Can you manage to staunch the effects of global warming? That is what Fate of the World asks you to do. Based on real science and facts this game gets some good points in the realism arena, but at the cost of some polish and richness of features.
The premise of the game is that you take on the role of the leader of the Global Environmental Organisation in the 9 missions presented to you. Victory and Loss conditions are laid out for you when you pick the mission you want to play, as well as a check box for easy mode at the bottom of the screen. 8 of the 9 missions are different takes on ways to tackle the challenge of curbing the worlds rising temperatures and environmental damage.
Gameplay itself is carried out in turns which span 5 years. During the turn you have the option to recruit more agents (or let them go) in the various regions of the world and play cards which represent your agendas and strategies. Further cards in each category are unlocked by using the ones previous to them in line in a tech tree style. Ultimately the game suffers from the lack of explanation of what the various things really mean. At times it felt like I should go do a ton of research before my turn so I could know what the heck I was actually doing. And that’s all well and good, but at the same time, this is a game, at least include that kind of documentation into the game. Perhaps something like Civilizations ‘Civilopedia’ that allows you to see details about units, technologies, buildings and such in game. Adding that functionality would vastly improve how this game plays in my mind, by eliminating so much of the guess work that goes into each action.
Graphically the game is fairly simple, presenting a globe with icons representing various things occurring in the regions. The UI for each region is patterned to match the feeling of the region, which can help break up the rather bland gameplay, but not overly much. The cards are nice looking with a good art style that makes it easy to identify each card at a quick glance.
Probably the best time I had playing Fate of the World was the Dr. Apocalypse mission, in which your goal is to wreak havoc upon the world while still trying to present the front of an honest and good person at the head of the Global Environmental Organisation. Trying to get away with actions like forcing a regime change or causing a rebellion while at the same time pushing through actions to raise the average temperature of the world but trying to make everyone think you are trying to stymie the effects of global warming is an extreme challenge. Oh, and see how many endangered species you can kill off. I think I managed to get 4 or 5.
With some more improvements to playability and depth of play this game could be a lot of fun, instead of just a little fun once in a while. As an educational game with a goal to educate people on the problems the planet is facing because of our actions, it is doing a good job of that. I think the price is a bit high for the quality of the game, but over all if you are interested in a game to learn about global warming, I’d say go for it, at the least it will spark some ideas in your head as to new things going on in the ‘green’ world.
