Nokia’s latest mobile game caters to online gamers.

Aaron Gray

HinterWars: The Aterian Invasion is a Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Game (3MOG) made for the Nokia Series 60 smartphones and personal computers (PCs).

If you haven’t heard about HinterWars or do not understand the hype surrounding the game, then allow me to fill you in on the details. HinterWars is the second Nokia game (first was the N-Gage-only Pocket Kingdom) to feature online gameplay with gamers across the globe via GPRS.

The game is built on the same concept of the very popular PC Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). It is the only one of its kind to be widely available for Series 60 mobile phones. For me, it’s heaven being able to collect experience points during a ride in the bus or LRT. That’s something no other MMORPGs can do, right?

You’re able to interact with other players by chatting, trading and even fighting cooperatively in quests. By winning battles, players gain experience points as well as sidos (HinterWars’s type of currency). Sidos are used to buy better weapons, armour and even healing potions. HinterWars is a turn-based game, just like all those traditional role-playing games you might have played. In a battle, you can choose to Move, End Turn or attack with the normal Attack command.

It does not matter at all if you’re playing HinterWars on your mobile phone or PC; the experience points, money as well as items you’ve accumulated from either version is accessible as your stats are saved on the online server. This means you can play on your PC, switch to play on your mobile phone and back again while retaining your existing character and its status.

There are four races to choose your character from: the gentle-giant Brucians from Brucana, the part-snake-part-human-like Firans from Fira, the mysterious Taikuus of the Taikaan planet and Humans from the Terra homeworld. Each race comes with its own advantages; the selection mainly depends on your preference in type of attacks (long-range or close combat).


I’ve played HinterWars and found it quite unique. The 2D graphics are crisp and detailed – especially on a mobile phone. There are many interesting locations in your quest to move up levels and collect rare items not sold in shops. You can also try interacting with fellow players in the game, which can sometimes lead to hilarious conversations. For newbies, you’d find the veteran HinterWars residents helpful as they would share a useful tip or two… if you ask them nicely.

HinterWars is an evolving game and once in a while it gets a patch to enhance the game even more. I believe the game needs a couple of improvements: more frame-rates and less lag. The latter is a serious problem for mobile phones with only GPRS connection. Those with EDGE connectivity would probably experience less slowdowns.

You can familiarise yourself with the game controls as they are not complex to get accustomed to. You will need to spend some time to grasp the game mechanics and how it plays out with your selected character.

HinterWars: The Aterian Invasion is currently available for DiGi customers at RM10 subscription per month with data charges applicable.

You can visit www.hinterwars.com for more information or http://www.digi.com.my/enhanced/partners/3mog/compatibility.jsp for a list of compatible mobile phones.