When I first received Hearts of Iron, I was kind of expecting a strategy game along the lines of Axis and Allies, where you could fight World War II on a strategic scale. What I got was that and a whole lot more. Hearts of Iron is the most complex game I have every played. It took three days of reading and re-reading the manual coupled with copious experimentation to become even mildly proficient with the game. At one point, I nearly gave up in frustration. But, I am so thankful that I didn’t. There is a lot to learn, … Continue reading Complex Combat→
Prince of Qin is a bit like the ancient Chinese culture the game revolves around. It’s interesting, mysterious and a bit confusing at times. Played in a top-down Diablo-like interface, the game follows an interesting Chinese story and adds a "what-if" factor. The story goes that in ancient China there was a great warrior who was the son of the emperor. His name was Fu Su and he was the Prince of Qin. Charged with defending the northern boundaries, he was far away from the throne when his father died. Plotters who did not want him to take the throne … Continue reading The Mighty Qin→
It’s so rare these days to find an RTS that actually has something new to add to the picture, but Legion fits the bill. On the surface Legion looks like a lot of the other historical titles that have come into vogue as of late. Over the past 10 years I have played at least that many titles involving Ancient Rome in some way. But Legion is by far the most interesting, and in many ways, the most historically accurate. The game combines the standard province management features found in most games these days, with a turn-based strategic map phase … Continue reading Strategius Maximus→
Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliffs is a real time strategy (RTS) game set during the three kingdoms era of china, and believe it or not, my diverse background does actually include studying ancient china while in college. You are probably thinking "why man why?" Well, to be perfectly honest, my advisor recommended the class during an early morning appointment, and I was stupid enough to say ok. Seriously, I joke about it now, but in all honesty I found the history of Asia to be quite fascinating and I continue to expand my knowledge when the time and opportunity … Continue reading Dragon Throne: Battle of Red Cliffs→
If you played Europa Universalis, you may feel like you have been there before when you play Europa Universalis II. It has the same look, the same feel, lets face that it’s basically the same game with nifty new options and even more comprehensive economic and diplomatic systems. There are also more decisions for you to make as ruler of your nation of choice. But after a game has started, the differences will become more and more clear to you. This is basically a major enhancement to an already great game that only increases the player’s enjoyment of it. Many … Continue reading Came, Conquered, Done That→
From the smoldering ruins of the great war, four tribes claw and scratch to rebuild and gain control. Afghanistan? No, Nevendaar. This is the basic story behind Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, the turn -based strategy sequel to Disciples: Sacred Lands from Strategy First. In Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, like its predecessor, you control one of four races; the humans, the dwarven mountain clans, the undead, or the legions of the damned. There are full campaigns and one-mission sagas type games for each of the four races. Disciples 2 is completely old school turn- based strategy. During each turn, your squads … Continue reading Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy→
Through all the to-do around the new console platforms and who’s got the hottest sports games and so forth, it’s good to see certain types of games that I thrive on enjoying some popularity on the PC. In particular, the economic/military strategy games are really starting to come out. Maybe it’s because of Civilization III coming out in November or maybe something else entirely. But I don’t care, I am just enjoying the influx. One game that I had the privilege of previewing was Patrician II. Patrician II takes you to northern Europe in the 14th century, during the time … Continue reading Patrician II is in a League of its Own→
First let me say that I am a huge World War II fan. I play tabletop games based on the war, have a subscription to World War II magazine and have a father who fought in the war. I also purchase about every realtime strategy game that comes out for that genre, in addition to the never-real-but-always-fun first person shooters. When I heard about WWII Online, with a persistent world, a constantly changing frontline and thousands of players fighting the war, I was in heaven. At E3 this year I made it a point to check out the game, and … Continue reading Johnny May Not Come Marching Home Again→
Everybody wants to rule the world. With Europa Universalis, you can do that. Starting as one of the major, or not so major powers, in the year 1492 (or other various starting points of the many scenarios that come with the game) you vie with either computer or live opponents (via the Internet options) all trying for the same thing – World Domination. Or at least you want to be the biggest and most successful country by the end of the game period (which is 1792 for the grand campaign and varies with the other scenarios). You can even choose … Continue reading Rule the Known World with Europa Universalis→
There were so many great new titles to see at E3, that it is hard to figure out where to begin. So what I wanted to do was take a look at an interesting game that was still pretty far out in terms of release date. Thankfully, we will see many great titles in just a few weeks. And since Ken and Hargosh wrote about console games endlessly at E3, I thought I would take a quick glance at a PC title. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy follows another game I reviewed called Disciples: Sacred Lands. Both titles stand out in … Continue reading Disciples II Takes Form→
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