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Author |
File Description |
Michael G. |
Posted on 11/16/98 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Number of Scenarios: |
3 |
Difficulty: |
Easy-Hard |
The Rise of Rome. How did it all begin? Start out as a tiny village, fight battles, and expand the empire of Etrusca. But when the Kings get oppresive, can you lead a rebelion and start a Republic? Just don't get lost on those "well worn paths" or get pushed of a bridge. Oh, and falling of cliffs is the #1 cause of Blind-Lameness in Priests. |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Steve Ryan |
Posted on 11/30/-1 @ 12:00 AM
Added category for all contest campaigns: Historical Rating - 3 Overall the campaign was fairly well balanced and used AOE well to give the feel for early Rome the Final scenario was really quite good well above average. Playability and Balance were generally good but Story and Creativity on the maps let him down. |
Frank Steidel |
Posted on 11/30/-1 @ 12:00 AM
Added category for all contest campaigns: Historical Rating - 4 The "Birth of a Republic" covers the early years of the Roman Empire. All three of the scenarios take place on the Italian mainland. The first scenario is called the "Founding of Rome". This scenario takes place entirely in the tool age. Your goal is to recover an artifact from one of the two other tribes that inhabit the area. The terrain is quite hilly in your starting location, which is accurate as the terrain around Rome is hilly. You'll have to place your buildings carefully. This was the easiest of the three scenarios to complete. The second scenario has you expanding Roman control into the Campanian region of southern Italy. Your goal here is to destroy the two enemy towncenters. You've got a large force under your command and come under attack right off the bat. This battle was large enough to be interesting, but not so large as to become a clickfest. Strategy is important as you must select the right units to prioritize for attack or you will take excessive losses. The scenario will end in a loss if you lose 75% of your starting forces before completing your assignment. The final scenario is named, "Rebelion" (spelling mistake his, more on this later). Your goal here is to overthrow the Roman tyrant and establish a republic. To represent this, You have to destroy the Roman Monarchy forces government center. The government center is located in the heart of Rome itself and is suitably well defended. This is a campaign that has a lot to recommend it. The authors use of terrain was very good and his terrain maps are very good looking with lots of effects like an aquaduct in the second scenario, cool looking towns and bridges, orchards, and generally well done maps. One example I'll point out is in one of the towns, Stone paths are used, after the road exits the town, the paved road turns into a dirt road, and further out, yet again changes to a grass trail. This is the type of attention to detail that I like to see in my reviews. Too bad this attention to detail doesn't extend to the written parts of the campaign and the bit-maps. The history and introductions are fine for content, but the spelling mistakes are numerous and irriating. For example, the second scenario is called "Campanian Expantion". Excuse me, but shouldn't that be Expansion? The final scenario is named "Rebelion". This should be "Rebellion", Shouldn't it? Yes indeed, in the scenario introduction, the word, rebellion is used and is spelled correctly. Come on! I can see a spelling mistake in the text, but this author mispelled 2 out of the 3 scenario names! Why would you pay all that attention to making the beautiful terrain maps and then detract from that by making Stupid spelling errors in key places. The introductory bit maps are another place where I would have liked to have seen more attention to detail. The first bit map is an imported photo of a group of Roman soldiers. I've seen this photograph before. It's from a Roman Army Club in Europe somewhere. They have their own website. The second bit map would have been a 5 if it were an original map done by the author and fit the canvass properly. The final bit map is a grainy black and white picture that also doesn't fit the canvass. This is really a shame because the actual content in the history and introductions is informative and well done. The scenarios are interesting and well balanced. Though the victory conditions are basic, the authors use of terrain makes them more creative than one might think. The author also makes use of cinematics in between scenarios. This campaign is still recommended because of the good gameplay, but in the future, the author would do well to remember that attention to detail extends to all parts of the campaign, not just the part you play on. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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3.6 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 4.0 | Balance | 4.0 | Creativity | 4.5 | Map Design | 3.5 | Story/Instructions | 2.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 619 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 549.00 Bytes |
Added: | 11/16/98 |
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