Price: $9.99 | Release Date: October 15, 2009 | ESRB: E (Everybody)

4 Stars - Good enough to buy

Describing Mushroom Wars as a Real Time Strategy game, while technically accurate in the sense that it takes place in real time, and requires strategic thinking, will deter a lot of people from experiencing the game. It's kind of like describing something like Uncharted 2 as a third person murder simulator; while some may see it as accurate, it excludes a lot of the game's subtle nuances.

While Mushroom Wars does indeed have most hallmarks of your typical RTS game, such as unit production, unit upgrading and defense building, it is presented in such a way that you will barely notice that you are actually intricately managing your forces in this way. The cutesy cartoon graphics are adorable and will disarm, before the actual depth of the game comes to the fore.

Best described with that old cliché "easy to learn, hard to master", you will only be using six buttons on your PS3 controller, as well as the analogue stick. L1 is for upgrading your towns, while R1 is for troop movement. With these simple controls the stage is now set for warfare on an epic scale. There are three different game types available, but all involve some form of destroying your opponent. This is achieved through taking over neutral towns in order to create more troops.

But wait, it's not that simple. Sure, on the surface it appears to be a straight numbers game: if you send 20 people to attack your enemy's town with 10 people in it, you will win. But there are all sorts of other factors that come into play, including the aforementioned upgrading function. By spending some of your little guys to change a town (unit producer) into a forge or a tower, your forces will be given either a boost to offense and defense (forge) or have a defensive tower that shoots and kills enemy units for backup. In this way, a small group of defenders can easily repel a much larger force of attackers.

And that's where the strategy comes in. You will need to weigh up each situation and decide the best course of action to defeat your opponents. Will you make five forges as soon as possible in order to crush your opponents with superior might? Or will you go for sheer numbers to dispatch those who challenge you? The choice, ultimately will rest with you.

Mushroom Wars is one of the most enjoyable games I have played on my PlayStation 3 in a long time. Getting into the game is so easy, and the controls just let you jump right in there. It's such a shock, therefore, when the game is over so quickly. There's a few other options to keep you satisfied, such as 12 skirmish maps to play against the computer, and a local multiplayer section, featuring six maps and three different game types. This is in addition to the 28 campaign maps, which features a mixture of all three game types. It seems like quite a bit, but the reality is that you will finish this game in quite a short time.

Sure there are trophies to get (if you're into that sort of thing, like I am), but playing the game on Hard mode is a nightmare, as is trying to finish the whole campaign in under 60 minutes. Good luck with that.

There are a few things wrong with Mushroom Wars that I wish had been included. Firstly, it would have been awesome for more maps (but I suppose that's what DLC is for). The six available in local play really don't stretch that far, and you and your friend will probably get bored of them rather quickly. Secondly, being able to play the game online with friends would have been a nice inclusion. As it stands now, you get access to an online leaderboard of scores and times, not very exciting. Thirdly, the ability to allow more than two players in a local game seems obvious, but sadly lacking in Mushroom Wars. Hell, I'd even like the ability to play with my friends versus some A.I. players. Finally, but not most importantly, a map editor would have been an awesome addition to the game, and would have extended the gameplay too.

The Verdict: A fantastic game, spoiled by a few oversights that should really have been included. Try the demo, I'm sure you will like it.