Sparta: Ancient Wars is a period RTS
by Playlogic International that takes place in the very unique years around 400
B.C. The gameplay formula is split into 3 different races all having distinctive
abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Each of the 3 races: the Egyptians,
Persians and Spartans are surprisingly well balanced and equally enjoyable to
play; but the truly impressive part to me was the attention to detail in all the
diversity of architectures, unit design, and even music. Each race feels fresh
while still keeping the basic “food, money, resources” formula. Sparta looks to
be coming together quite nicely.
From the main menu the game allows you to play all three campaigns right off the
bat and all three tell different stories from a wide variety of viewpoints. The
basic game mechanics are the same as most RTS’s: 1.gather resources and 2. build
units to obliterate the enemy. The uniqueness here is the individuality of the
three races and the units themselves. Playlogic introduces a couple new features
including the ability to equip each unity with both primary and secondary
weapons. This exponentially increases the strategic complexity but also the
efficiency of each unit (not to mention the price). Even workers, the second
group of units, are more helpful and capable than most common RTS’s. They can
gather resources, build and repair buildings, farm, hunt for food, move
catapults and other ancient “vehicles” and even gather weapons and armor left
behind on the battlefield.
Some other highlights of the game
are the graphics and physics engine. Both are fairly impressive and really are
capable of showing off the detail of the time period although one of my only few
complaints are the muddied textures when zoomed in. The visible crispness
gradually fades away into only a fraction of the beauty they once displayed when
zoomed out. Hopefully a higher detail option will be included at retail. And
while my beta version did not include multiplayer, the developers have promised
both internet and LAN skirmishes that will keep players happy long after the
single player campaigns end. I’m itching to get a final copy to in my hands,
take bets on my dorm hall and then hustle them and put the smack down.
The game is not polished to perfection at this point in time and only a few
gripes stand out thus far. There are some balancing issues in a couple of the
upper class mages and “vehicles” as well as some speed issues ensuing when a lot
of action is taking place on screen. The mages and catapults wipe enemies out so
ridiculously easy and reload or recharge with ease. But I must state that the
A.I. never countered my catapults with some of their own so that might end up
being the true equalizer, I don’t know. And again, the graphics look good
overall, but the textures look very bland when zoomed in and the aliasing issues
are murder to the eyes. My version wouldn’t even allow access to the options
menu so whether or not Anti-Aliasing will be available is unknown. My last complaint would
be the crashing issue. Albeit a beta and these things are expected, the game
repeatedly crashed with errors asking for certain files or sounds that
apparently didn’t exist and became slightly annoying after the 10th time or so.
Other than that last issue though, most of the others are nit-picky and could
even be classified as opinionated if you wanted. Overall Sparta is shaping up
very nicely and I’m pleased in Playlogic for taking the bold step of doing a
period RTS with all of the research that is usually involved.
Sparta: Ancient Wars takes a proven formula and improves on and individualizes
itself from its predecessors and the competition. With a month or so of tweaking
and polishing, Sparta looks to be an enjoyable answer for the RTS druggies among
us all and a formidable time guzzler for Q1 next year. Even if you hate RTS’s,
playing this game will at the very least teach you a thing or two about ancient
weaponry and fighting techniques and who doesn’t want to see someone run over by
a spiked horse chariot? Look for Sparta: Ancient Wars and our full review in the
coming months.
