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Entries Tagged as 'Review'

Centurion: Defender of Rome (1990)

April 1st, 2008 · 10 Comments · Ancients, Feature:Anc, Retro, Review

Late in November 2006, I turned in my review of Medieval II: Total War to the editor of Computer Games Magazine. In his reply to that e-mail, he asked if I could quickly turn around a Revisionist History contribution (the magazine’s retro column) connected to the game. I suggested Centurion, the boss man didn’t argue […]

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Encyclopedia of War: Ancient Battles (1988)

March 20th, 2008 · 14 Comments · Ancients, Feature:Anc, Retro, Review, Wargames

In 1988, Cases Computer Simulations and R.T. Smith released Encyclopedia of War: Ancient Battles, a game that was intended to be the first in a series of historical miniature games. The mid 80s was probably the high point of wargame dominance in the computer gaming market, and there were really no ancient wargames on the […]

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Annals of Rome (1986)

March 14th, 2008 · 7 Comments · Ancients, Feature:Anc, Retro, Review

Annals of Rome is usually forgotten when people talk about classic strategy games of the period. It was one part of a PSS developed trilogy called the Wargamer Series (the other two were Fire Zone and Sorceror Lord), and PSS didn’t exactly have a reputation for creating brilliant titles. Its early titles were arcade ripoffs. […]

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Legionnaire (1982)

March 12th, 2008 · 6 Comments · Ancients, Feature:Anc, Retro, Review

Any accounting of the development of ancient themes would be incomplete without Legionnaire. Though the theme was almost arbitrary, this was the first major computer game to be set in the classical world. And it was developed by Chris Crawford, once one of the most important game designers on the planet. And, fortunately for us, […]

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A History of the Ancients Game

March 10th, 2008 · 19 Comments · Ancients, Feature:Anc, Retro, Review

It should be no secret to regular readers that I am an ancient history nerd. I watch sword and sandal movies, I read scholarly monographs for fun and collect games with ancient themes. I have suggested naming my first born son Germanicus. And it is even less of a secret that I enjoy what Paradox […]

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Sims 2: Free Time

March 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Electronic Arts, Gamesradar, Maxis, Review

My review of Sims 2: Free Time can be found on the new and improved Games Radar. It’s a decent expansion – nothing like the joy of Pets or openness of University. And most of the stuff it adds is covered in one way or another by other expansions; do we really need a hobby […]

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