In my effort to be a full service hub for marginal games related to ancient history, Rob Fahey recently reviewed Ancient Wars: Sparta, and, from my time with the game, his final evaluation seems to have hit the nail square on the head. I disagree with him on some of his specific comments, but we’re on the same page that this is a game better off forgotten.

So, you amass your army, at long last, and you charge for the enemy stronghold – hurrah! Except, there’s really not very much you can do on the way, as a strategy game player. A shocking number of levels in the game are actually completely linear pathways, which see you moving a single large force through a pre-defined path taking out opposition on your way. Each enemy force you come across is dealt with by simply running headlong at it and hitting it until it falls down. The whole combat experience has all the finesse and grace of a drunken tramp falling down the steps of a rapidly braking double-decker bus.

I was to review this for CGM and received a late beta. The final review version would have been on its way. So I have to keep that in mind. But it was very clear that little could be done to save Ancient Wars. I can’t do a real review with only a beta, but Fahey’s problems were problems that I saw in my week with the game, too.