IWM
17 Aug 2007, 08:39
The Reviewers in GameSpot are good!
Look at this!
Rating:9.0(superb)
It's been couple of years that I bought this game and when I started to play it, well hard to describe ... it took me five days to learn the facts and the tricks of the game. I sat constantly seven days on my computer desk (except going to the toilet) and played it. I missed my classes and even exams. I've been playing this game for last 3 years and still playing. There were lack of intelligence in the game and I wrote to the game builder many times about the lack and they released a patch 1.3 after one and half year. The patch did changed a bit, but not too much that I expected. There are still so many lacking. Even though I love this game.
First I will talk about the relation states of the counties. At the beginning it’s some how difficult if you have started the game with war between your neighbor countries. Difficult to settle down with them, unless you agree to be their vassal or pay a good amount of gold. Some nations starts being a vassal of bigger nation, which makes your game progress more slower. I usually make my king a merchant and prince a marshal at the beginning and also keep the default marshal, if I have these sorts of situations and when I manage to survive up to building an strong army with backup in the castles, I call back the price to be a merchant and make the king a builder. It’s important that you keep backup soldiers in your castles. Because when you are building improvements, you might have a shortage of gold at the beginning of the game. When you are stable after the first few attacks, it’s really easy to make a strong army and make other nation my vassal. I usually don’t make small and closer nations my vassals at the first period of the game. If I am with war with my neighbor nations, I send marshals to plunder their village or even fight wars to increase their skills, which comes handy later on the game.
When you've have few vassals it's really easy to win the game. Well the vassal needs your support during their war and economic help through out the game. It's really easy to keep them happy (by giving gold or land of course). But if two of your vassals are in war, you can't do much about it, except forcing them to declare war to a common enemy nation. Sometime it works; sometime it doesn’t, depending on how badly they are related to each other. Vassals may ask for favor if they have better relation to you than other vassal of yours. To avoid this situation, just keep them equal in relation. You might sing pact of non aggression or alliance pact. But if your vassals some how lose their land and recovers it back later in the game, they still remain alliance with you but not vassal. So think before you make them your alliance.
Then comes the trading. It’s simply very easy to trade in this game but sometime you may have to pay gold to certain nations to sign a trade agreement. There is no calculation about it. If you need a good and if you are not producing in your provinces, just offer trade agreement to the country that is producing it. It takes a valuable position of you royal court for the merchant though (I try this when I have to trade horses or when I spy a nation and to increase the success of the spy I try to achieve the kingdom advantage for the spy). Complicated trade could give this game more interest. Hope it improves in the upcoming patches or versions.
About wars. The stronger army you have the more it's better. Your marshals’ skills are also important. So when you promote them with skills, think which one you need for the situation or your upcoming plans for the game. It's important. I usually keep five marshals when I have more then 8 provinces and I promote them with different skills.
The main problem I face is the kings’ kin. If your king doesn't have any son, then computer selects one of you court member as next king. It's frustrating sometime, when one of your best knights become a king. I try to keep a merchant and educate his up to four stars and eventually he becomes the next king. It’s even more frustrating when you conduct your kings’ daughter marriage to a country’s king or price, and they claim land when your king dies. If you deny them, your relation with them badly decreases. So there is also a politics you have to understand during playing the game.
Pope plays a very important part in this game. If you can manage to make one of you cleric to pope, you can attach other religion nations to plunder their land or to make them your vassal. If you make them your vassal, you lose one of your knight though as he becomes the king of that country. Pope can excommunicate a country. This damages their economic condition. So, if you have a pope, you can economically harm your enemies. But sometimes, pope doesn’t like your judgment and leaves you by excommunicating your nation. Be careful about that. It’s important to keep your pope as long as you can.
Landlords and builders don’t have much to contribute in the game. It’s not fair. Builders just increase you workforce +1 and landlord increases your food production +1. Nothing much. Though Landlords contributes a little when your castle is under attach.
Kingdom advantages plays important role. Try get them as many as you can. You can even manage a minor victory if you manage them all (though I never accepted that).
You can claim your title, if the top five countries are your vassals. The game is over now. Or you have to wait for the voting to come during game play and wait for your luck. Well that’s shortly about the game. If you have any farther question, knock me at gamespot; I’m always here.
Rating:9.9(Superb)
...Now that the second patch is out! Never, ever, have I played a game which so effortlessly combined such delicious graphics with outstanding game play and the capacity for total immersion in its virtual world! Instead of the old, hackneyed formula of "build and overwhelm", the player is forced to actually make STRATEGIC choices, the consequences of which variably affect the destiny of the kingdom.The ultimate goal of becoming the Emperor of Europe is, of course a conventional one, but that's probably the only thing someone with experience of RTS games would be acquainted with. There is of course the usual option of conquering all the countries of the map, but you won't get very far along this road if you lack the funds to raise troops. On the other hand, if you max out on merchants, especially early in the game, you risk attracting the unwanted attention of other kingdoms, looking for easy prey. Espionage/diplomacy also plays a very important part in the game, with the possibility of even taking over a rival polity, should your spy succeed to the throne. And I haven't even mentioned the use of Clerics in the game! All in all a highly enjoyable game with unlimited replay value! One can only hope that the sequel will follow very shortly.
Look at this!
Rating:9.0(superb)
It's been couple of years that I bought this game and when I started to play it, well hard to describe ... it took me five days to learn the facts and the tricks of the game. I sat constantly seven days on my computer desk (except going to the toilet) and played it. I missed my classes and even exams. I've been playing this game for last 3 years and still playing. There were lack of intelligence in the game and I wrote to the game builder many times about the lack and they released a patch 1.3 after one and half year. The patch did changed a bit, but not too much that I expected. There are still so many lacking. Even though I love this game.
First I will talk about the relation states of the counties. At the beginning it’s some how difficult if you have started the game with war between your neighbor countries. Difficult to settle down with them, unless you agree to be their vassal or pay a good amount of gold. Some nations starts being a vassal of bigger nation, which makes your game progress more slower. I usually make my king a merchant and prince a marshal at the beginning and also keep the default marshal, if I have these sorts of situations and when I manage to survive up to building an strong army with backup in the castles, I call back the price to be a merchant and make the king a builder. It’s important that you keep backup soldiers in your castles. Because when you are building improvements, you might have a shortage of gold at the beginning of the game. When you are stable after the first few attacks, it’s really easy to make a strong army and make other nation my vassal. I usually don’t make small and closer nations my vassals at the first period of the game. If I am with war with my neighbor nations, I send marshals to plunder their village or even fight wars to increase their skills, which comes handy later on the game.
When you've have few vassals it's really easy to win the game. Well the vassal needs your support during their war and economic help through out the game. It's really easy to keep them happy (by giving gold or land of course). But if two of your vassals are in war, you can't do much about it, except forcing them to declare war to a common enemy nation. Sometime it works; sometime it doesn’t, depending on how badly they are related to each other. Vassals may ask for favor if they have better relation to you than other vassal of yours. To avoid this situation, just keep them equal in relation. You might sing pact of non aggression or alliance pact. But if your vassals some how lose their land and recovers it back later in the game, they still remain alliance with you but not vassal. So think before you make them your alliance.
Then comes the trading. It’s simply very easy to trade in this game but sometime you may have to pay gold to certain nations to sign a trade agreement. There is no calculation about it. If you need a good and if you are not producing in your provinces, just offer trade agreement to the country that is producing it. It takes a valuable position of you royal court for the merchant though (I try this when I have to trade horses or when I spy a nation and to increase the success of the spy I try to achieve the kingdom advantage for the spy). Complicated trade could give this game more interest. Hope it improves in the upcoming patches or versions.
About wars. The stronger army you have the more it's better. Your marshals’ skills are also important. So when you promote them with skills, think which one you need for the situation or your upcoming plans for the game. It's important. I usually keep five marshals when I have more then 8 provinces and I promote them with different skills.
The main problem I face is the kings’ kin. If your king doesn't have any son, then computer selects one of you court member as next king. It's frustrating sometime, when one of your best knights become a king. I try to keep a merchant and educate his up to four stars and eventually he becomes the next king. It’s even more frustrating when you conduct your kings’ daughter marriage to a country’s king or price, and they claim land when your king dies. If you deny them, your relation with them badly decreases. So there is also a politics you have to understand during playing the game.
Pope plays a very important part in this game. If you can manage to make one of you cleric to pope, you can attach other religion nations to plunder their land or to make them your vassal. If you make them your vassal, you lose one of your knight though as he becomes the king of that country. Pope can excommunicate a country. This damages their economic condition. So, if you have a pope, you can economically harm your enemies. But sometimes, pope doesn’t like your judgment and leaves you by excommunicating your nation. Be careful about that. It’s important to keep your pope as long as you can.
Landlords and builders don’t have much to contribute in the game. It’s not fair. Builders just increase you workforce +1 and landlord increases your food production +1. Nothing much. Though Landlords contributes a little when your castle is under attach.
Kingdom advantages plays important role. Try get them as many as you can. You can even manage a minor victory if you manage them all (though I never accepted that).
You can claim your title, if the top five countries are your vassals. The game is over now. Or you have to wait for the voting to come during game play and wait for your luck. Well that’s shortly about the game. If you have any farther question, knock me at gamespot; I’m always here.
Rating:9.9(Superb)
...Now that the second patch is out! Never, ever, have I played a game which so effortlessly combined such delicious graphics with outstanding game play and the capacity for total immersion in its virtual world! Instead of the old, hackneyed formula of "build and overwhelm", the player is forced to actually make STRATEGIC choices, the consequences of which variably affect the destiny of the kingdom.The ultimate goal of becoming the Emperor of Europe is, of course a conventional one, but that's probably the only thing someone with experience of RTS games would be acquainted with. There is of course the usual option of conquering all the countries of the map, but you won't get very far along this road if you lack the funds to raise troops. On the other hand, if you max out on merchants, especially early in the game, you risk attracting the unwanted attention of other kingdoms, looking for easy prey. Espionage/diplomacy also plays a very important part in the game, with the possibility of even taking over a rival polity, should your spy succeed to the throne. And I haven't even mentioned the use of Clerics in the game! All in all a highly enjoyable game with unlimited replay value! One can only hope that the sequel will follow very shortly.