Antietam!
Written: Jan 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Proof that a modified Gettysburg! is still the deepest wargame simulation of the Civil War you can own. Limitless replay value.
Cons: No user-requested scenario/map editor, no dynamic campaign, two-year old interface and graphics engine.
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| digant's Full Review: Battleground 5 - Antietam |
Of all the real-time strategy and historical war games ever made, none are more unique and engrossing than Sid Meier's Gettysburg!. The marriage of historical realism and real-time play challenged players to think like a real Civil War general would--forming lines, reacting to breaks, and managing the delicate morale of the troops. Due to extensive morale modeling and terrain factors, the horror of warfare was brought home for desktop generals. Two years later, Sid and company (actually in-house developer Breakaway Games) take us to the events prior to Gettysburg, America's bloodiest single day--the battle of Antietam.
In 1862, Union General McClellan--finally making a substantial thrust into the South--met a ready and entrenched General Lee at the town of Sharpsburg (the fighting took place near Antietam Creek). McClellan's troops were not organized enough to cope with the Southern defenses or Jackson's unpredictable tactics, and McClellan responded by almost randomly flinging Union troops at the rebels en masse. The result was massive casualties for both sides, and a stalemate (victory in some interpretations) for General Lee. Sid Meier's Antietam! follows Gettysburg by two years, so expectations run high for this prequel to the battle, but sequel to the game.
Depending on the nature of those expectations, fans and new players alike could be disappointed. Antietam features a minor graphics update in the form of new terrain and new troop types (like the Zouavres, and butternut uniforms for the South). The realism ante is upped by better firing angle modeling, different types of artillery shells, and such realistic concerns as how to ford a river in formation while under fire. These improvements are subtle at best, and they'd be unnoticeable to any new players, leaving them with an excellent game featuring a two-year-old engine. The Gettysburg engine is certainly powerful and wonderfully diverse in nature, but it doesn't look so good in 2000, and it is still plagued with some of the interface troubles found in Gettysburg: problems like troop movement, finding the correct regiment in a clump, and the fact that this game wasn't really meant to model huge engagements lasting for several hours.
For that reason, Gettysburg was divided into manageable scenario chunks and fit into a dynamic campaign. You could play the campaign historically, or mix in some random scenarios to allow for "what if" options you could earn. If you did well enough as Lee, the middle of the third day at Gettysburg would find Meade on the run to Washington with Lee in pursuit. If you did poorly, Lee would have to face the dreaded killing field known in history as Pickett's Charge. Antietam features several full-day scenarios: an entire day's fight broken up into separate scenarios, a handful of earned "what if" options, the wonderful random battle generator from Gettysburg, and no dynamic campaign whatsoever. Such a simple addition could have significantly raised the score here.
Antietam does provide a lot of interesting scenarios however, and it also provides multiple runs at the whole-day scenario in one sitting (mercifully you can save). That said, the only problem with tackling the whole day is that your troops begin awfully close together, and many are unavailable until the clock reaches certain points, thus making it impossible to mount a coordinated assault toward key objectives. This is another reason why Gettysburg's campaign is so needed here. There you got a sense of the battle without reading the documentation. So, when you were ready to tackle the huge whole-day scenarios (or the massive patch-added three-day scenario), you had a sense of where you should be at what time, and what reinforcements would be available soon. Certainly, using the single Antietam scenarios can be just as educational (there is also extensive documentation of the battle on the CD, including the never-before-published account of Ezra Carman), but Gettysburg had a much more user-friendly way of teaching its subject matter.
The subtle new rules additions do add significantly to the game from a Gettysburg veteran's standpoint. There is a new experience level for troops (to better signify the amazingly unbreakable real-world troops like the Iron Brigade), and artillery can now fire into tree lines for suppressive purposes and even load a deadly canister shot.
Aside from the aging interface and engine, and the lack of a dynamic campaign, Sid Meier's Antietam! is still the strongest war/RTS game imaginable. It is deep, fun, and educational, and it gives you a visceral sense of controlling your own reenactment, or possibly watching a painting come to life. For that reason alone it is a must-buy for Gettysburg, Civil War, or wargame fans everywhere.
It should be noted that Firaxis is self-publishing this one. Visit their web site to order the game directly. While it feels, looks, and plays like an expansion pack, you don't need Gettysburg to play (but I heartily recommend it).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
digant
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Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 23 members
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