Ultimate General: Civil War: Video Game Overview

We waited: July 14, a strategy about one of the key conflicts of the XIX century left “Early Access”. This is not the first issue Ultimate General And not the first game of the series, dedicated to the Civil War in the United States, was still Gettysburg. But if she is built around the only battle and its theater of action, then the entire bouquet of battleist is assembled here. And both battles at Bull-RAS, and Shailo, and Frederiksberg, and the Cold Harbor – with such a scattering the authors of the scrupulously approached the disposition of regiments and to the move of the battle, which, thanks to the eyewitness diaries, you can hardly restore hardly. That is more importantly that not Americans are responsible for the development, but the Ukrainian studio Game Labs.

Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier

What do we know about the Civil War in the USA? It’s short (1861 – 1865), but a very rich period of history and military. Both opposing army on the move learned to use the cord of the gatling, casnosnostable artillery and rifle guns, discovered the nuances of the stewed tactics and the shortcomings of the occurrence closed. For the first time, they encountered the sea of armadors, for the first time they got the spread of bottom mines and torpedoes, for the first time a submarine attacked the ship. On the one hand, this conflict is remembered by the abolition of slavery, and on the other – concentration camps: Live skeletons from Andersonville fell into the lenses of the camera much earlier than the prisoners of Auschwitz. So what we know about the Civil War in the USA? Yes, almost nothing – in the lessons of history in schools they do not tell about it. But tells Lie Ultimate General: Civil War? That is the question.From the battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers captures the Spirit, but the look is involuntarily clinging for hackno-drawn fences.
Work Game Labs great reminds the game in soldiers, only large-scale and solid. Key regimes in the strategy two: you can participate in individual battles or pass the campaign that illuminates the entire course of the war – from the capture of Fort Sumter to the victories of the generals Sherman (William Sherman) and Grant (Ulysses Grant). But what regime does not choose, first need to decide on the side of the conflict – we control the Union (North) or the Confederation (South). The soldiers of the latter are well motivated, but always in the minority, and Northerners, despite the numerical advantage, often prefer not to the chest in the crosses, but the heads in the bushes. What, in general, more or less corresponds to the situation of that time.

In addition to the flag, the specialty of the commander-in-chief is important. Tactic gets an additional unit, under the leadership of the strategist troops, experiences are gaining faster, and the scholar will better supply soldiers with suppres. True, after the first battles, it opens the ability to change skills in any direction – at the expense of points awarded for success. Say, we had a supplier general, and we additionally reconcile and support the combat spirit. The same with the commanders of regiments, divisions and buildings that can be recruited for gaming currency at the Academy and teach as combat experience accumulates.

But not by officers are uniform – in Ultimate General: Civil War Pay attention and care for the army. During the fluids between battles, the game offers to form new shelves, buy weapons for infantry, cavalry and artillery. There are almost all the “Firear” models of the Civil War in the United States, including, it is difficult to believe, modifications. But the trick: the expensive rifle can be accurate, but completely useless in hand-to-hand, but grandfather Musket for a couple of bucks is extremely effective as a melee weapon. However, the money reached for the next battle is never enough for a complete re-equipment, and expensive “trunks” in the store – once or two and got. Fortunately, manually generated shelves and even the housing affect the balance. After all, what two thousand against the background of twenty? It’s rather a nice bonus than the rescue circle.The new infantry regiment needs a thousand guns, and in such quantities – only consumer goods.

All ingenious simply

The best thing Civil War reveals itself from the tactical side. At your disposal four kinds of troops: infantry shelves, rifle battalions, cavalry and artillery batteries. And all units have their own moral indicators, experience, and depending on weapons – and overall efficiency. On the battlefield of the troops completely in your power. Easy Maching Cursor Charges for them, they are engaged from the step to run, they rush to the attack either hold the occupied positions, riders are dismounted for helping the infantrymen, and the sake of the flank strike on the batteries are again horses. The disposition is better to choose, because the forest or at home give a bonus to protection and secure, and from the hills there is space for canonirov.

The vanity of what is happening adds force majeure like the ending bullets (in this case there is a van with ammunition), retreats of demoralized shelf shelf or flight of deserters from the battlefield. True, the gameplay is limited to maneuvering and exchange of lives for victorious tactics at a favorable course. Digging trenches, railway laying, construction of bridges, as well as engineering troops, there is no. But there is a chance to lose, there are too big losses or without having completed the task.

Artificial intelligence, controlling enemies, also does not let. That will take it to urge the line of defense from the flank, then, on the contrary, goes into deaf protection. For the cute soul, destroyed the guns abandoned without protection, hunts behind the turn and tough punishment for stupid cavalry attacks. And sometimes – completely alive carefully. For example, in the episode of the campaign, where the union forces is lit across the Rappakhannok river opposite Frederixberg. How many in the city of confederates, they do not know, so, despite the tremendous advantages, they attack quite sluggish and more often use artillery. How the authors of the game found a balance between historical facts and the work of the algorithm, adequately admiration.The same crossing through Rappahannok: For historicism, there is not enough mistress, which allowed Northerners to build bridges under the fire of Mississipian snipers.
But that developers managed best, so it is an easy interface and management, with whom your grandmother would be alleged. Let there not a training regime here, he, frankly, is not needed. After all, even imperceptible at first glance, the nuances still bend on the go. Add here the ultimate clarity of the goals for each chapter of the campaign: to hold the position to such an hour, take such a strengthening, renounce the enemy fort from the supply. Although especially large battles are divided into several episodes and theaters of combat operations, get lost in them as difficult as at home in their own kitchen. What is good and bad at the same time.

Rusked where it is fine

The game is not only the fact that well-known personalities are represented here – and general Li (Robert Edward Lee), who would love war, do not be so terrible, and Masteur Master Thomas “Stone Wall” Jackson (Thomas Jackson), who believed that it was better to lose a hundred people on a march than a thousand in battle, and other commander of that time. And not only carefully restored topography: This street is this house. Alas, it follows the letter of the archive also in the script. The player does not work at root to change the course of events, for which we are accustomed to, for example, in historical strategies of the studio Paradox. That is, no matter how cool, and the confederates on Washington streets and Philadelphia will not lead – the top is still taking the north. Sorry for the spoiler, of course.

Sometimes it comes to the offensive. You are climbing out of the skin to keep the position with a minimum of losses, heroically grind the upcoming enemy, I crush the cunning maneuver of his rear, and here you report that, they say, it’s time to retreat. Enemies too much and entered the order. It is clear: who would argue with historical facts? However, a person who is more or less familiar with the events of the Civil War disappears part of interest. On the other hand, when chronological meticulousness, the game is weakly transfers the spirit of the era. It is not entirely correct to compare, but still. W Martina Scorsese (Martin Scorsese) in the “Bands of New York” there is an episode when immigrants who escaped from hunger in Ireland arrive in Ireland, – recruitors immediately give them a meager salary, handing rifles and sledge to another ship, from which the coffins are drunk fromkilled Irish. The minute scene of the film gives more meaning and understanding than all the work Game Labs.

О – not by the UG, but because of its mechanical simplicity and strict affection of the scenario to the textbook history of fans of the genre, she will hobbly. The product is designed by the mass audience, manifesting interest in the past US than on hardcore strategists, hardened the same Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron. In any case, get acquainted with Ultimate General: Civil War It is clearly worth it – if not now, then waiting for discounts on the sale in Steam.