AxE: Alliance vs Empire Review: Is It Worth The Grind?

It does not bode well when you get a new game, start it, and then immediately think of another – especially when said game belongs a genre as saturated as mobile MMORPG. But that is exactly what you are going to feel when you start AxE: Alliance vs Empire.

This game is a new effort from Nexon to add yet another mobile MMORPG to market. Unfortunately, it’s a super lazy effort. If you remove the title, it is practically Lineage 2: Revolution. This would not have been as big of a problem if the developer had at least tried to mix things up, even just a little bit.

You will choose to side with either the Alliance or the Empire, which is, in essence, the good guys and the bad guys. Each of the two factions has 3 unique classes associated with it, so your options are pretty limited here. Depending on what kind of character you want to make, you basically just HAVE to choose the faction that has that class.

After creating a character and customize him/her to your likings, you will officially move into the game. ‘Game’ in this case is a very loose term, though, as most of the time “playing it” you will just be watching your character get from point A to point B and finish quest after quest on their own.

AxE: Alliance vs Empire is a MMORPG on mobile that is basically Lineage 2: Revolution

The game does have a story, but once again it is so typical that you will completely ignore it after the first 3 cutscenes or so. Hell, you will wish that there is an option to just turn it off altogether, as it has absolutely nothing (or at least nothing worth noting) to add to the experience.

As you progress further into the game, you will start unlocking more things to do. However, don’t expect any surprises here. You will be battling through a series of dungeons (or rather, watching your character battle through a series of dungeons), engaging other players in PvP combat, joining clans and upgrading your gear; again, nothing new that you haven’t seen before in pretty much all other MMOs on mobile. Furthermore, it’s evident that in order to make any real progress with the latter activity, you will have to make tons of in-app purchases.

But credit where credit is due, AxE: Alliance vs Empire actually has great designs in term of its world and characters. In fact, this is one of those games that are incredibly pleasing on the eye. That is a redeeming factor that makes the game worth at least a second glance.

Appearance can only get you so far, however, and aside from that, everything from AxE rings hollow. If it had come out a couple of years earlier, when Lineage 2 and MU Origin first made their debut, then perhaps more players might have been willing to spend time on it. As it is, they are well over these kinds of games now. There is barely any gameplay to speak of, and the whole thing is basically a race to see who is willing to spend more money to look more badass.

In the end, it brings nothing new to the table

That said, microtransactions and autoplay have been plaguing the mobile gaming scene for a long time, and AxE is not necessarily the worst when it comes to these aspects. Some people might even enjoy the autoplay feature as it allows them to do other things while playing at the same time, which is what mobile games are for to begin with. The most criminal thing about this game is that it doesn’t even try to make any innovation whatsoever. It is just another lazy MMORPG on mobile just like billions of others out there.

Still, the game is free to try (to “try”, not to “play”), so there’s no harm in picking it up if you’re tired of the likes of Lineage 2 or MU Origin. You might actually have a couple of hours of fun with the impressive graphics and effects. Don’t expect anything worth sticking around for, though.