends the scene with the Emperor's evil laughter in the background opening up for a potential sequel.
Reception
The game was met with some positive responses by several gaming magazines but was unfavorable for being difficult to play as multitasking in the game could become arduous.
Criticism
Several Iovist and Pauegist sects called for boycotting of the game for its apparent misinterpretations of their respective religions.