Oil is thicker than blood in this naval strategy game…
In the post-apocalyptic flooded world of Oil Rush two things running short: oil and time. The last survivors, desperately seeking to seize control over the remaining of oil on the dying planet and crush their enemy, have started the global naval war that turned the whole world into a massive battlefield. Are you equal to the task of winning the last war to end all wars? Find as you play through the 16 missions of single-player campaign which is offering variety of tactics and environments, from half-flooded jungles to cold northern seas. In these harsh and cruel times, oil is thicker than blood.
Oil Rush is your standard RTS, you gain resources from capturing oil pumps, then use them to upgrade refineries and send out troops to capture more oil stations from renegades. The story makes a good point of how valuable oil would become in a post-apocalyptic world and it makes sense why so many would fight and die just for a few barrels of crude, unfortunately though the voice-acting is amateur at best and the dialogue is far from perfect.
The game doesn’t let you pick individual units to send out, but instead gives you an option of 25%, 50% or 100% to deploy to attacking, while you can upgrade your main base with bunkers and turrets to take out those who would try and attack it. The campaign is pretty basic and it’s not unlike anything we’ve seen before, although I do question why the units don’t go directly to where you ask them to…instead they just seem to go round in circles along the water, before turning around and heading to the objective.
You can follow any unit’s actions through a cinematic view by tapping the F key when you’ve deployed them, which does look impressive, but it’s nothing new. There are 16 missions through the campaign and once you’re done with that, you can battle it out online on 15 maps. The game is definitely a budget title; I found it for between £10-15 on the internet and you can download it directly via Steam for £12.99.
In terms of visuals, Oil Rush looks impressive as long as you have the hardware to back it up. The water effects are really nice, while the explosions look on the average side, while cutscenes look dated. Voice-acting is mediocre as I’ve already mentioned and the music is average at best.
The Verdict
Oil Rush is a competent RTS. It’s better played online as the campaign isn’t anything new, but it does a good job overall. It just doesn’t set the world on fire, but it’s worth a look if you need a new strategy game in your life.
