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PC - Windows : Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars Reviews

Gas Gauge: 68
Gas Gauge 68
Below are user reviews of Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

Summary of Review Scores
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ReviewsScore
Game Spot 79
Game FAQs
IGN 77
GameSpy 50
GameZone 79
1UP 55






User Reviews (1 - 11 of 12)

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The TRUTH

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The only bad thing about this game and it's expansion (Battle for Europe) is this game rather poorly advertised and not very well supported.
Although single player is just bad, the multilayer is really outstanding, unlike any other strategy game. Once you master basic skills in this game, you will enjoy it and never get bored of it.
The only problem is that not so many people play it, so you might have trouble finding desired opponents from time to time, but otherwise, it worth the money.

Hoped for more and got less.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: January 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My expectations were high and the game was just hard to look at. 2D graphis are boring and I will leave it at that. Games that only allow one angle of view on the field of battle are to me not 3D.

It just does not work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 7
Date: January 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Too bad, the demos were good, it seemed like a fun game. Excessive game protection measures make it impossible to run. Save your money.

This game is crap

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: May 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for my high-end machine.

The game would not even load properly and the music studdered throughout the little introduction which could be seen.
This is an unfinished product, perhaps they released the beta version. The official CDV forum is full people complaining.
Before you buy, do yourself a favor and check out their forum for more insight.

A Serious Disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 13
Date: June 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I will try to give as brief a review as possible without it seeming like an article or thesis. I had really hoped that this game delivered, after all its hype. After trying Rise of Nations, and Empires:Dawn of the Modern World (which features a nice Napoleonic era, albeit too limited regarding unit choices and buildings) I really looked forward to C2: Napoleonic Wars, as this great time in history is often neglected in RTS gaming. After playing the rather choppy tutorial, I jumped in to the different modes of play and was immediately dismayed.

I could not distinquish easily the icons or buttons for resource management, the fog of war was way too small for the structures I built, I could not manage the population or troop building - the only choice seemed to be 'infinity'. Also, although the game promises a realistic feel for the battles, it just ended up being a free for all rush-party, troop formations not withstanding. The look of the units was not at all good. While the reenactment videos were OK, it is essentially the playability of the game that matters.

I can't help but wonder why CDV could not simply keep the same interface as the original 'Cossacks' and expansion, or even that of 'American Conquest'. Those formats worked well! Instead they chose to change it for the worse. No improvement here, and no justice to the Napoleonic Wars. I traded it in for Imperial Glory by Eidos/Pyro Studios, which is a far superior all-around game of this wonderful period in the 19th Century, along the lines of 'Rome Total War'. Please see my review on that, I highly recommend it over C2.

So much potential - So much disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having anxiously awaited the US release of this game, I was so excited to finally be able to play it. American Conquest and America Fights Back were so enjoyable. The Napoleonic period is my fav and I was expecting great things from Cossacks II, the next edition in a series from CDV. Basic to my expectations was that the game would be bug free. As it turns out, the game has some serious bugs in it. For one, enemy units on occassion, will actually fight against themselves. Secondly, although I run the game on a Dell XPS 600, which more than satisfies every system requirement, the game has a tendency to crash.

CDV has issued one patch, but clearly additional work needs to be done to make this game playable. Someday, I hope game designers will debug their programs prior to their release to the unsuspecting public.

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Cossacks 2 is a great game;one of the best strategy games of 2005.Dont listen to the negative reviews....this game has it all.The graphics,sound,computer A.I.,historical detail,etc. all make for a rewarding and entertaining gaming experience. The game ran perfectly on my PC(which is several years old and not a high end machine).So I dont really relate to all this talk about crashes,unfinished product,etc....I guess people will always find an excuse to whine and compain...lol.

Good fun, needs a patch though

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

When I first got this game it failed to run on either my windows 2000 or xp systems. I later reformatted both computers and discovered that this game fails to run on a fully updated install of windows. Although there is one patch out at the moment, it fails to fix the problem. I'm hoping another patch is in the works that will fix it. What I have played of the game however, is fantastic. If and when this game gets another patch, I would raise my overall score to 5, until then, it gets 2.

A botch

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: May 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Cossacks II, as other reviewers have stated, has so much potential, but it is wasted.

That said, starting with the good points: The feel of the Napoleonic Wars is preserved fairly well, as you maneuver 120-man companies in three formations, using roads to aid movement, firing in three lines, and worrying about fateigue and morale. You can also limber your artillery to move it about faster, and cavalry can play a significant role. When a unit (or artillery) fires, there is a cloud of white smoke, which adds to the battlefield feel.

The neutral points: the more major fortifications don't do much, compared to how difficult they are to get the resources for. The mighty fortress, for example, an example of the star-shaped designes of Vaubain, just shoots a cannon shot every two or three seconds. I've had my fortress destroyed by a 15-man squad of combat engineers who, literally, planted powder barrels when i wasn't looking. Furthermore, it's hard to keep your units in sufficient supply of ammunition, at the game's start. Also, there doesn't seem to be a way to attack in column, as the column used seems to be for movement purposes only. Last, artillery doesn't play as large a role as it did in the actual Napoleonic Wars.

However, despite these good things, Cossacks II is, ultimatly, a frusterating game. From the start, i've had problems with it, which is all the more frusterating because of the lack of a decent Napoleonic Wars game. It comes with the StarForce protection program, which has a reputation for causing problems. Furthermore, i have had extreme slow-down problems, even though my computer far exceeds the minimum requirements, is closing in on the reccommended, and is playing on the lowest detail setting (which, by the way, one can only choose on install). Sometimes, these slow-down problems were so crippling i literally could not play the game. While these problems are extremly frusterating, the AI is by far the most irritating part of the system. The AI literally has no sense of tactics, instead relying on its ability to micromanage far faster than a human can ever hope to and its seemingly endless resources to overwhelm the player with troops. In one game, i killed nearly seven thousand enemy units (6,879), while losing under a thousand (958). While i would like to believe it is because i am a genius, in reality it is because the computer keeps throwing its units in endless waves against your troops. It doesn't seem to matter how many times you destroy their units, or how many villages they have; they always have enough resources left to send another massive wave at you. In addition, since the maps in Cossacks are large (a good thing), you end up fighting on multiple fronts. The computer takes advantage of this, and will attack you in one front when your attention is directed elsewhere. While this may seem good, the problem is that the computer's units will literally march up to your entrenched/standing ground units, and fire a massive volley and cause significant damage for the simple reason that if you put that unit on autofire, they will fire as soon as the enemy comes into range. Since they have muskets, this is absolutly ineffective. You, as the general, have to tell your troops when to fire their volleys, even when the enemy is in the yellow or red zone. This sort of micromanaging would be alright in some games, but it makes it ultimatly frusterating in Cossacks II. Another problem is how the AI will, literally, build buildings right next to your units, or behind them; since only a handfull of units can destroy buildings, you cannot capture them (unless they're being built, in which case the computer would destroy them anyways), and your units will not go after the peasants building these buildings. I have had the computer build a blockhouse in front of my army, and had my soldiers do nothing to impede it. Also, there are a lot of irritating bugs; the british rocket, for example, seems to only be good for a few rockets fired, and sometimes the enemy will "defect", and fight on your side.

All in all, Cossacks 2 has a lot of potential, but it was spoiled by the terrible AI, and systems problems. This game, in my opinion, is worth about ten dollars; don't buy it for more than that.

Cossacks II = Cossacks + American Conquest Fight Back

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: December 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Two years later - Dec/07 - Jan/08 I'm playing the commercial version and have to agree completely with the review "A botch .." particularly with the large paragraph where describes all horrors and punishments of the game. And I am not even playing the 1st edition "Napoleonic Wars" - but the 2nd edition "Battle for Europe" instead, however problems are exactly the same as (very well) described.

I keep playing I guess as a matter of honor, for the challenge. I'm playing all single missions against the AI, methodically from the first one, and I don't start the next mission until I have won the prior.

So far I have won (painfully - a week more or less of suffering each) the first seven or eight missions. Some tips, choose carefully your side and your foe's. Don't go in your first missions against Britain, France or Prussia. Is a lot easier going against Russia. I have won most of missions so far playing Prussia and even Poland against Russia.

However some missions seem to have a particular geographic meaning.

The "Dessert" mission has a definitely North African-Arabic ambience, so I choose to play Egypt against Britain - to keep true to history France would be a more veridic enemy: Napoleon winning the Pyramids Battle against Mamluks and so, but I don't like play against French by sentimental reasons, and for my complete surprise I was able to route the British proud infantry and win. I heavily relied in irregular infantry - Tuaregs, and the colorful Mamluk cavalry.

Then I started to play the mission "Winter Fight", after failing to hold several times against Russia (a foe I had defeated in four or five prior missions), I decided to switch sides and took Russia as my nation against Austria. This time things ran a lot better and my armies have reached the critical point where you control half or more of towns in the map and the enemy attacks are less frequent and less violent, so your victory is only a matter of time.

The comments I did below for the demo still stand true, but I have found the commercial game a lot harder than the demo. Here there are a few more tips:

- in all missions I have won so far never needed more than 3,000 units at the same time.
- build the academy ASAP so officers and drummers become available and you can assign them to your battalions. However, do not mind standard bearers - they are extremely expensive - 300 gold coins, and soon you will be needing all the possible gold to buy ..... coal for your firearms.
- build the palace ASAP - it will improve your gold income even if you don't control any gold miner town. Then build the market, so you can use your gold to buy coal ... and, eventually, food.
- place your goood stores and town centers the closer you can to the towns producing - in this priority order: food, then coal, then gold and iron in last place.

***** original comments below ************

This game is a sequel of Cossacks series (European Wars, Back to War, Art of War) as it is of American Conquest Fight Back as well. The scenario is Europe, as in Cossacks, but terrain, buildings and units behave and look a lot as in ACFB.

What is better than the prior games is the new concept of villages and roads. Judging by the demo, villages are scattered everywhere, like in a real 18-19 century European country, and roads connect them. Each town has its own economical activity, such as mines, farms, etc. and its own authority: militia. Roads are used by carts transporting goods between towns. Better yet, organized infantry units as well, when commanded to move from a town to another using the mini-map, they will use the shortest road way.

Starting the demo, a few villages recognize you as their master; you can decide then further enhancements and production development. If your enemy attacks, militia of your towns will help you, as long as the fight is near or surrounding its own village. Still more, your formations near to your towns, when fighting, will receive recruits automatically from towns to replace casualties. However, you can't control your militia nor give them commands.

There are neutral villages. They could supply you with goods, if your trade centers (goods stores, town centers) are close enough, but nothing more. You can take over a neutral town. Send an organized unit, under an officer command, of infantry or firing cavalry (chasseurs, dragoons) to the town. Upon arriving, they will be attacked by local militia, give them the order of line or square formation, start shooting and soon militia will be defeated. If your unit is close enough or within the town, you will see your colors in the main production building (mill, mine, etc). Click on it and you will be able to control development. Better yet, send in several of your peasants and make them build a goods store or town center. Supplies will get faster to your warehouses because carts will make shorter trips.

Units graphic design is very attractive, and looks really true to history. Formations can learn and improve their capabilities. Click on any of them and you'll see a panel with basic commands and information: men, morale, casualties inflicted to the enemy, etc. After a while, as long as the formation is earning combat experience, and succeeding against the enemy, military rank symbols start to appear to identify it. Top formations, with highest morale and large numbers of enemies killed, will earn the "Guard" distinction, this is, the Napoleon's best of the best. When my enemies faced such units, a lot of times, they simply ran in panic.

Finally, to be brief, I can say that, after four or five failed attempts, and a couple of days without sleeping, I was able to win the demo scenario, defeating the AI.

Just a few tips:

First strategic target: grab and hold (using organized units or formations) a couple of towns where coal and iron are produced. If you lack either of them, your soldiers won't shoot, and you will be lost. Even the gold, being important, is not as iron or coal. Of course, food, wood, and stone are basic. As soon as possible, improve all mills in your initial towns. Recruit a lot of peasants in the beginning of the game. Peasants do not account against your population limit.

Forget about unorganized soldiers, they are useless against enemy formations. Build a barrack and then, immediately after, build the academy (needs a lot of stone), so you'll be able to train officers and deploy formations.

Start with basic infantry: fusiliers. Forget national guards, they are almost militia. Voltigers are good and long range shooters, but they can't stand cavalry or bayonet charges. When you have enough fusiliers units, deploy voltigers units behind the first line. They will make great damage to enemy.

Select two or three key spots, and make your peasants build blockhouses in them. When you had lost two or three games to the AI, you'll learn which ones are these key spots.

Follow with cavalry, armed with guns (chasseurs, dragoons) better, even though ulans (lancers) could be useful for ambush and chasing routed enemy. Chasseurs units are very good at flanking enemy infantry (better when moving), and surprising them with heavy side fire. They can fight hard as well with swords at melee.

Forget cannons until you are in a winning position. They are expensive and consume a lot of precious resources: iron and coal. Use them at final stage, when enemy army is on the run (assumed you are winning, of course), together with sappers, to blow out enemy's town centers.

A couple of cons:

Despite the similarities to ACFB, I missed the buildings feature of garrison soldiers, depending upon the building size the amount of soldiers allowed to have inside. Also, the actual size of the buildings your peasants construct looks gigantic when compared against the terrain accidents and the distance between towns. Comparing to ACFB too, at least on the demo map, there aren't any water surface like creeks, ponds and the likes.

The AI looks like doesn't have much of strategic thinking. At the beginning of the demo, it identifies your weak spot and start sending formations to deprive your side of the more important resources, those you have to posses if you want your soldiers be able to shoot. Of course, the AI never lacks any resource, and its speed of deploying formations is double, at least, than yours. But if you manage to survive the relentless attacks, and start to hold successfully, I didn't see the AI trying of maneuver to attack from other directions. It keeps coming to the same point, until its numerical superiority overwhelms your army, unless you start to advance instead of merely defend, when you obtain superiority.

At last, for somebody who wants to play the Napoleon's epic from a really strategic point of view, I would recommend the title "War & Peace". Games like this, "Cossacks 2", judging by the previous versions and this demo, are more focused in tactical and local events. Is like comparing the film "Waterloo" against the "Sharpe's .." series. Either are enjoyable, from its standpoint of the historical events.


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