{"id":803,"date":"2007-11-21T16:11:02","date_gmt":"2007-11-21T20:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/2007\/11\/21\/working-out-aggression\/"},"modified":"2007-11-21T16:11:02","modified_gmt":"2007-11-21T20:11:02","slug":"working-out-aggression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/2007\/11\/21\/working-out-aggression\/","title":{"rendered":"Working out Aggression"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playlogic has acquired the rights<\/a> to Lesta’s upcoming RTS Aggression: Reign over Europe<\/em>. Year old screenshots from an earlier iteration dubbed Aggression: Europe 1914<\/em> can be found at Gamespot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the press release, with some of my own whining:<\/p>\n

Choose your side – Germany, France, Russia or England \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and become the most powerful force on the continent, using historical figures and equipment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Historical equipment is nothing new, but historical figures could be, depending on how it’s done. Are Hindenberg and Zhukov generals who increase fighting ability? Does Bomber Harris give you an aircraft bonus?<\/p>\n

Send your diplomats across Europe on the real time tactical map and pick your battles well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Diplomacy on a tactical map? I have no doubt the designers are smarter than I am but do they mean the strategic world map? Because that’s the only level I can see diplomacy working at. Assuming that it, as well as the battles, moves in real time, I wonder if this will something like the mostly unappreciated Knights of Honor<\/a>\"\"<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Stefan Layer, VP of Marketing and Sales of Playlogic: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aggression is a great game and another welcome addition to our portfolio. The historical setting combined with real time action and diplomatic strategies makes Aggression a must for fans of the genre, so I have no doubt it will perform very well.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love marketing and PR people, because they have to say things like this. Here’s what Mr. Layer said<\/a> about the dog Ancient Wars: Sparta<\/em> back in 2005: “The potential for Sparta in the world market is extraordinary, not just because of its general appeal and gameplay elements but many unique features”<\/em><\/strong> As always, I hope Aggression<\/em> is a great game that proves to be a huge success. But I don’t take Mr. Layer’s assurances to heart. (Though Sparta<\/em> was a minor hit in Britain…)<\/p>\n

Fight your battles on the real time tactical maps and control your ever expanding empire on the strategic map where you control diplomacy, science and industry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So diplomacy is on the strategic map. But the idea of an “ever expanding empire” sounds so 19th century. Of the four playable nations – France, Britain, Germany and Russia – only the latter two ever built much of a continental empire in this period. Italy grabbed some stuff in the era, too. Of course, France and Britain did add some Middle Eastern mandates to their territory, but once again it seems that a strategy game designer has gone the easy route with conquest as the marker of power.<\/p>\n

Choose your own play style. Play as a diplomat and create profitable trade agreements with your allies, push science to gain a technological edge over your opponents or play as a war mongering general and use your military forces to take control over Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Multiple play styles in a RTS generally means that only a couple will be really viable. I can’t see economic power being a useful counter to a guy who has more tanks unless there’s a way to starve him of steel.<\/p>\n

Aggression<\/em> is an early 2008 title. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playlogic has acquired the rights to Lesta’s upcoming RTS Aggression: Reign over Europe. Year old screenshots from an earlier iteration dubbed Aggression: Europe 1914 can be found at Gamespot. Highlights from the press release, with some of my own whining: Choose your side – Germany, France, Russia or England \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and become the most powerful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5GFeQ-cX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashofsteel.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}