War! Age Of Imperialism

This game is a little like Parker Brothers' classic "Risk", but more intricate. Among other computer games, it is reminiscent of Europa Universalis (minus many of the annoyances) and Imperialism I and II, as well as certain other games that have existed for decades.

Most video game producers and players nowadays are increasingly enamored of the lush animated graphics and sound effects available on modern machines, while the computing power behind them allows for algorithms and artificial-intelligence responses whose complexity defies description. The result of all this might be realistic and lifelike (then, too, it might not be), but is definitely more-or-less wet and unpredictable. Even third-party strategy guides, where you expect to get a peek at the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts for your money, are now long on information-free puffery and fuzz, and short on formulas and numbers-- in contrast to the past. So guess what: as these marvelous game-playing machines we call computers become more and more powerful, beyond the wildest dreams of a generation ago, many people are rediscovering instead the fun of old-fashioned board games! Clearly, tastes vary, but those who like to know exactly what is going on-- what the rules, algorithms, formulas, and odds are-- will find this game a welcome relief. It proves that an element of abstraction has charms of its own, not always to be eschewed for "realism". This game is for people who like to think. It deserves the adjective "strategy."

There is even a helpful section that allows you to determine the odds of success for a battle (the results of throwing dice perhaps many times and interpreting them per various rules).

I would give this game five stars but for a few glitches and playability shortcomings that should have been better thought out.

Re the former: once the game failed to start up at all on my computer, and twice it has 'hung'. This kind of thing happens so often nowadays, not only with games but with other applications and even the Windows operating system itself, that people take it as normal. It's not. It's bugginess, and it shouldn't occur. As much as I loathe crackers and virus writers, they have, over the years, performed the useful service of forcing programmers to concentrate on "security", which includes writing code that does exactly what it is supposed to do under all possible conditions without unintended side-effects. Things might improve eventually.

As to the latter, the greatest annoyance I've found is that tokens or pieces are too small on the screen and too difficult to distinguish. Why must engineers look so much like explorers, or cavalrymen like leaders, or forts like cities? And it certainly doesn't help that a player's territories and his pieces are always, rather absurdly, almost the same color. Just a little color-coding might solve this problem. Purchasing pieces in a large game can be inconvenient. What to buy is a screen that completely covers the map, i.e. where to buy them. Hence one must constantly change between them with clicks. Lastly, it took me quite awhile to discover that the native force of a territory is always the same (in a given game). This is helpful to know if one fails to take the territory and must try again-- but after being revealed, the game conceals it again. So one gets out pencil and paper to jot it down. The computer should take care of this task somehow. I have also found it almost necessary to make notes as to where my engineers are. A feature allowing you to locate them (or all the pieces of a given type) would be very helpful.

All these, however, are mere quibbles compared to the delights of the game, which I think will become a definite keeper. All in all, both thumbs up!


Great game   February 16, 2004
8 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is the best computer game I've played in ages. It's not too complicated. Learning the game and seeing it through to a reasonable completion is not a problem here, which often is a problem with other strategy games. It's intricate enough to be interesting and yet moves along at very good pace. Very enjoyable.