Gettysburg: Scourge of War is the new game developed by Norbsoft, a company that formed after Mad Minute Games split up. I bought it on release, and I have to say that so far I’ve been pretty impressed.
The game itself is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It is clearly very similar in gameplay to the Take Command games, two games I really enjoyed on release. The graphics have been noticeably touched up, and new options have been added, but it doesn’t hide the fact that this game is very familiar. That is no bad thing, as the original gameplay was excellent, but there are still a few things that it would have been nice to see fixed, such as the way regiments look when moving into line. None of these are issues exactly, but they do damage the immersion to a certain extent.
Graphically, I was actually a little disappointed when I first loaded the game, as was expecting more. The colours to me look a little unrealistic some of the trees for example look a little fluorescent for my taste, and it makes the foliage stand out from the rest of the scenery that emphasises the 2D nature of the graphics. That said, there are areas that are significantly improved. Playing a multiplayer game at McPherson’s Ridge, with Confederate and Union troops firing at each other in a wheat field, looked extremely evocative, and felt right. The graphics are moddable, and hopefully a mod will come out to address the colours. At the end of the day it’s an improvement, but not one that would make you buy the game.
The single player game focuses on different conflicts that occurred during the overall battle, for example Colonel Vincent’s Brigade at Little Round Top. There are Brigade, Division and Corp level scenarios available. Sadly, there are no whole army scenarios, as the hardware is not available to handle so many troops at once. That said, Norbsoft are opening up the option to play with the army orders of battle so it will be possible to start a custom battle with army sized forces, so you can see the slideshow for yourself, should you choose. The scenarios included cover the major actions, and include a few “what ifs”. At the moment you need to play the day 1 scenarios to unlock the day 2 and day 3 ones, although I am sure this will be easy to change if you find you are struggling to unlock them.
Gameplay is very similar to the previous games, and very much boils down to holding in some positions while you flank in others. The feature that makes this game stand out is the way you command troops. Rather than in most RTS games, where you select where troops go, here you control different leaders and give them positional and stance orders. Those leaders then relay their own interpretation of your orders to the troops below them. It is a much more realistic system and there are times that you are left frustrated as an incompetent subordinate totally goes against your orders.
The AI is good, both as an opponent and as a subordinate. Generally, stupidity from either the enemy or your own troops can be put down to “realism”. Norbsoft were on to a winner when they picked this area to focus on with their game, as there is a fair chance that whatever the computer can do, someone in the actual Civil War did something far worse. That said, the AI does tend to follow your instructions enough to make you feel in control while giving the element of randomness. As an opponent it can be testing too, using flanking well and switching the focus of the attack from one area of the line to another. Obviously, it also depends on what scenario you play as to how hard the challenge is.
Ultimately if you want a real challenge, multiplayer is the way to go, and for the first time it is included. Players can either fight in teams or take on the AI, and when you get a good group playing it is a good experience. Here also the new courier system comes into its own, as while it is fun to use in single player, it is essential in multiplayer. Players can send detailed messages asking for support, letting others know their plans etc. It is a great feature, and again, very immersive. Norbsoft plan to improve the multiplayer, and the potential is quite clear.
Overall, this is a great game, although not the ground breaking one it once was. That said, even given the time that has passed since Bull Run was released, this engine is still one of the best around for wargames . Not only that, but the maps are well designed and have a real sense of place – you can tell it’s Gettysburg, and that alone is worth the entrance fee in my book. If you’ve never played the series, I would start with Take Command: 2nd Manassas, as it will give you a good idea of what to expect here, but it has been recently on sale for less than £5. Given the older game’s price, it is no brainer. That said, if you have already played and enjoyed that game, I think this one is a safe recommendation. It’s the same, but different in enough ways to make it fresh. In short, this is a game that will be staying on my hard drive for a long time.
i like computer games that are first person shooting and strategy games .