Well i'm a bad man, i download warez. At first i thought about buying the game but then reading some of the forums on diverse sites, i thought again, and decided not to buy it. Why? well because so many people so say so many stuff about how the game wil rock, but i couldnt see any post that commented on the beta. While the beta isnt bug free, is should give you a good impression of the game, on almost every aspect. For me a game with a bug is a bugfree game, it gets frustrating if you dont save but once you see the game in action, its you-like-it or you-don't-like-it.
Plus i have no money
Anyway i downloaded the warez from a certain place at a certain time that i won't share with anyone because i'm not here to brag or be a dealer, just to tell you for what to watch out for in the game. So please retreat any post about where i got it or how i burn it.
************WARNING SPOILERS************
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Anyway, i popped the game up in my dc drive yesterday evening and saw the cinematic entry. It was awesome, the CG animations were outstanding, you saw orcs and humans running towards themselves like they would in a total annihilation war. Then these meteors come crashing down (nightelves i think).
On to the game: At first i accessed the options for the resolution. Popped it up at 1024x768x32, high everywhere and played the first level in campaign. It was a prologue, you play as the orcs the first time, it's kind of like a tutorial to introduce you into the game. Then after 1-2 missions of the orcs your off to the west for whatever reason (some prophet directs you there, claming he saw the future). Anyway then after that your forced to use the humans. It kind of sucks that you can't go try out the new tribes right off the bat.
Anyway i got off to the human campaign and played a couple. First mission ressemble a lot to warcraft 2: built 3 farms, 1 barrack and train 5 footmen. Then there's this 2nd mission that involves protecting a village from attacks. You know, on every mission there's a cinematic with dramatic scenes, but the graphic style kills them. More on that later. On my way to the village, i saw a group pesants getting robbed by bandits, saying that they'll rob them till death or something. Then when they fled at my arrival, the pesants initiated a sub-quest! A sub-quest in a RTS! It involved killing the fleeing bandits and retreive the stolen goods. I didn't do the quest because the timing of the mini-quest was horrible! You have to save a village and some family is begging for your good heart to help them.
And then goes on the rest: you got the traditional starcraft mission "survive for 30 minutes" (though it's easier), a mission involving you to kill 100 infested humans before the undead troup leader turns 100 of them into zombies (basicly it's like a competition, you racing against a foe to gain 100 points before he does, pretty cool), etc..
So here are my impressions, i'll leave a score at the end "a la IGN".
First of all when i started playing, i was disapointed by the graphics. The character movements and the artistic style were both really...black and white-ish. Black and white was released...what, 1-2 years ago? well this "not-even-released-game" has the same graphic style. Little baby characters with baby smiles. On one mission a family is begging for you to save their homeland and the baby starts talking (his face is displayed as he talkes in the bottom left corner) and he litteraly looks like a white, pale moneky. Big ears and eyes, with a round head.
But who cares about the style, as ong as the game looks good, is appealing, plays well and sounds great right? Well graphics are really something. I have a measly geforece 4 mx 440 card, and i run it smoothly on 10024x768x32. Hell i tried it on 1660xsomethingx32 (maximu meffect) and i got no slowdowns whatsoever. Now THAT is sweet because basicly a tnt2 RIVA could work it on 800x600, a decent resolution. And you get to see cool spells, they are really nice. I mean the nightelves stronghold is sweet, you see butterflys flying around it and the tree is actually living. Only stuff i dont really like is that the "hero-male" characters are always bulky (to date). Once you control a paladin (a wise and kind warrior) and you see him as this big barabarian weilding a warhammer. Also like i said, the style is out-dated, and kills some dakr moments. You'll never get a scary moment with happy cartoony faces like this, though the undead look nasty sometimes. Oh and before i forget, you can also zoom, which almost brings you to a 3rd person style view, but the camera doesnt chase. And the houses and structures look undetailed when zoomed in.
Now the sound. The sound couldn't have been better. You get cool taunts and sayings everytime a character is created, clicked on, commanded, moved to, or killed. I know you basicly get this in every RTS, but the different accents that the characters have are pleasant to hear. And also every cinematic is voiced. Like you never have to read, just listen, which is a good addtion. The music is decent, nothing really catchy or extraordinaire, but it's basicly like in every RTS.
The gameplay...well there's nothing really unique to it except the new heros addition, which is a unique and awesome aqddition. In every mission you have a hero. It's like a general or commandant of your army, or "yet-to-be" army
No longer you and your army, he's the boss now. Though your his boss heh....ugh.
Anyway what differences from the hero and usual combattant is that he can level up. Yep, side quests and leveling up leans to the RPG side huh? he gets experience points when he defeats a monster (group or not) and when he levels up he gets more and more powerful, and can learn new magic or skills. You can always revive him in a "build a base and attack" mission by building an altar, but it'll cost ya to revive him, and it takes a helluva time. So i suggest you keep him alive, but he usually is behind your army, and uses long range attacks, depending on that hero/heroine (is that the hero in female? sounds....weird haha). Nothing really new except 2 new classes, the night elves and the undead. If you shall compare to starcraft, the orcs and humans are the terran, the undead are the zerg, and then night elves are the protoss. Well that's only if you HAVE to compare them, because they're actually really different. Night elves are based on nature, and undead are based on well....death? also what's neat is that when you use a holy spell (revive, heal) on a undead, he dies (one step closer to an RPG). Besides that nothing is new, same old stuff with gold, lumber, upkeep, army limit, etc....besides it wouldnt be an RTS without that huh?
Ok we got the gameplay, the graphics the sound....bah i dont know what presentation stands for so i'll go to the overall part if i may
Overall, the game has it's beautys. The conversion from 2d to3d was a good idea, but they couldve done the models more serious (i have yet to see an RTS cel-shaded haha). It's a fun game, i haven't tried online because i can't (cd key problems) but i did play LAN and it was cool, and the money that one would spend on it is a well-spent bill. I really hate RTS games and i got the hang of warcraft 3, it's mission look a lot like an rpg, which is why i like it. And RTS fans won't be disapointed because i'd say 80% of it is RTS. That's what it's supposed to be. I say after downloadingthe game for the purpose of checking it out if it is going to be worth my 92 canadian dollars, i'd say yes, for RTS fans. Me i dont know, i have yet to check out a demo to play online (hadn't had time to download beta, too much exams the past weeks).
Graphics: 8.7
Sound: 8.5
Gameplay: 9.0 (heroes rule)
Lasting appeal: 8.5
OVERALL: 9.1 (not an average)
If you have questions on the game, or you just dont believe i have it, ask questions, i'd be glad to respon, though it may take time till i will, god knows how many questions will get stumbled on me.
(wow long post)
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