In the world of real-time strategy (RTS) games, the bar has been set awfully high. Series like Command & Conquer and Warcraft have been hugely, monstrously, amazingly successful. This naturally causes other games to follow in their wake. Some of the games are better than others, but none, in this case, seems to be able to touch the might of the Warcraft franchise.
Entering the fray is a new RTS game by Playlogic and Eidos, Ancient Wars: Sparta. If you have ever played any other entry into the genre, Ancienct Wars: Sparta is incredibly easy to get the hang of, the very look and feel of the screen is virtually identical to those games that have come before it. The in-game graphics are certainly more attractive, but the general gameplay remains the same.
Again, with those games that have come before it, Ancienct Wars: Sparta allows players to choose to play campaigns from multiple races, in this case they are Spartans, Egyptians, and Persians. While there are minor differences in the races and the way they function, they all have equivalent types of buildings and warriors, the differences are more for show than anything else (like all games of this genre).
The storyline for the three races deals with the same historical events that surround the blockbuster movie 300. Though, this connection is not purposeful — the game and the film simply happen to have been released around the same time. The Spartans are trying to fend off the evil Persians. While some of the missions are flashbacks, and that ought to add depth to the game, it doesn't. The grand over-arching narrative for the game is distinctly lacking.
The levels themselves tend, once you're beyond the first one or two in each mission (the training levels), to be packed with stuff to do and stuff that can be done to you. It's not that they're that intricate, as there are always loads of enemy warriors gunning for you. One or two wrong moves in a level can prove completely disastrous and force you to start from the beginning (not a fun thing when you're an hour into the level).
Article comments
1 - Bill
Sparta.
Where do I begin. I played a little over 5 minutes of this game to realise it's probably the biggest waste of money on a pc game. Graphics are good but HUGE, so there's little in the way of creating a thriving community. Gameplay is laboured and often banal. The accents are totally beyond reason (I've never heard of a cockney Spartan)and the slightest movement of a character is met with more banality... 'hmm', 'yes', 'I approve of your plan', I only moved a character 10 feet.
In closing.
SAVE YOUR MONEY.
1/10