Do you want to relive your good old memories? Play The Civil War: Master's Edition again, it’s a perfect DOS game launched in 1996 and a must-play for all video game lovers.
One of the most famous strategies (after all, it's more than just a wargame) on the topic of the Civil war in USA 1861-1865. You can play for both sides (North and South). Before the start of the game you select one of two modes – either campaign, or a separate script, then you can adjust the difficulty, this game is a kind of art. There are five levels of difficulty ("realism"), as well as nine additional parameters: the presence and number of reinforcements, the supply of available types of soldiers and buildings, how well soldiers will follow orders, and so on; that is, to play the game, in General, within forty-five (!) different options.
Scenarios, unfortunately, only four, and among the battles is no reason the most famous and largest. Units represented on the map as icons, although there is the possibility of scaling – then you can roughly consider even individual soldiers (for the 1995 year still). Groups can merge and split; there is a "commander", by which you give the orders; it has a "radius" of the action, and only in him soldiers any orders to execute; the battles are in real (!) time and time-limited. In practice, to play in this mode is hard enough in the first place – because even if the army is large, then it is impossible to manage due to the small range of orders of the General and inexorable ticking of the timer; in the end, every battle is reduced to a series of quick and well thought-out attacks in small groups that often carry out much harder than thought.
In the campaign, things are both difficult and easier at the same time, because now you control not only the troops but also the territories (the Northern or the Southern States); so there is a strategic screen with a global map and icons of cities. On this screen we give orders to the cities about the production of goods, create and move armies; you can also combine and share different units (to cover a large area or, conversely, to increase military presence in a certain area), to replace some other generals. A limited number of generals, all of them real historical figures, each has its own set of characteristics, strengths and weaknesses (based on real characters and abilities of these people), so their biographies and personal information should consider very carefully before you entrust the leadership of a military operation particular to the General.
To win the campaign you need to accumulate a certain number of "points victory", which is achieved by capture of cities (both enemy and neutral [was then and such]); thus, to destroy the enemy completely don't need (Yes, here it is impossible to do). How exactly should these "points" - depends on the initial settings of the difficulty levels in the game. The level of difficulty also depends how much time you allotted for a specific course, for here is limited and it (the game itself is still turn-based, despite the battles in real time): if a low level of complexity can, in principle, to have time to give all the necessary orders about production of resources, the movement of armies and so forth, then higher – it is impossible in principle (so conceived), so there will have to think of the right thing to do in the first place.
The game has such facilities as roads, Railways and rivers, which can greatly accelerate the movement of your armies to the desired point. However, the use of these objects only if you control them (so keep them and control individual areas is important). If one of the enemy armies coming to the city, then begins his assault, but it always happens automatically, the computer calculates the forces of the parties and tells us about the result. If two armies meet in the "open field", that is the choice: either to rely on the automatic result, or to manage the battle yourself, then the game will switch to battle mode, which is fully similar to what has been said about the game in a single battle above (that is, the same awkward control, time constraint and fighting in real time). Naval battles in the game are, but to engage them in it, the result is always calculated automatically.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as well as other moments (e.g. game mechanics, especially in terms of moving troops - not such a simple thing here), the game on the middle difficulty level (even) still not very difficult – primarily because not too advanced AI opponent that appears mainly in its strategic decisions. Difficult levels to play quite hard (although possible), but such complexity quickly begins to seem like some artificial and not quite honest.
If to speak about the schedule, here it is, let's say, above average for a wargame, but not for the "simple" strategy. The global map is drawn well, but, in my opinion, too shallow; the same can be said about the overall battle map. However, to understand that where is the army and what moves where, it is quite possible, and most importantly, it is this. When zooming in the battlefield, it was nice to see the animated figures of the individual soldiers, but really beautiful, alas, can not be named. But what is done really well- is sometimes displayed during the game in black and white images, similar to the old lithographs, and newspaper clippings about the events. The game also has a decent built-in dictionary.
Overall – good game, though not without shortcomings, it is worthy of evaluation "above average". Unfortunately, the true pleasure from the gaming process in some cases can not be obtained, because in the game, in addition to the above-described certain strange aspects of the process, there is not the smallest amount of bugs (partially fixed with patches), but nevertheless, all fans are not the most difficult, but as exciting and ambitious and historically at least relatively credible military strategies she should be palatable.
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Source: Archive.org, Mobygames.com
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