I must start out this review with a technical complaint about CDVs choice in using StarForce 3 as their game protection (piracy counter-measure). StarForce 3 requires the computer to be restarted an extra time after the installation. StarForce 3 also requires the game to use the StarForce 3 loader which then rechecks the CD every time you start the game, sometimes finding errors even when the CD is in the drive. During the installation of the game Star Force 3 installs extra files completely separate from the game which still remain after the uninstall of the game and last but not least the software often finds other software (specifically CD burning and virtual CD mounting programs) to cause the game not to start. These files have also been known to cause general computer problems in a similar fashion that spyware would.
One more thing before I get to the actual game, this is a preview (beta) so quite a few things were missing from the game and the game itself was *extremely* buggy. It crashed a dozen or so times on me and there were a few points in the game here the UI (User Interface) would bug out and thus prevent me from playing without restarting. Hopefully these issues were resolved in the gold version of the game.The game takes place in the Renaissance Era, more specifically the Napoleon Era. The playable countries include France, Russia, Britain, Prussia, Austria and Egypt. From what the preview shows it the countries do not seem to really differ that much mechanically.While starting up Crossacks 2 I was \"greeted\" with a live action video from a rather horrid Renaissance Era reenactment which included marching, shooting, etc. The video looks like it was taken at a local Renaissance festival because it contained things like lame acting where people would suddenly keel over and pretend to be hit. This itself would not have been a huge issue for me if it didn\'t integrate itself into the UI. For when you select units and order them a rather large popup would appear to display the reenactment. Not only is this really ugly, it gets in the way.The controls are of RTS style and the game can be completely played out with the mouse although it has the standard hotkeys.In the few missions the preview included there was very little base building (if you can even call them bases) but from what I played you can build barracks to make units and build stock houses to start gathering resources... That\'s about it. The way the campaign is played is very basic, you get some very specific orders, you carry them out and then a new cut scene happens where you\'re ordered to do something else. Battle For Europe is a separate mode from Campaign which plays out on a risk style map where you can move your armies around the map, capture land, use diplomacy with other nations and generally build up whatever Country you\'re playing for. Attacking works how you expect, you zoom into the land where you can move around your units and capture various structure and in the end, the city.Combat is mildly fun, the musket is the end all weapon but in this era of it\'s design it\'s very basic. The musket takes a very long time to reload. It\'s also very inaccurate so this requires you to be rather close to the enemy for it to be effective and often this forces you to maintain your unit’s ready position even while they\'re being fired at. Once that single shot is used you usually will attack in melee unless you have other units to defend your riflemen while they reload.The sound is alright, nothing great just alright. The voice acting is not especially great either. I know it doesn\'t sound especially insightful but it\'s an RTS.The graphics are quite awful, especially for a 2005 PC game. The whole game takes place in 16-bit color and the game has an awful bug where it leaves my desktop on 16-bit forcing me to manually change it each time I end the game. There really is not that much to say about the graphics besides it\'s not good, but most could live with it for an RTS.In the end this game has rather slow and boring game play, a risk style game system which is extremely unoriginal, sub par graphics and nothing great to speak of. This game is only for those who are in love with Renaissance warfare, otherwise do yourselves a favor and go buy Rome Total War instead.
"Cossacks 2: Napoleonic Wars" is on sale April 26, 2005 and is rated . .
