Commander the great war has been released and nobody gave a shit.

[Raghar]

So a commander the great war has been released. What are your opinions on that?
I still didn't seen a battlefront game pirated, thus I can't make a comparison.

 

[Erzherzog]

Anything that lets me shit on Italy as Austria is worth a look, though I checked reviews of the developers past games and I'm highly hesitant.

 

[GreatPretender]

looks like a rehash of old commanders and panzer general in ww1.

 

[Commissar Draco]

If someone wants to play PG in WWI then this is game for him; game plays as Panzer Corps does with AI cheating a lot at rolls, the added Strategic level and return of front lines instead of isolated strongpoints makes its even more like PG 1 with Only Big difference being added Research and Diplomacy. Can't wait to crush puny Germans and Austrians beneath my might Russian steam roller.

 

[Burning Bridges]

This looks like a very good game. My problem is that for over 4 years I am playing mostly AGE titles ( like Revolution under Siege which is very close to WW1 ) and find it increasingly hard to get back to more simplistic games.

 

[MetalCraze]

I can't believe we are still getting Panzer General clones in 2012. Devs should start making wargames with modern standards and they can't even get out of early 90s.

 

[Burning Bridges]

holy shit

 

[Myrddraal]

Hi all,

I'm one of the devs from the Lordz Games Studio.

It's quite a different game, from Panzer General, don't judge based on the shape of the tiles . The game is grand strategy. The map stretches from the USA to the Urals, from Finland to Arabia. A turn represents two weeks, and a hex an area of 20km.

Other than the scale, the style of play is also very different from Panzer General. The Panzer General gameplay style really really wouldn't work with the WWI setting.

I can categorically state the the AI does not cheat on rolls. Not on any of the difficulty levels. If you play against the AI in 'Privileged' mode, the AI will get some temporary production boosts, but never any combat bonuses that the player doesn't get.

If you want a good idea of how the game plays out, the best way is probably to have a read of some of the player's AARs, I've put some links below:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3214219
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=38749
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3213033
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=38894

 

[kris]

not sure if this follows the panzer general formula, but that formula was made for regional maps, not all of europe. it don't fit very well.

 

[Commissar Draco]

40 Dorra is beacoup money... but will think about buying this for Christmas as my 8 years son loves to play Panzer Korps, is there official demo somewhere?

 

[Burning Bridges]

not sure if this follows the panzer general formula, but that formula was made for regional maps, not all of europe. it don't fit very well.

That is the problem I have with all these global-scale games. Like Strategic Command, Pride of Nations, etc.

I just don't care it there are hexes for North Antarctica and South Sahara, and at the same time 10 million men fight over the same 5 hexes in France. Same for the rules, like artillery support. It just never feels right, and I am afraid it will be no different here.

But the new engine looks like a major improvement over the old one, perhaps if there is a demo or something ...

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

No demo? No shits were given quite rightfully.

 

[Deakul]

Not even in 3D, what is this casual shit?

 

[GreatPretender]

Not even in 3D, what is this casual shit?

 

[Burning Bridges]

Myrddraal: What are your plans concerning a demo?

 

[Raghar]

Myrddraal: What are your plans concerning a demo?

They can't do that, they are just offering bounty of 1000 pounds on some person on internet (probably 8-14 years old, or homeless). I wonder where they get these money from, I always when I did game development rather released stuff for free than earned money.

 

[knightley]

Iirc, Panzer General did have a demo, so maybe not a bad idea. Since somebody said the screenshot did not do the game justice.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Panzer Corps has a demo, too

 

[oscar]

Hm, any reviews? Might buy this.

 

[Myrddraal]

Some reviews:

7idgaming give it 84%. This one is in German (translation of the 'Bottom Line' below):
http://7idgaming.de/content.php?182-Slitherine-Commander-The-Great-War-REVIEW

Bottom line:

Who would have thought. A clear candidate for the award "Best Wargame 2012." The game can be recommended to any strategy game fan, and not just pure world war wargamers. Multiplayer sessions promise with a buddy on the PBEM + + server from Slitherine fun evenings.

Graphics, animation and sound: 5.5 / 10
The graphics are just average. Here I can not give an "indie" or "low budget" bonus as C: TGW a full price title (42 euros in the box version with printed manual) and is designed as Panzer Corps to attract a wider range of players. The sound effects are quite good and the background music is excellent. The low graphics score pulls down the overall result unfortunately something.

Control Interface: 9.5 / 10
"The Lordz Games" is apparently one of the few studios that also play their games themselves. Their user interfaces are among the best. Granted, the. One or the other button could have been a bit bigger and a "undo" function is also missing But the interface is flawless and intuitive.

Atmosphere: 9/10
The grave war and the hardships of the warring parties come across well. Events enrich the game. Slightly more readers, for example, in special circumstances, would have done well.

Content & Scope: 10/10
Five campaigns ever Powers block at attractive circular periods and multiplayer. High replay value because of countless strategic options. Why force the maximum achievable score?

Artificial Intelligence: 8/10
The AI fulfilled their duty and over the first titles of "Commander" series has been noticeably improved. Apart from the somewhat passive AI British in the Middle East they kept me very busy.


Overall Rating: 84%

Strategy Prime gives it 4/5 stars:
http://www.strategyprime.net/commander-the-great-war-review/

And this from Rock Paper Shotgun. Not a review, more of a blog post, but still a good insight into the game:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/23/the-flare-path-a-hextasy-of-fumbling/

I’m about halfway through my first 118-turn Commander: The Great War campaign at present, and can’t recall enjoying a grand-strategic WWI title more. Lordz seem to have judged the scale, pace and workload just about perfectly.

If you want to read some user reviews, I would recommend the AARs I posted earlier, and have a browse of the comments from people who have bought the game on those two sites (matrix & slitherine).

 

[Destroid]

Myrddraal so how about that demo?

 

[Raghar]

You'd need a pirate release to be able to properly test the game. Demo will not tell you anything about late phases and about advanced tactics.
As one of reviewers said:

Overall, there are some things that Commander The Great War does right, but there are also aspects where it doesn’t really shine through. Whereas the combat and setting are interesting and the atmosphere (for a turn-based strategy, mind you) is just right, the overall gameplay simply lacks depth of similar strategies. It is understandable that the developer team went exactly for that – a simple and fun turn-based strategy that won’t require you to actually study it to be able to play it – but the game could have easily be expanded to have a more effective systems of research and diplomacy.

Which is the main problem with the game. It's goal was just a normal game - strategy, not much more. The various game mechanisms were not researched from real situation and then approximated. They used Ad hoc solutions, which occasionally feels wrong.

Also WWI game without diplomacy... Either it's detailed with juicy research and allows a lot of a historical situations, like keeping US out of war, or...

 

[Commissar Draco]

40 Dollars is a lot for PG like Game, especially before the Christmas, will wait till some codexers extend demo purchase this game and write the review. Well done events like arresting Lenin at the Finish border would lead to interesting gameplay.

 

[kris]

Strategy Prime gives it 4/5 stars:
http://www.strategyprime.net/commander-the-great-war-review/

From their review:

Being a hexagonal, turn-based strategy, Commander The Great War is bound to repulse all but the fans of the genre, even though it could serve as a good entry title for those who are interested into testing these waters due to its relative simplicity. So, as usual, it must be pointed out that all the ratings must refer to the aspect of this game belonging to a genre that is something of an acquired taste.

Uh, what? What genre are they talking about? Hexagonal turn-based strategy IS a genre, yet a review site called "strategy prime" say this. I am fully bazzled and befundled by this statement.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Uh, what? What genre are they talking about? Hexagonal turn-based strategy IS a genre, yet a review site called "strategy prime" say this. I am fully bazzled and befundled by this statement.

He means that it's a good introductory title if you want to try to get someone into turn-based wargaming, I think.

There are many kinds of "strategy games". Someone who for example likes X-Com or Close Combat may not like a hex-based strategic wargame.