When someone says "Napoleonic Wars" a number of things spring to mind; huge battles, revolution, muskets, eccentric royalty, honorable gentlemen... dishonorable gentlemen, however unlike most people my mind immediately says "Kiev based games developer". Why? Well that's quite simple, GSC (Developer of the Cossacks series) has decided to give us the opportunity to relive this world in a realistic manner through their upcoming game Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars.
Frigate attacking feeble musketeers!
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Many people shunned Cossacks: European Wars, either the game required too much micro-management or it just seemed overly complicated. This time around there should be no such qualms, GSC has listened to the criticisms they received and have completely reworked the way the game runs including a complete redesign of the interface.
Upon starting the game, aside from the usual developer and publisher logos, you are also treated to the Cossacks II intro movie. In their usual way, GSC have thrown the rule book out which demands rendered movies that have no connection with the game and have inserted some re-enactment footage instead! This unique introduction fits the game really well.
Roads are an excellent addition
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When you first start up the game and create your profile you are prompted to play two tutorial missions which introduce you to basic game concepts. The first of these tutorials is the "Sergeant Tutorial" This introduces you to basic combat ideas, such as forming a regiment, fatigue levels and how to effectively attack an enemy. The "Officer Tutorial" then teaches you basic ideas behind settlement management and how to assault enemy towns and villages.
Many of you (I must confess to this myself) like to jump straight into a game without playing the tutorials, but with Cossacks II that would be a bad idea. The game has a relatively easy learning curve yet I still recommend you spend at least an hour playing the tutorials to get to grips with the basic controls. The only real problem I had with the tutorials was that there were a couple of translation problems (I was seriously worried when the Persians turned up dressed as Prussians!) and the cut-scenes in between each section of the tutorial were identical. After playing through a couple of sections I was sick of the repetitive voice over.
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