Nanovor

Nanovor Review

By Erhan Altay

Nanovor is the first game to be released by Smith & Tinker, a relatively new company founded by the designer of the popular MechWarrior franchise.  Nanovor first entered public beta testing in May 2009, and is now in commercial release.  The game is available as a free download on the official site, with the option of paying for additional ‘boosters’, which contain random nanovor bugs that players use in battles.  Gameplay in Nanovor is similar to that of online trading card games like Urban Rivals – combat is turn-based, involves mixing and matching available creatures, and trading with other players.  The game is geared towards a younger audience, but it can be enjoyed by a wide range of players.  A rough, but useful way to describe Nanovor would be ‘Pokemon duels in a sci-fi computer setting.’

Silicon Bugs

The bright, animated homepage helps give Nanovor an inviting appearance, and makes it clear that it is a child-friendly game.  Parental control features are given prominent place on the site, which makes sense since the game is targeting the 7-12 year old demographic.  The developers have done extensive work to build an entire franchise around Nanovors — action figures are available for purchase, there’s an extensive backstory to read up on, and even a cartoon series that takes viewers into the world of Nanovor.  Logging in for the first time exposes players to a short intro video that explains the concept of the game from the perspective of two kids who discovered microscopic bugs living inside their computers.  It is important to note that Nanovor are not digital – they are organic creatures that just happen to be tiny and silicon-based.  Fortunately for us, these critters love to fight one another, and can instantly regenerate after battles!

Rapid Entry

Account creation is a simple process and doesn’t require email verification to log in.  Parents of young children can create special ‘parent accounts’, which give guardians control over their kids playing habits.  From my experience, there is nothing in Nanovor to warrant concern, so parents need not worry.  Once past the intro video, players can jump right into battles, or take the time to read three tutorials.  Each tutorial subject (Swarm Selection, Battle, and Dashboard) contains a series of questions, which are answered via short videos.  Before a battle begins, players build a swarm (team) of nanovor from their collection.  New players only start with three nanovor, and all their swarms will be made up of those three, but as they continue to play more and more will be unlocked.  Each nanovor has a point value and no swarm can exceed 1,000 points.  This forces players to make decisions on what kind of swarm they want to use.  You can go for a powerful swarm made of a few heavy hitters, or a literal swarm of low-cost, but weaker nanovor.  There are three types (or families) of Nanovor: Magnamod, Velocitron, Hexite.  Each family has three primary Nanovor which serve as the base form for all the rest in that particular tree.  Just like in Pokemon or Digimon, Nanovor evolve into stronger forms as they gain experience.  Experience in this game is tracked through a badge system, with various badges rewarded at the end of battles.

Looking for Duels

There is no game world to explore in Nanovor.  Instead, players spend their time in a lobby where they may chat with other players.  Since the game is still very new, the lobby channels are usually either empty or have very low populations.  Even with a small player base, it normally doesn’t take long to find a 1v1 duel.  In order to start a fight, players simply click the large ’start battle’ button on the bottom-right of the lobby screen.  The game uses an automatic matchmaking system to pit players against others near their strength.  Battles can have up to four participants, but from my experience, the standard 1 vs. 1 format is by far the most popular.  It normally takes less than a minute to arrange a battle, but the system has a tendency to freeze up from time to time.  Lag and connection issues are quite rampant, which I attribute to the fact that Nanovor is a new game by a new publisher.  My client actually freezes up about half the time when trying to log in.

Turn Based, Slow Paced

Once a battle has begun, each player chooses which of their nanovor to send out first.  Nanovor have three stats: Power, Armor, and Speed.  While speed determines which nanovor is likely to go first, there is a random element involved as well, which means slower characters have a chance of striking first.  The combat can best be described as turn-based, but it is really round-based since both players make their decisions at the same time, and then their nanovor act on these choices.  While each nanovor only has 2-3 skills to chose from, rounds still manage to take longer than they should.  I blame this on the game’s redundant confirmation system.  Players must confirm their attack choice by clicking on their opponent’s nanovor, then choose whether to switch out a new nanovor or keep their current one, and then they must confirm their choice once again.  Each round has a time limit, and most players are courteous enough to make their moves rapidly – but there’s always a few slow pokes out there that will waste your time.  The fact that all new players start with the same three nanovor and unlock new ones nearly in the same order make most battles mirror matches.  The plus side to this is that all battles rely solely on player skill since both combatants have identical nanovor, but the downside is bland, repetitive gameplay.

Booster Packs

It takes several battles to earn enough badges to evolve your first nanovor.  Players who are looking for easier ways to add some variety to their nanovor collection can purchase booster packs using the premium currency ‘nanocash’.  Players can also change their chat avatar to one of several dozen faces, but there is currently no method of uploading custom avatars.  The publishers have other interesting features in store for players, including a method of playing the game in the playground.  By purchasing a special device and plugging in SD cards, which contain nanovor data inside them, players can battle it out anywhere, any time.  There’s little to do in Nanovor besides battle, but the game never intends to be anything but a simple fighting game.  It would be interesting to see a fully-fledged RPG adventure with the Nanovor concept, but what’s on offer now shows enough potential to warrant my recommendation – assuming you fall into the target audience.

Final Verdict: Good

Nanvor is a simple to learn game with plenty of room for growth. There are hundreds of Nanovor to collect, but the slow paced gameplay makes it take longer than it should to start mixing and matching swarms.  Connection issues and lag still linger from the beta, but should (hopefully) be cleared up soon.

Nanovor Screenshots

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Nanovor Videos

Nanover Gameplay Trailer

Nanovor Links

Nanovor Official Site

Nanovor System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
OS: Windows XP / Vista
CPU: Pentium 5 1.3 GHz
RAM: 1024 MB
HDD: 5 GB
Graphics Card: 64 mb

Recommended Specifications:
OS: Windows Vista / XP
CPU: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or better
RAM: 2 GB or more
HDD: 7 GB or more
Graphics Card: 128 mb or more