Songs of Silence is a gorgeous 4X game for people who don't have time for 4X games

GamesStrategySongs of Silence is a gorgeous 4X game for people who don’t have time for 4X gamesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Chimera Entertainment)

Songs of Silence key art

Let’s be honest here—the fantasy 4X strategy genre is an intimidating one. Not just for that initial learning curve, but for the potentially immense time commitment. You could put hundreds of hours into Total War: Warhammer 3 and still see only a fraction of its campaigns. Songs of Silence from German indie outfit Chimera Entertainment feels custom built for people who want to get a good, concentrated taste of the genre but without losing months of your life, and without demolishing your budget either. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it looks and soundslovely.

(Image credit: Chimera Entertainment)

Songs of Silence

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The biggest divergence from genre norms is the battles. They arefast. Playing out in real-time and often under a minute long with minimal micro-management. While you can set your army’s formation before a fight, you’ve got no direct control over your units once a battle starts. What you do have control of is an assortment of recharging powers, presented as a growing hand of cards. Each hero’s unique abilities (unlocking more as they level up) hugely change the flow of a battle. Cavalry commanders can warp mounted units around the map for quick and disruptive hits, Priests have smaller, weaker armies but can summon a constant stream of free angelic soldiers to harass any target and potentially overwhelm given enough time, and void mages drag enemies out of formation and into pulsing, painful black holes. You’re free to pause time to think (in single-player, at least), but a lot can happen in mere seconds.

Just because it’s lighter and faster than its peers doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in depth, either. While some heroes (across a surprising number of classes) specialize in active battlefield skills, you can alternatively spec into new construction and unit recruitment options. I especially like the looting mechanic too. Money earned from combat doesn’t go immediately into your treasury, but rather into a loot caravan that clutters up the victorious army’s reserve unit slots, and can only be cashed in when returned to a major city. This provides a soft limit on how long a given hero can stay on the front lines, and a tempting reason to push your luck and attack a commander that has been on a winning streak—chances are they’re loaded.

(Image credit: Chimera Entertainment)

Songs of Silence

Stealth is also a major mechanic. Units can move invisibly in forests if they only travel at half their maximum rate. This lets them skirt encounters that they might find too dangerous, but bumping into a concealed enemy also begins an ambush, with the surprised army facing the wrong direction and with all their action cards on long cooldown. You would not believe how long 10 seconds can feel when your trebuchets are sitting helpless and exposed to an incoming cavalry charge.

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Every piece of 2D art is an absolute treat for the eyes, especially the full-screen faction pieces and cutscene animatics, the sharp comic-adjacent line work filled in with soft watercolor shading—there’s a real sense of visual identity here. The soundtrack is also excellent, albeit a little less distinct if you’re played too many strategy RPGs already. Prolific Japanese composerHitoshi Sakimotois here playing to his strengths, and most of the tracks here echo his work on the Valkyria Chronicles series, full of rousing horn-heavy marches, fanfares and his trademark use of bells. Decades of familiarity have yet to breed any contempt though; this stands head and shoulders above most strategy RPG soundtracks.

(Image credit: Chimera Entertainment)

Songs of Silence

One thing that has earned a little contempt in users' reviews is that many of its features and options are locked behind achievements, even in multiplayer. Which means if you want to host a multiplayer game, you’ll not have many Fates (skirmish/multiplayer rule mutators) or starting hero classes to pick from. While a decent enough reason to play some of the story campaign or skirmish mode first, some of them do have pretty demanding requirements to unlock. While this is like catnip to a goal-driven creature like me (it’s a great excuse to bounce between characters, modes and play-styles) I can understand those frustrated at having so much of the game they just bought kept under lock and key initially.

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Fast-forward fantasy#

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The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

The art of war