World at Arms for Android is a well developed combat game. Build up your military base and engage in battles against worldwide opponents, or even friends via Facebook integration.

World at Arms is an intricate and immersive combat experience. Build up your military base with barracks for troops, armories and a host of essential military operations. I like how the compound comes to life with movement; military vehicles and troops bustle about preparing for their inevitable battles, launched at your command. All of that is just set dressing to the real meat and potatoes of this game, which is the live online combat.

There's an interactive map of the world, populated with players from other countries waiting to attack and invade you. But like any true warrior, the element of surprise is best, so choose an opponent you want to invade first and launch a surprise attack. The battles themselves happen split screen; the right half is your opponent, the left half is you. Both sides march toward each other on foot and in an array of combat vehicles ranging from classic tanks, to futuristic robotics. Most of the action happens automatically, and all you need do is sit back and watch. However, the game tries to keep things engaging with missile attacks that can be blocked by swiping your finger across them as they approach.

The visuals are quite good, as far as look. Everything is detailed and colorful. However, the animation is laggy as the battles get more fierce and complex on screen. The app does drain the battery quickly, and typical of this style of play, is overly greedy with the upgrades. Impatience is again used as a motivator to spend money and build up defenses. Plus, there’s the added motivation of being vulnerable to attack from anyone in the world that just feels like picking on you.

World at Arms is highly developed but not very innovative. Essentially, all these games are just animated versions of the board game Risk. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of games like this out there. And while some of the twists do make the game marginally more interesting than other clones, it’s ultimately just the same old retread. I think fans of the genre will really love this. For me, I see it as just another money pit with monotonous and repetitive play.