12th November 2003, 2:21 PM
(This post was last modified: 12th November 2003, 2:34 PM by A Black Falcon.)
How similar is "similar"? I can think of a huge number of games that share some features with it, for sure...
See, I don't know how many games are EXACTLY like AW, but I do know that I can't think of a single gameplay feature (ie not graphics) that this game has that is unique to "Japanese strategy games" and hasn't been done before on the PC... huge numbers of course have moern units, are turn-based, have various types with differing ranges, etc... having base-building in games like that? Also fairly common. Now is there a game exactly like it? Probably, but I can't think of one exactly like it offhand. But there are just so, so many that have similarities that calling it different in some way from its genre is just bizarre.
Hmm... lets think. Heroes of Might & Magic -- controllable resource points (in AW they are the cities) that you 'capture'. Unit-building locations are static -- no building new bases. Can capture buildings and bases.
Every wargame ever -- tactical unit strategy, with complexity levels far higher than in AW. Except most wargames use hexes and not squares. :) So this isn't a wargame. But the combat still does feel like a simplistic one... its far simpler than most wargames, but the combat is clearly styled after them (like in many strategy games) with the way the units work... or an RTS. Oh, sure, the pace is vastly different, but the unit variety... that really is like an RTS. So I guess I can also mention Age of Empires... though maybe Rise of Nations is more appropriate, with the limited building it allows? Or in the wargaming genre, I guess Steel Panthers is the best comparison since its relatively simple. :) Though of course its in a whole different league of depth and complexity.
RTSes also have some similarities... how about the ones with no resource collection like Myth or Ground Control?
Hmm... or base-capture on a map... I remember this old shareware game called 'Mother of all Battles' that felt similar in some aspects.
If I looked up stuff I'm sure I'd find hundreds and hundreds of games that have a lot in common with AW. It isn't unique, or special... its far from a new take on its genre. Its just a simple turn-based strategy game. Simple to learn, with great depth in tactics, of course...
Wait, I remember an old RTS-ish TBS... never played it but it was in PC Gamer... uhh... Fallen Haven or something? Yeah, I think that's it.. I should look it up. :)
Or how about strategy-tactics games like X-Com and MechCommander?
I got another good one for some aspects (the world/resource side). Warlords. Can't build bases (build them in cities), very simple resouces (just one, get from cities)... the difference of course is that Warlords has completely different battles -- you make stacks of units and have them fight (like AW there are battle animations but its really just a ornamentation, not a true battle-mode like in HoMM or Disciples or something).
So... Warlords world and bases, simplistic wargame tactics, and RTS-level of unit variety. :)
See, I don't know how many games are EXACTLY like AW, but I do know that I can't think of a single gameplay feature (ie not graphics) that this game has that is unique to "Japanese strategy games" and hasn't been done before on the PC... huge numbers of course have moern units, are turn-based, have various types with differing ranges, etc... having base-building in games like that? Also fairly common. Now is there a game exactly like it? Probably, but I can't think of one exactly like it offhand. But there are just so, so many that have similarities that calling it different in some way from its genre is just bizarre.
Hmm... lets think. Heroes of Might & Magic -- controllable resource points (in AW they are the cities) that you 'capture'. Unit-building locations are static -- no building new bases. Can capture buildings and bases.
Every wargame ever -- tactical unit strategy, with complexity levels far higher than in AW. Except most wargames use hexes and not squares. :) So this isn't a wargame. But the combat still does feel like a simplistic one... its far simpler than most wargames, but the combat is clearly styled after them (like in many strategy games) with the way the units work... or an RTS. Oh, sure, the pace is vastly different, but the unit variety... that really is like an RTS. So I guess I can also mention Age of Empires... though maybe Rise of Nations is more appropriate, with the limited building it allows? Or in the wargaming genre, I guess Steel Panthers is the best comparison since its relatively simple. :) Though of course its in a whole different league of depth and complexity.
RTSes also have some similarities... how about the ones with no resource collection like Myth or Ground Control?
Hmm... or base-capture on a map... I remember this old shareware game called 'Mother of all Battles' that felt similar in some aspects.
If I looked up stuff I'm sure I'd find hundreds and hundreds of games that have a lot in common with AW. It isn't unique, or special... its far from a new take on its genre. Its just a simple turn-based strategy game. Simple to learn, with great depth in tactics, of course...
Wait, I remember an old RTS-ish TBS... never played it but it was in PC Gamer... uhh... Fallen Haven or something? Yeah, I think that's it.. I should look it up. :)
Or how about strategy-tactics games like X-Com and MechCommander?
I got another good one for some aspects (the world/resource side). Warlords. Can't build bases (build them in cities), very simple resouces (just one, get from cities)... the difference of course is that Warlords has completely different battles -- you make stacks of units and have them fight (like AW there are battle animations but its really just a ornamentation, not a true battle-mode like in HoMM or Disciples or something).
So... Warlords world and bases, simplistic wargame tactics, and RTS-level of unit variety. :)
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