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Razz1 -> RE: The Obligatory First Impressions Thread (12/11/2011 11:56:31 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: dlazov66
Mixed feelings/reviews on this game for me.
Points of interest.
Manual is not really well written. Lots of ambiguities and mistakes throughout the manual , not enough detailed explanation or graphics explaining things clearly. No separate tutorial has been provided (most Matrix games come with them). This alone makes it seem as though the game was rushed to get it out into the public or as a worse case scenario, there was no quality control and or English proofers. I had to read the manual several times in several places to make sense of it, of course I have been spoiled in the sense that I have been playing board war games for over 35 years and PC wargames for about 20 so maybe I am expecting too much.
According to the manual there is some really bizarre game machanics, such as (6.5.4) Land Unit Retreat "Units defending in cities or hexes with forts NEVER retreat." Pretty wonky. Also, (6.5.2) Terrain "Mountains give 100% to the defender! Very Wonkey! However the good news is that this is not true. I have been playing the game all day and have seen several Polish units retreat while in a city.
When the game first loads (both windowed mode and full screen mode) on my system the screen is completely black, but the music is playing. I need to left click the screen, two to three times to get it to go to next video screen). Kind of wonkey.
Also, in Windowed mode you can't scroll the map with the mouse for some reason. Okay it scrolls to the left and up but not to the right and down. Really wonkey for windowed mode. Hum, I set Windowed mode to my normal screen size (1920x1080) and it's not, its short and I can't see all the bottom icons. Wonkey. So really the only way I can play this game is in full screen mode.
Bombers wont bomb ships for some reason, even if placed on a coast or one hex inwards. Also, it only seems that Fighters can only do two things. Recon and occasionally intercept the other side. Other then that they dont seem to do much. I was thinking I might be able to hit enemy air bases but not so.
The Kiel canal is broken. The German ships in the Baltic are stuck their on the grand campaign.
I purchased an airborne division but I can't figure out how to purchase any ATP for it.
The good things about this game are:
You can select the kind of counters/icons or unit images you want to use and the kind of map as well.
The game plays pretty well once you get the hang of it (land game and very limited air game, seems that only tactical bombers are very useful, you can bomb enemy units, all fighters seem to be used for is recon and crossing fingers for the occasional intercept, no CAP or interdiction possible). The air game plays pretty easily (see above) and so does the naval. The Naval is the most document piece in the manual.
All in all its a fun little game. It's kind of irritating that their appears to be several bugs and the game may need a few tweaks to make it a little better. Perhaps with a few updates/patches it will be a really good game.
I have spent about 8 hours playing through to turn 6. I took out Poland in 3 turns which seems okay.
So my first impressions are okay, but a few minor irritating features for the price of this game, luckily I got the 30% discount since I previously owned TOW, which I never really played all that much. This one has a lot more potential.
I tried to mod some of the graphics but when loaded they were really all wonkey so not sure why.
What's wrong with playing in Fullscreen mode?
You have to click on the sea zone to bomb it. You can see which zones you can hit as they are highlighted.
You also have to be in range. 5 hexes.
Fighters work great. See the Red hexes? Those are the one you can attack. So yes you can bomb the enemy's airports.
I believe the Kiel canal is not broken. It is WAD otherwise USA British Russian can use it.
You have to control it. Same as in other straits. Have to control both sides.
Don't worry, you can wait until you capture Denmark.
Next time you questions or concerns can you please kindly ask?
The development team is very small.
When your boss says release or else forget it.....
That what happens in all games now a days. Nothing new.
I believe I answered most of your bugs, as they are not bugs, just a lack of knowledge on how the game is played.
The only concern is windows mode.
Tutorial? There is one in the game. There have been compliments on it. What do you mean by separate? It is separate from the game. The tutorial shows you the game mechanics. It was a development decision not to put all the basics in the manual as people don't read them any more. They load the game and play or load the game and play the tutorial now a days. ** However, I agree. I read manuals. Writing of the manual was a translation and political issue as the originator of the document would have had everything re-written, then they would have understood it differently due to translation problems.
Have you read the strategy guide yet?
Thanks for the feedback. I feel sorry about the window problem.
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