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| A good example of one of the many early battles players must endure to get to the good stuff. Four against two – exciting stuff (*yaaaawn*) | Although it’s possible to zoom into the action without really affecting system performance, it’s just not a practical way to keep the chaotic controls in hand |
Spartan’s were hard. I mean like, a total cross breed of football hooligans, American wrestlers, Cyberdyne T800 Model 101 Terminators and anomalies from deep within the Matrix. Total and utter blood-lustin’, ass-kickin’, block-rockin’, hard-fightin’, ball-crunchin’, over-hyphenated war bastards!
At least, that’s what I’ve come to learn from the most recent retellings of historical events in the form of 300 and God of War. Fair enough, these might not be completely true to fact, but as any school kid will tell you, real history is boring. Regrettably, World Forge apparently forgot to bring in any adolescent consultants during the development of the first in its Ancient Wars series, and Sparta has been disappointingly portrayed as a state of bureaucratic, posturing, slightly feeble men in short skirts.
Perhaps Ancient Wars: Sparta wouldn’t be quite so underwhelming if it weren’t for the bold promises made during the game’s two year build up. Not that I would expect World Forge or the publisher, Playlogic, to generate interest by saying “Ancient Wars: Sparta – mediocre RTS at its most ordinary! Casually pick up your copy next time you’re passing the games shop, if you can be bothered!”, but building expectations in a totally unrealistic fashion with claims of “graphics at the same quality level as [first person] shooters” is only going to lead to disappointment.
And it doesn’t take long before those excessive claims are put to pasture. Before the game even begins, players are brutally neutered with a blunt sword when they’re subjected to the impassive, turgid voice acting and embarrassing accents and pronunciations (the Persian who explains how his “bow serves all of Persia” – pronouncing “bow” in accordance with the term “curtsy” – has already raised a chorus of titters from across the internet). The excessive, yet irritatingly banal few minutes of exposition before the game begins fails to setup the forthcoming action through its stilted attempt at drama, leaving players a little confused as to what’s actually going on when the game really does begin.
Many RTS games start off deliberately small, allowing gamers the room to find their directorial feet, and Ancient Wars: Sparta is no different. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the whole “fog of war” concept, feeling it has to be very well handled to add to the tension, rather than feeling like a cheap and easy method of increasing difficulty levels, and I was sorry to discover AW:S does just that. Following players around as closely as it does, there’s a distinct feeling of wearing blinkers the whole time and being at a distinct disadvantage to the computer controlled enemy, who has no such handicap.
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| While the graphics don’t live up to the hype, the physics are very good – environments, characters and buildings all react beautifully to the game’s events | There’s plenty of destruction to be had later on (much later on, mind you), and everything’s a viable target |
The game mechanics haven’t really evolved from standard RTS war campaigns of the last five years. Varying types of troops, a few loose commands and an increasing range of weaponry, technology, landscapes and basic missions are all present, if unremarkable. For a game that was supposedly set to reinvent this very well explored genre, and considering it’s fighting for shelf space with the likes of Command & Conquer 3, this is a definite black mark against the depth of development.
Although the visuals and basic gameplay might be nothing new, the physics of both those two aspects are actually very good. Soldiers don’t simply drop dead; they stumble, thrash, stagger and roll, while buildings and machinery are visibly assailed brick by brick and plank by plank, making a successful siege quite a thrilling spectacle. It takes a fair amount of patience with an otherwise uninspiring use of time to reach this fleeting moment of engrossing action, however.
In terms of replay value, a choice of three different armies/civilisations are available to choose from; the Spartans (naturally), the Persians and the Egyptians. It’s pleasantly interesting to see the (very very badly told) story at the core of the game unfold from three very different points of view. Unfortunately, the major differences in the three warring factors pretty much ends there. Buildings, landscapes and general personnel images vary to suit the country in question, but the massive differences between the technology, ability and sheer weight of numbers between the three armies is barely represented at all.
The A.I. seems to be strong in some respects, and yet completely absent in others. While actual, fighting soldiers are quick enough of wit not to stand and beat the lifeless body of a dead enemy, immediately turning to help their comrades after completing a specific order, this intelligence isn’t reflected by, for instance, the peasantry who build, grow food and perform other, non-battle orientated tasks that are central to this style of game. Wandering around the annoying fog of inactivity is the only real way to muster soldiers, however; a task that surmounts to slow and uneventful tedium and prompts players to attempt a battle knowingly unprepared and, therefore, somewhat disinterested in the outcome.
Perseverance is generally a virtue possessed by the RTS battle gamer, which would seem to be a factor World Forge were expecting – nay, counting on. Even as I was about to end my game and begin the sad and true task of panning Sparta in words, the number of soldiers within the legions suddenly shored up and came together. The ensuing battle was remarkably engrossing, packed with overwrought action as garrisons fell to the point of destruction when briefly victorious comrades swept in from the flanks to decimate the swarming enemy. For one wonderful moment, this entire review rewrote itself in my mind, though the feeling - like the excitement of this uncommitted game - was all too fleeting.
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| When the action finally picks up, it gets pretty damn exciting for a few minutes (then it’s boring business as boring usual) | Once the more interesting aspects of battle reveal themselves, like these elephants, Sparta finally manages to capture that elusive playability |
Pushing on to see if this was an anomaly in the proceedings, I was impressed to find that, with patience, these kinds of battles do indeed become increasingly regular and original (as, for instance, elephants join the fray, and siege towers bear down upon crumbling walls). If you have the sheer will power to push on through the vast mire of early drudgeries, there are jewels to be found buried deep within Ancient Wars: Sparta, but whether you’ll still be motivated enough to really enjoy them is another matter.
Top Game Moment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
After much monotony, the number of warriors finally reaches a scale to represent the box’s claims of an epic battle, and it’s certainly worth seeing (if you can stomach the long, arduous task of getting there).
