Great Invasions is the pseudo-sequel to Pax Romana, an overambitious, poorly executed, rushed out the door mess of a game with a few brilliant innovations. Great Invasions is not as bad as all that.
It’s not brilliant either.
Set in the decline of the Roman Empire, GI charges the player with managing kingdoms, empires and religions as […]

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Slitherine’s next ancient strategy game, Legion: Arena has gone gold. It can be pre-ordered now from their website and will be released October 21.
My enthusiasm for this game was tempered a bit by the underwhelming IGN previews and the news that there would be no battle generator. But, with over 100 scenarios and their best […]

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This week’s Escapist has an interview with the legendary game developer Chris Crawford. The man behind strategy classics Eastern Front ‘41 and Balance of Power sits down with Max Steele to mostly discuss Crawford’s timeless theme - why games suck.
Well, that’s a bit of an oversimplification. He admits to not playing games much anymore. […]

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The expansion to last year’s best strategy game ships today. Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion moves the game into the fall of the empire and introduces religion as a controlling factor. The Senate is gone and rebellions can lead to civil wars, representing the instability of both the Eastern and Western Roman domains.
This is […]

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Age of Empires III will be released to American consumers on October 18. A Collector’s Edition will be available for $69.99 and comes with all the useless stuff that people cram into these editions. A book of concept art, a “making of” DVD, a super special manual, etc.
I’ll buy it, mostly because everyone else will […]

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I am in the process of reviewing a strategy game that is all about the multiplayer. Its setup, premise and design emphasize that the game is meant to be played with and against other people. It also has one major oversight that has the potential to cripple its multiplayer base. No chat.
Since I’m still in […]

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Shacknews has a note from Firaxis’ Barry Caudill and screenshots that reveal a little more about the world building tool that we will see in early 2006. Not only will the Python and XML scripting be wide open to Meier-wannabes, but the Civ IV SDK will be made available allowing for some pretty deep changes […]

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I recently finished an article for Computer Games Magazine for their Revisionist History column (now with PC games!). Part of it dealt with innovations, contributions, that sort of thing. Because, as an amateur historian, the origins of things really interest me. I’m not talking about the first RTS, or the first hex based wargame that […]

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Right up there with “Scariest game?” and “Worst Ending?”, “Favorite Game Music” is a perennial topic on game forums the world over. And it is one of the many topics on which I have no firm opinions. I am probably one of the few serious gamers who doesn’t care about music in a game.
Yeah, they […]

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There is a new wargaming blog that everyone interested in the topic should check out. Bruce Geryk will be writing a new wargaming column for Computer Gaming World and, to that end, has been given blog space on 1up.com.
My post title is, of course, a joke. Bruce is not competing with my blog, nor mine […]

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