Early Hours with…Battle Isle: The Andosia War
Tom's Comments: Mark and I just got copies of the new Battle Isle game from Blue Byte. We're going to try an internet multiplayer game against each other before we even try the single player game. That way, the loser can blame the learning curve. "I haven't figured out how to make my units fire yet," is always a good excuse for losing a game. To boldly go where I can't get in In order to get the drop on Mark, I figure I'll poke around at the game first. When I install it, I'm asked to also install some sort of Java routine that "isn't supported by standard browsers today". That's strike one. Strike two is the absence of direct internet connections for multiplayer games: we have to go through Blue Byte's servers. I log in. I don't have a profile. I make a profile. This involves submitting my email address so my PIN number can be sent to me. The email shows up with a link for me to click on to activate my profile. I click on the link. The link dumps me at Blue Byte's main page. I go back to the separate browser window Battle Isle had already opened and I click on "Activate Profile". I get the following Windows error message: "Bitte gebe Deine personliche Identifikationsnummer ein." It's like being asked for my papers by an SS officer. I get all sweaty and nervous. I move into an attic in Amsterdam with another family for two years and keep a diary. After that ordeal, I come back and realize there's a place for my PIN number in the browser window. My 36-digit PIN number. I'm only now getting around to getting an ICQ account and that number is only 8-digits. Those Blue Byte servers must be hopping. Now I have to register the game itself, which consists of entering the serial number. The 24-digit serial number. Which I don't have. That's strike three. So much for Mark and I trying an internet multiplayer game of Battle Isle.
Since then, I've spent a little time with the single player game. It strikes me as a little sleepy. There's a wide variety of unit types, but they don't seem to have much flavor. The game is strictly turn-based, but it tries to give the action a real-time flavor by limiting the amount of time you can spend taking your turn. I can understand this being an important feature to keep multiplayer games moving, but it's entirely pointless in the single player game. They might as well make you type in a password before you take your turn. Speaking of entirely pointless, I'm going to put on my gamecop hat and write Andosia War a ticket for Unnecessary Use of 3D. As far as I can tell, this is yet another game that would have probably run smoother and played easier in 2D. Furthermore, the 3D engine really isn't that attractive. There is a nifty cinematic mode in which the camera swoops from the attacking unit to its target so you can see the results of every shot (Blue Byte's Incubation did something similar). This not only helps situational awareness, but it can be pretty spectacular. However, I'd gladly trade this slab of eye candy for an easier-to-control camera. But an Early Hours article on a strategy game like Andosia War really isn't a reliable indicator. Whether it's a good game comes down to issues like unit balance, AI, and campaign structure, things that can only be addressed after spending a good deal of time playing. But the most damning thing about Andosia War is that I'm not really eager to spend more time with it. And when a turn-based game junkie like myself doesn't get hooked after an hour or so, the war is already lost.
Publisher: Blue Byte December 5, 2000 |
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