Geek King
12-20-2007, 08:38 PM
I picked this one up recently for the PS3 (360 version also available), and felt the need to point it out to the gamers here. The ads for it seem to make it out to be another Dynasty Warriors/Musou-type game, and it turns out to be quite a bit different.
At the beginning, you create your mercenary leader. Your choices are pretty basic: Male/female, a few different heads to put on each, and choice of three voices. Nothing spectacular, but different enough not to be lost in the crush of battle. Next, you're given a quick run down by the helpful tavernkeep about accepting commisions from the French and English, and how to increase your reputation. Then its out the door into the big, chaotic war, and you start seeing why this game is really different.
You see, rather than being a lone wrecking ball rolling through hundreds of enemies like other Omega-Force games, you get to commandeer a nearby squad of soldiers and go off to capture and defend stategic points along the Norman coastline. You can switch squads anytime you're near another squad that you have training on (you start with Sword, Horse, and Bow, but can earn others through combat). Your squaddies are fairly competant, other than some minor pathing issues leading to the occasional bowman faceplanting into a tree. You also can tell them when to attack, and when to follow you, and each type has three abilities that you can use for effect as the situation calls for it once the power bars regenerate.
The squad usage takes some getting used to, as different units of the same type handle differently. Greatswords have an anti-calvalry skill, where a squad armed with sword-and-shield tend to have a more defensive bent. There is also a kind of "superiority table" at work, as certain types of units work better against weapon types than others. Calvary can trample axemen and swordsmen, but get chewed by bowmen and pikes, for instance. An interesting way to keep things balanced, although it sometimes seems forced (bowmen take less damage from a calvary charge? Must be anti-horse repellant). It forces you to switch squads over the course of a battle, as terrain and troop composition require. The battle is broken up into days, with the game taking a pause when the sun goes down, giving you a chance to check out the battle map and distribute skill points to your squad skills.
After a contract is up (normally a set number of days, with a objective to be acheived during that time), you get paid in addition to any plunder you took from the battlefield, and your reputation is adjusted according to your deeds, with defeating a enemy commander, or taking a city gaining you some bonus nods. Then you're off back to the tavern to purchase weapons for your troops, upgrades to their skills, and armour for yourself. Then you can negotiate another contract and do it all over again. If you have a high enough reputation, you might get to meet an important personage from one side, or get offered a particularly difficult, but high-paying, contract.
I found it to be an interesting game, as the gameplay simulates medeval mass-combat as well as I've seen. The graphics on the PS3 version I picked up are decent, especially when you consider the number of warriors that can be fighting at once. Oh yes--and they actually fight in this one! None of that standing around with the occasional swing of the weapon like you see too often from the grunts in the DW games. When multiple squads clash, a grand melee breaks out, and you really have to pay attention or be seperated from your troops. Some probably will find that annoying, but I kind of like it. It adds another dash of realism to a game based on large groups of people beating each other with pointy weapons.
I would definately suggest giving it a rent before buying, though. The gameplay style is very different from anything I've played, except maybe the Warhammer games where you lead armies in real-time. Allies matter here, and storming a town with just your squad of twenty spearmen is likely to get you killed by the enemy calvary sweeping in from the side street as you poke the bowmen to your front. All-in-all, I give it a thumbs-up, with high hopes for the inevitable sequal.
At the beginning, you create your mercenary leader. Your choices are pretty basic: Male/female, a few different heads to put on each, and choice of three voices. Nothing spectacular, but different enough not to be lost in the crush of battle. Next, you're given a quick run down by the helpful tavernkeep about accepting commisions from the French and English, and how to increase your reputation. Then its out the door into the big, chaotic war, and you start seeing why this game is really different.
You see, rather than being a lone wrecking ball rolling through hundreds of enemies like other Omega-Force games, you get to commandeer a nearby squad of soldiers and go off to capture and defend stategic points along the Norman coastline. You can switch squads anytime you're near another squad that you have training on (you start with Sword, Horse, and Bow, but can earn others through combat). Your squaddies are fairly competant, other than some minor pathing issues leading to the occasional bowman faceplanting into a tree. You also can tell them when to attack, and when to follow you, and each type has three abilities that you can use for effect as the situation calls for it once the power bars regenerate.
The squad usage takes some getting used to, as different units of the same type handle differently. Greatswords have an anti-calvalry skill, where a squad armed with sword-and-shield tend to have a more defensive bent. There is also a kind of "superiority table" at work, as certain types of units work better against weapon types than others. Calvary can trample axemen and swordsmen, but get chewed by bowmen and pikes, for instance. An interesting way to keep things balanced, although it sometimes seems forced (bowmen take less damage from a calvary charge? Must be anti-horse repellant). It forces you to switch squads over the course of a battle, as terrain and troop composition require. The battle is broken up into days, with the game taking a pause when the sun goes down, giving you a chance to check out the battle map and distribute skill points to your squad skills.
After a contract is up (normally a set number of days, with a objective to be acheived during that time), you get paid in addition to any plunder you took from the battlefield, and your reputation is adjusted according to your deeds, with defeating a enemy commander, or taking a city gaining you some bonus nods. Then you're off back to the tavern to purchase weapons for your troops, upgrades to their skills, and armour for yourself. Then you can negotiate another contract and do it all over again. If you have a high enough reputation, you might get to meet an important personage from one side, or get offered a particularly difficult, but high-paying, contract.
I found it to be an interesting game, as the gameplay simulates medeval mass-combat as well as I've seen. The graphics on the PS3 version I picked up are decent, especially when you consider the number of warriors that can be fighting at once. Oh yes--and they actually fight in this one! None of that standing around with the occasional swing of the weapon like you see too often from the grunts in the DW games. When multiple squads clash, a grand melee breaks out, and you really have to pay attention or be seperated from your troops. Some probably will find that annoying, but I kind of like it. It adds another dash of realism to a game based on large groups of people beating each other with pointy weapons.
I would definately suggest giving it a rent before buying, though. The gameplay style is very different from anything I've played, except maybe the Warhammer games where you lead armies in real-time. Allies matter here, and storming a town with just your squad of twenty spearmen is likely to get you killed by the enemy calvary sweeping in from the side street as you poke the bowmen to your front. All-in-all, I give it a thumbs-up, with high hopes for the inevitable sequal.