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Fun but frustrating

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Fun but frustrating. If you like the era, get it and play it. If you are not sure, do not waste the money, unless you can get a really cheap used copy like I did. Worth the 5.99 I paid.

Yeah. It's an OKAY game. Here's why.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Let me start off by saying that I am somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to games. In other words, I expect the best. (Yes, I am serious about this). Maybe it's because I come from years of playing games belonging to Blizzard and VALVe. So when I pick up a game other than the name Blizzard or VALVe I become sort of anxious and unsure whether or not my money will be well-spent. (On the side, I've become fast uninterested in EA games due to their increasing growth in their lack of quality, just if you were wondering. They're big on games - duh.)

Another thing to throw into that brain of yours is that I read some of the Amazon's reviews on Ancients Wars: Sparta before purchasing, and I had deemed it enough that I knew of the game's plus and minuses from Them, but unfortunately, there are several things that were not mentioned.

Positives first, shall we?

The graphics are without a doubt phenomenal, as everyone has said. Every single detail in Ancient Wars has been accounted for. Really, no kidding, from the environment you command within (the map - duh) to the units you create and control and structures you build. Just refer to the other reviews for more spice, I do not need to "repeat".

Also, if you're looking for realism in a game, then look no further because this one exhibits realism like you wouldn't believe. (This of course intertwines with what I've said previously about its graphics.) For one, in regard with the gameplay, your troop's health gradually decrease (this concerns also your own workers) in accordance with the amount of "food" you provide. So if you haven't built any Farms, and fail to notice, you'll be wondering later on where are your units went.
Personally, I like realism in a game. Though it tends to lower the convenience in gameplay functionality in certain cases - in terms of speed for example, but there is just enough realism in Ancients Wars that it is bearable.

The three civilisation's interfaces are fantastic; it's what to be expected from an RTS game. Kudos to the Ancient Wars design team.

Now concerning unit upgrades, the game provides numerous upgrade options for melee and range troops only. For example, you can choose to equip a soldier with a Sword, Spear, Trident, Sling or Bow, thus versatility. For most players this is exciting because this has never been done before and begs to be discovered. On the other hand, there is a major problem, you'll be only playing against AI, which means the variety of strategies and tactics they'll use against you are 0. Don't be expecting a rush within 5 minutes, or to face a well-trained and fully upgraded army from an economy builder, or any other human because there will be none. In the end, the upgrades are dreadfully useless, just choose one and spam (it's what I do once I've obtained at least 4 goldmines).

That's about it with the Positives.

And here are the Negatives:

1. Internet service for this game is no longer available. Yes, this is very, very true.
2. The unit quotes are (in my opinion of course) very, very lame. Also, each unit has so few quotes; inevitably, you'd get so tired of hearing the same 3 quotes over and over again.
3. In addition to the unit quotes, the voiceovers are ridiculously lame as well. I had hoped that a game with such outstanding graphics would certainly exhibit phenomenal voiceovers, but I was wrong. For example, Spartan "Psiloi" (aka Light Infantry) sound like a 10 year old boy with an EXTREMELY soft voice. I don't believe Spartan warriors had soft-voices - I wouldn't imagine it so having seen the movie 300.
4. No Terrain Variety. Yes, unfortunately. The ONLY terrain available is desert, desert, desert!!! I understand that it must have taken an extraordinarily large amount of effort to get the realistic graphics into play and the fantastic-looking doodads must have taken ages, but if you've already done that you might as well push further your company and throw in a little more variety, like different terrains? Perhaps a jungle, or rainforest, or grassland, or plains?
5. Speaking of variety, the races are practically identical, say but for a few different units and structures here and there. Spartans have Barracks and Training Camps, and Persians have War Schools and Camps (I forgot the full name). I mean, how could they be anymore different if Barracks and War Schools both train melee units?
6. Lack of Strategy and Tactics. I don't mean to be harsh, but it's true. Concerning all races, spam workers and obtain 4 goldmines get lots of money and just spam troops after. Simple, really. For Persians all you have to do is spam archers and/or whatever ranged units. For Spartans you spam melee troops with armour upgrades and so forth. For Egyptians you spam whatever. It's all said and done, really. Why? Because there is no Internet service available!!! So what does the AI know about variety? All they do is play the same exact script against you every game.
7. Lack of what was said leads to Low Replay Value. Yes, this game lacks valuable amounts of replay value due to no Internet service. If you can't play against other people, what's the fun in playing a game where the AI is unable to learn new strategies and tactics and try out other things.
8. Teams don't work. Well, at least my copy of the game does not. I tried opting for a 2v2, but the game set it to a free for all match. I don't understand because the game disc I have has no scratches and plus came to me in "Like New" condition, so I suspect it has something to do with the game itself. Maybe the playtesters didn't playtest the game enough, or was it that this bug / flaw / error was left uncheck. But who knows? Anything could have happened - all I know is that I can't play any team games.
9. The Main Menu's interface is poorly done. The font is this old Windows one that you usually see on a Microsoft Word 1995. Furthermore the colour depicts mediocre gray buttons against a simple black button. I mean, come on. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Persian, Spartan and Egyptian interface, but the game's Main Menu and other supporting menus are poorly furnished.
10. Lack of unit abilities. This is an outright melee and/or ranged combat game - nothing else. Don't be expecting another WarCraft III with magical heroes spelling enemy troops with fantastic spells and whatnot. The problem is I had trouble trying to understand why the Spartan Oracle had only 2 abilities at her disposal when she is indeed a Tier 4 unit. She has the ability to heal or reveal parts of the map - that's it. I mean, come on. There must be other things that she could do for the amount of gold I spent on her.

So overall it's an okay game. If you're like me, a person who enjoys an overall well-made RTS game (like StarCraft, or WarCraft III) where a game is expected to be high in quality in all areas then this isn't the game for you.

For me, the character's quotes and voices (while not all of them) were unbearable. I mean, I still play the game, but whenever I click on a unit I am reminded of its lack of ingenuity....

It's a pretty good pastime sort of game, but would that I could, I'd return it - or never had bought it at all. And also, if you're like me, graphics aren't everything.

Two stars.

Chin-chin.

Sparta...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

According to my 7 year old son, this game is Awesome!!! We had trouble loading it into his dell, but I loaded it into my Gateway and it was perfect! It was a fast load and the graphics are better than I expected at such a low price!

And I must say, Wil @ Tragic Little PC was wonderful... He guided me through the steps I had to take to try & load it into our Dell and then let me know what the problem was and a solution all via email. I was very satisfied with this buy and the wonderful customer service @ Tragic Little PC. Thanks again Wil, from my son and I!

A Good Ancient Wars Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

When I first tried the game I branded it as being little more than junk. However, after playing it a few times, I have since reconsidered and find the game to be a good ancient wars type of game. The graphics are really good, and will hold their own or surpass many games of this type. The game play is along the lines of AOE, Civilizations at war, etc., in that you gather resources, build your city and army up to a certain point, (If you last that long,) and wipe out the opposing side. The game is a bit lacking with only three civilizations to choose from, excluding India in the campaign scenarios and, you can become tired of playing the same three over and over again. Of course most of the fighting during that time was between the Persians and Greeks with some mixed minor clashes with the Egyptians so, this part is pretty much accurate. The maps could have been a bit larger as well and, even though the game does have an editor of sorts, if you know how to find it, it is difficult to use and was never intended for use by the general public to begin with. More maps and an easier to use streamlined editor and the addition of a few more civilizations in an upcoming patch or expansion package would do wonders for this game.

HOW CAN YOU GIVE IT A 1 STAR

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 33
Date: May 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

OF COURSE YOUR GONNA HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE GAME, U HAVE WINDOWS VISTA, ITS A NEW OPERATING SYSTEM THERE FOR ITS NOT GONNA WORK PROPERLY WITH EVERYTHING... DO U KNOW ANYTHING BOUT COMPUTERS AND SOFTWARE...

I DONT HAVE THE GAME YET BUT IM GONNA GET IT... I PLAYED A SAMPLE OF IT...

IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS VISTA U DONT NEED TO B PUTTING COMMENTS HERE

Ancient Wars: Sparta Is A Great Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: May 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of those games that slipped under the radar screen. This game should get a lot higher reviews than what it has been getting. If you like the Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth, Rise of Nations, Empire Earth, or Age of Empires series of games you will end up loving this game. This game has got so much cool stuff. This game takes place during ancient times in the Mediterranean area.

In Single Player, there are three campaigns to play. You can play the Spartans campaign, the Eygptians campaign, or the Persians campaign. There are ten missions in each campaign.

The first thing I noticed was how great the graphics are in this game. The detail on everything is unbelievable. For instance, when I look at the different terrain in the game, you can actually see the shadows from the clouds overhead going across the surface of the land. Even when birds fly overhead, I can actually see the shadows of the birds on the ground while they fly by. The water looks just like real. When I look out at the water, I can actually see the reflection of the sun hitting the water.

There are all kind of animals in the game. You can see a cobra snake slide across the ground or see a rabbit hopping around. When you build sheep farms, you can actually see sheep wandering around. Same thing when you build stables. What is so cool is that you don't make horses with soldiers already mounted on the horses like you do in other games. You actually make the horses themselves and then you can mount any of your heroes or soldiers on top of the horses. I have never seen that in any game I have ever played before. When you build ships at your shipping docks, your ships are actually made with sailors actually working the oars of the ships. I have never seen that before in a game either.

The forts are so cool. You can build walls around your fort and then you can build gates so your units can come and go into your fort. You can put archers up on your walls to your fort so they can shoot down at the enemy down below on the ground. When you attack any enemy buildings, your units will use torches to burn the buildings down. If you have any enemy units try to burn down your buildings, you have laborers that actually use buckets of water to try to douse out the fires.

This game has a lot of replay value. If you like strategy games like I do, then I recommend for you to go out and buy this game. This is also a excellent way to learn about actual ancient history.

Fun Game, However, Do NOT buy this game unless you are willing to use a Trainer

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: April 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

"Ancient Wars: Sparta" has great graphics and physics.
The units look great too, and they look even better then Age of Empires 3's units.

You can customize your units with all kind of weapons.
You can mount your units on horses, camels, elephants and war ships.
You can build defensive walls and place your units on top of the walls.
All this plus great graphics makes it a fun game.

However, the most annoying thing about "Ancient Wars: Sparta" is the economy system.
It's too unbalanced. Gold is the most important resources but it's also the lowest speed resources builders can gather.
There is only one gold mine next to your base, and the number of gold mine workers is limited.
In addition to that your units, your buildings, and upgrades are way too expensive.
That's why it leads to the consequences: low-paced game play, which is the worst thing an RTS game can have.

You can customize your units - choose the weapon and shield for the unit as you like. But, since units and weapons are too expensive even for the lowest level warrior you will have to wait for a long time before you can enjoy the fight.

If that is not problematic enough, there is also the problem that the AI cheats as it knows where additional gold mines can be found, while you the player have to scout for them.
As a result, even "Easy" AI will collect double the gold that you will unless you play aggressively by finding these additional AI's gold mines, destroy them and build your own in their place.
However, that is easier said than done.

I have tried to play several skirmish games against "Easy" AI, and after 20 minutes of game play I was crushed every time by many AI units before I was able to train even a few units.

I then used the aggressive strategy of using my heroes to find the AI's gold mines and destroy them.
Only then I was able to beat the "Easy" AI.

Campaigns that require resource collection have the same issues.

The BEST way to enjoy this game is to download a "Trainer" from cheathappens(dot)com
Such trainer can give you unlimited gold and will solve this economic problem.
However, please note that the Trainer is going to be released to the public only on May 8th 2007.

This game has been reviewed by GameSpot and got 6.3 score.

If you use the trainer, then you can probably even play against 2 or 3 AI's and the game can then be fun.

If you wait a little you can probably buy this game in a few months for $20.
It costs $40 at day of release.
In 6 months the price may even go down to $10 just like it did for "ParaWorld" and "Rise and Fall".

"Rise and Fall" is not such bad game but the price falls down fast due to bad reviews.

So my suggestion is to get the trainer, or wait for the price to fall and maybe a patch will solve the economic issue, although I doubt they will fix that.

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