Chariots of War Review

After exactly one year of waiting, Strategy First has decided to improve on their strategy franchise, Legion. Setting the timeline several centuries into the past, Chariots of War now takes players way back before the glorious and flourishing reign of the Roman Empire (the setting of the previous game). This time around, you'll be leading a greater variety of nations during the ancient times of human history. I would say that the gamers who enjoyed Legion would probably be looking forward to this one. Well, the game was indeed reviewed with several new gameplay elements, which is sure to make hardcore fans happy, plus it boasts a few overall enhancements. Well, we sat down and played the full version of the game to find out if these improvements did the trick.

The smartest thing to do now is start breeding horses.

Two enemy armies are massing in the south-east. Attack!

The game will give gamers an opportunity to conquer fertile lands (Plow fertile lands - yes! - 2Lions) and expand their great empires. Advancing across huge plains and tall mountains, you can take over enemy cities and villages, ensuring a prosperous growth of your populace. As you progress though the game, you'll be encountering various different civilizations such as the Assyrians, Nubians, Hittites, Sumerians, Nubians, Libyans, and many more. Battles will be fought on the territories of ancient Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Palestine, you name it.

Both Legion and Chariots of War carry the same basic principal of gameplay, which is actually a sleek combination of turn-based strategy and management. Turn-based elements, such as moving units around the map and assembling armies, works similarly to the undying classic Heroes of Might and Magic. The gameplay mechanics can also be compared to Paradox Entertainment's reasonably successful strategy, Europa Universalis (another title published by Strategy First). Anyhow, I was pretty surprised how addictive the simple gameplay style in Chariots of War was, it can really suck away a fair amount of your time. The interface was improved and simplified, so that players can have quick and intuitive access to their units and cities. Unfortunately, as you move along through the campaigns you'll soon discover that the game lacks a more in-depth approach towards the scenarios and tasks that lie ahead. It all revolves around a tedious and repetitive series of tasks you have to go through in order to expand your nation's territory.

Like I said, the incredible simplicity of the game can easily get you involved for several hours. After a while, the whole experience becomes rather frustrating and dull, leaving players to handle production, build-up cities, and conquer more territories with no particular goal in mind other than slaying barbarians and achieving total domination throughout the continent (What's wrong with slaying barbarians and achieving total domination?! - 2Lions). Things would be a lot more exciting if you had a more complex approach to unit control during battles - it's quite simple to place the units and choose a formation, but it really sucks when you watch troops, horsemen, and chariots, ramming into each other without influencing even the slightest maneuver in real-time. Granted, the whole game would require additional work and tweaking if these options were available in real-time. To our great disappointment, the developers failed to improve one of the most annoying drawbacks present in the previous game. Of course, I'm referring to a limited amount of units that can step onto the battlefield, which sort of ruins the feeling of epic conflict.

Choose the right strategy and formation.

My mighty swordsmen pierce through the enemy defenses!

Conquering more cities is practically the only real goal players will get to face throughout the entire game. Managing your nation within cities is another aspect of the game that was made to be too simplistic and tedious. Collecting resources, upgrading buildings, expanding your population, all boils down to one thing - amassing troops and heading out to the next city invasion. In short, the whole thing is boring, boring, boring! (Ed. - Don't hold back! Tell us what you really feel!) Since the game features conquering and city invasions, it wouldn't have been a bad idea if we were able to take part in sieges - and that would certainly make the battles more exciting, offering stable grounds for richer strategies and a more intricate combat system. Basically, all you are able to do here is assemble the units, choose an adequate formation, set their speed and behavior, and just observe a projected film of massive slaughter. The problem is that most of these battles look the same no matter which tactic you decide to go for.

As promised, Chariots of War features a makeover in terms of graphics. The cute tiny unit models have been enhanced, the terrain of the battlefield is more diverse, and players are able to run the game in high-res mode (1024*768). Sadly, all of these facets do not seem to meet the technologically advanced games we're used to these days. The units and the environments are altogether one-dimensional and lack a more detailed approach in terms of design, which could've easily perked up the atmosphere and overall quality of the product. The in-game sounds are pretty enjoyable... but only for a few minutes. Later on, they become annoying as hell and rather repetitious, making you feel quite relieved when the entire sound is switched off.

To put things into perspective, Chariots of War doesn't bring any innovations to the genre and there aren't any technical characteristics that are praiseworthy or pleasing to the eye - old games like Age of Empires and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 for instance, look visually superior. Also, there aren't any significant improvements over the original; it's essentially the same old enchilada. Other than a few addictive moments, which occur some time at the beginning of the campaign, the game doesn't possess any features that could draw you deeper into the art of conquering and ancient warfare. Overall, it's rather disappointing.