We all know the story of the Wizard of Oz, but now, gamers can experience an action-packed continuation starring the popular characters like never before with the launch of Oz: Broken Kingdom.
First showcased during Apple's recent iPhone 7 press event, developer and publisher Nexon and This Game Studio announced the release of the new RPG mobile game on Thursday.
The perfect mobile game to be played with the improved graphics thanks to the new chip in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Oz: Broken Kingdom, has a cinematic feel to it that completely engrosses the player into its magical world.
"The experienced team at This Game Studio realized a tremendous opportunity when they took this globally relevant brand and reimagined it in a way that would resonate with today's mobile gamer audience," Lawrence Koh, General Manager at Nexon, said in a press release. "We knew when we first saw the game in early development that it was going to exceed player expectations on everything from graphics, fresh content, and most importantly, fun gameplay."
The game starts off with introducing the player to the story of a Great Darkness taking over Emerald City as both Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz mysteriously vanish. The player is introduced to a new character, Ophelia Shen, who is on a mission to save Oz and will stop at nothing to restore the city to its glory days, battling the evil witch and her monkey minions along the way.
Ophelia will also join familiar faces like the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow along her quest. These heroes all gain superhero-like abilities when it comes to battling through combat.
At its core, Oz: Broken Kingdom is a strategic turn-based game where the player (as one of the heroes) combats against villains and other players in real-time in what is called the Arena of Oz. During each "Wave" of battle, the player must select the hero they want to use. On the right-hand side, they will see the order in which character is up at bat to attack. On the bottom is a lineup of that character's abilities. Tap and hold on a specific ability to see what it is, how rare it is and the damage it will do.
Abilities cost mana, with the player generating two mana for every turn so that they can use their various abilities throughout the battle. Winning battles will give that character added things to their inventory, such as Essence, which can help upgrade their abilities or purchase items.
Along with defeating various enemies, the player can also battle in PvP rounds to further earn rewards to advance in the leaderboards.
There is also a compelling story throughout the game that helps move things forward by having the player travel through Oz to places like the Munchkin countryside and Glinda's Castle, all while trying to figure out what is happening in Oz. The player will learn that nothing is what it seems, and darkness is always around the corner.
There is lots going on in this title, but instruction-based tutorials along the way make it easy to get the hang of it the more the game is played.
Oz: Broken Kingdom is available to download for free for iOS and Android.
