Review: Antihero (Steam)

Rating: 7.6
Author: Jim Smale

by Jim Smale · July 14, 2017

Antihero is a fast turn-based strategy game with an (Oliver) Twist. Recruit street urchins, hire thugs, start a gang, upgrade your guild, steal everything… and bribe, blackmail, and assassinate your way to victory.

Pros:

Nice hand drawn graphics.
123MB Download size.
Steam Achievements.
Graphic options- Fullscreen and resolution.
Three modes- Campaign, Online and Skirmish.
Opening and ongoing tutorial pop ups.
Simple controls- Can all be played with just the mouse.
Strategy board game game play.
The idea of the game is to build a crew and rob buildings and generate money to take out the other gang but also acquire victory points done by completing tasks.
Scout areas to uncover them and reveal buildings.
Burgle buildings to make cash and send in urchins to take them over and create cash flow.
One v One scenario and to win you must get the needed victory points first.
Skirmish- You can do Vs AI or play hot seat local multiplayer with full customization rules.
Earn victory points by bribing officials, Assassinating the targets or blackmail.
Hire new characters to your crew and upgrade them to buff stats or add action points or how much money they loot each time or generate.
Bite sized levels in campaign with each game lasting around 20 minutes or so.
Five maps to play on.
Voiced characters and cut scenes.
Online is quick and easy to use.
It is fun to play.
It comes across as simple and basic but it is in fact a very deep rewarding experience.
You can evict, Lay traps in buildings for your enemies to gain control.
Third party gangs can block you or steal your urchins away.

Cons:

Not many graphic options.
A lot of randomness especially in relation to buildings. You can get dealt a bad hand and that ruins your game straight off the bat.
No Steam cards.
Online requires you to setup an account.
AI can either be extremely easy or devilishly hard.
A lot to take in.
Takes a few games to get the feel for it all and know whats what.
Outside of online or local multiplayer its very much a one and done deal with little reason to come back.

The Numbers:

7/10

Graphics - 7/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
8/10

Accessability - 8/10
8/10

Length - 8/10
8/10

Fun Factor - 8/10

7.6/10

Summary

Antihero is a fun game and one that is very rewarding. Board games like these are particular hard to nail as the random nature of it all can seem unfair a lot of the time. That aside it is a game you can learn quite quickly and online is the only true way to play it. I liked it and will continue to play it online but the campaign stuff I treated more like an extended tutorial. Worth a look if you want a new digital board game.