Post by [xG]juddski on Apr 27, 2007 21:04:15 GMT
Slitherine and Just Play have given you the chance to go back to Ancient Greece and take control of the destiny of the city states like Sparta allowing you to lead one of the fiercest armies of the era in Spartan.
For a start this game takes on a part of history that hasn’t been touched in much detail, mixing aspects of several strategy games Slitherine have managed to come up with a title that is surprisingly easy to grasp and that builds upon the previous Legions and Chariots of War. Spartan is a turn-based game on an army or regimental scale for 1 or 2 players. In fact it’s not just Sparta you get to control.
There are several campaigns to take on, not only against the Persians but also the incessant squabbling between the Greek city states and raids by pirates, barbarians and the Romans. Plus the training missions, these are definitely recommended because Spartan is different enough from other games that you will need to take a run through the controls and actions. The Spartan campaigns are completely free form. Any of the nations contained in the campaign can be chosen, there is a different objective for each and the path taken to get there is up to you.
The basis for any expansion of the cities or of creating military units comes from the gathering of resources. These resources are needed for either building or upkeep, of military units or buildings. This adds further to the game since if you suddenly find yourself short of bricks not only will you be unable to build more buildings but those that you already have will start to deteriorate, causing the happiness of your citizens to drop.
The happiness of the population is very important, since it’s these people that do the work, get the all important resources and expand both the populace plus the army. This becomes a balancing act, too much tax or overworking and a few other factors influence this. The amount of control you have of the population is way more then the majority of other games out there
Construction is the most important objective, improving the rate of resource gathering or the amount of research generated. The number of buildings you can construct is dependent on what level your settlement is at, having eight possible. Ranging from the most basic; Encampment through small and large villages to towns and cities, these along with the research levels and which resources are available in that area give you which buildings are possible. There are however a fixed number of building spots, so care in what gets built where has to be considered.
Diplomacy also takes on a stronger aspect in this game then others, you can send your diplomats out to other states and once he arrives, certain instructions become available. As his time in the foreign capital and the number of achievements increases so does his abilities, expanding the jobs available. Along with certain buildings available in your capital that bring specialist actions, it means that never before has it been possible to influence the stance of your relationships with other nations. You can even eject the other nations diplomats, be cautious in this, depending on the actions in ‘removing’ him you could cause major problems (since boiling him alive tends to annoy his home nation slightly)
Military is also a very important aspect, as you would assume. The basic units are available at the start of the campaign and it will take research and several building projects to gain access to the advanced military forces. Battles involving these units are played out either by allowing the computer to decide the outcome or you yourself can take control of the battle. If that is the choice then you can place your individual units and give them orders, but once the battle starts that is it, things are out of your hands apart from calling for retreat which will hopefully save some of your army to fight another day if things go horribly pear-shaped.
Expansion is the course you will have to take to win, this is done through conquest, capturing cities and making them your own. Either outright attack or, if the city has walls, siege warfare, but beware if the city has walls it’s possible they have defences which could soon reduce your forces. Even if you wait though and put the city under siege you will still have to eventually attack. Sieges are auto-resolve, no action is taken by you but again when you decide to attack the choice is yours whether you take control or let the computer handle it.
Movement is simple, one click for selection of the unit to move and one click to select the position you wish to move it to, with one more to confirm. If this order will take more then one turn to complete the distance taken for that move will be shown in green, with the remainder in red. The next turn you will need to order that unit to continue with its orders though, or they will just stay where they are. Certain terrain is impassable such as rivers (apart from crossing points) and mountains, so choose your paths with care.
Multiplayer gaming is through LAN or the GameSpy network and the Internet. With you being able to chose which nation to start with. There is though a rather interesting twist to the usual multiplay mode. Here Slitherine have implemented AAM, Always Active Multiplayer. Which means that when your opponent initiates a battle you take control of that opposition, the same goes for AI controlled units that attack their units. This will give you access to units you would not normally get to control and of course the chance to inflict losses on your opponent at no cost to you. But beware; they will get the exact same chance at your expense.
Graphics are as you would expect for a strategy title, basic, but they are well implemented. Cities contain a bustling crowd of ‘little dots’ as your citizenry going about their normal routines. The battle sections are impressive in 3D mode; camera angles are fluid and are not fixed, giving you a complete 360 degree view of the battlefield. While if you have a lower spec system then there is a 2D option available, but that obviously reduces the graphic complexity.
Sounds are meagre though, the in game music probably won’t last long until it’s turned right down and the effects are not exactly the best example of how it’s to be done. This does detract from the all over atmosphere of the game but not to any great extent. Battle effects are about as good as you could expect but that is about it.
All this means that Spartan is a title that has immense longevity, since the randomness of certain parts of the game mean that, just like the Civilization series the game is different each time you play. While the ten differing nations and various sub-sects available mean that you aren’t just stuck with a few choices at the start. Slitherine and Just Play have come up with a title that should hold the majority of strategy fans enthralled for some time, and may just have brought us the game that rivals Civ for the automatic spot on your hard-drive.
For a start this game takes on a part of history that hasn’t been touched in much detail, mixing aspects of several strategy games Slitherine have managed to come up with a title that is surprisingly easy to grasp and that builds upon the previous Legions and Chariots of War. Spartan is a turn-based game on an army or regimental scale for 1 or 2 players. In fact it’s not just Sparta you get to control.
There are several campaigns to take on, not only against the Persians but also the incessant squabbling between the Greek city states and raids by pirates, barbarians and the Romans. Plus the training missions, these are definitely recommended because Spartan is different enough from other games that you will need to take a run through the controls and actions. The Spartan campaigns are completely free form. Any of the nations contained in the campaign can be chosen, there is a different objective for each and the path taken to get there is up to you.
The basis for any expansion of the cities or of creating military units comes from the gathering of resources. These resources are needed for either building or upkeep, of military units or buildings. This adds further to the game since if you suddenly find yourself short of bricks not only will you be unable to build more buildings but those that you already have will start to deteriorate, causing the happiness of your citizens to drop.
The happiness of the population is very important, since it’s these people that do the work, get the all important resources and expand both the populace plus the army. This becomes a balancing act, too much tax or overworking and a few other factors influence this. The amount of control you have of the population is way more then the majority of other games out there
Construction is the most important objective, improving the rate of resource gathering or the amount of research generated. The number of buildings you can construct is dependent on what level your settlement is at, having eight possible. Ranging from the most basic; Encampment through small and large villages to towns and cities, these along with the research levels and which resources are available in that area give you which buildings are possible. There are however a fixed number of building spots, so care in what gets built where has to be considered.
Diplomacy also takes on a stronger aspect in this game then others, you can send your diplomats out to other states and once he arrives, certain instructions become available. As his time in the foreign capital and the number of achievements increases so does his abilities, expanding the jobs available. Along with certain buildings available in your capital that bring specialist actions, it means that never before has it been possible to influence the stance of your relationships with other nations. You can even eject the other nations diplomats, be cautious in this, depending on the actions in ‘removing’ him you could cause major problems (since boiling him alive tends to annoy his home nation slightly)
Military is also a very important aspect, as you would assume. The basic units are available at the start of the campaign and it will take research and several building projects to gain access to the advanced military forces. Battles involving these units are played out either by allowing the computer to decide the outcome or you yourself can take control of the battle. If that is the choice then you can place your individual units and give them orders, but once the battle starts that is it, things are out of your hands apart from calling for retreat which will hopefully save some of your army to fight another day if things go horribly pear-shaped.
Expansion is the course you will have to take to win, this is done through conquest, capturing cities and making them your own. Either outright attack or, if the city has walls, siege warfare, but beware if the city has walls it’s possible they have defences which could soon reduce your forces. Even if you wait though and put the city under siege you will still have to eventually attack. Sieges are auto-resolve, no action is taken by you but again when you decide to attack the choice is yours whether you take control or let the computer handle it.
Movement is simple, one click for selection of the unit to move and one click to select the position you wish to move it to, with one more to confirm. If this order will take more then one turn to complete the distance taken for that move will be shown in green, with the remainder in red. The next turn you will need to order that unit to continue with its orders though, or they will just stay where they are. Certain terrain is impassable such as rivers (apart from crossing points) and mountains, so choose your paths with care.
Multiplayer gaming is through LAN or the GameSpy network and the Internet. With you being able to chose which nation to start with. There is though a rather interesting twist to the usual multiplay mode. Here Slitherine have implemented AAM, Always Active Multiplayer. Which means that when your opponent initiates a battle you take control of that opposition, the same goes for AI controlled units that attack their units. This will give you access to units you would not normally get to control and of course the chance to inflict losses on your opponent at no cost to you. But beware; they will get the exact same chance at your expense.
Graphics are as you would expect for a strategy title, basic, but they are well implemented. Cities contain a bustling crowd of ‘little dots’ as your citizenry going about their normal routines. The battle sections are impressive in 3D mode; camera angles are fluid and are not fixed, giving you a complete 360 degree view of the battlefield. While if you have a lower spec system then there is a 2D option available, but that obviously reduces the graphic complexity.
Sounds are meagre though, the in game music probably won’t last long until it’s turned right down and the effects are not exactly the best example of how it’s to be done. This does detract from the all over atmosphere of the game but not to any great extent. Battle effects are about as good as you could expect but that is about it.
All this means that Spartan is a title that has immense longevity, since the randomness of certain parts of the game mean that, just like the Civilization series the game is different each time you play. While the ten differing nations and various sub-sects available mean that you aren’t just stuck with a few choices at the start. Slitherine and Just Play have come up with a title that should hold the majority of strategy fans enthralled for some time, and may just have brought us the game that rivals Civ for the automatic spot on your hard-drive.