The Cold War Era Review Paul Fiander
|
“The defeat and break up of the Soviet empire, culminating in the crumbing of the Berlin wall, is one of the great events of world history. There were many heroes in this battle, but to Charlie Wilson must go this special recognition. Just thirteen years ago the Soviet army appeared to be invincible. But Charlie, undeterred, engineered a lethal body blow that weakened the communist empire. Without Charlie, history would be hugely, and sadly different”.
This is the opening speech in the film Charlie Wilson’s War. It’s a dramatisation of how using espionage and supporting your enemies enemies can destabilize a country and eventually help you to win a war without direct conflict. The war in question is the subject matter for Alina Digital’s new PC only RTS game The Cold War Era. However unlike in the real life story there are no slightly shady Texan Congressman doing the work for you the fate of the world lies in your lap. |
|
To begin with there are no goodies and baddies in this game. You can choose to play as the United States or USSR and then try to eliminate the oppositions influence and so win the cold war. One of the great parts of the game is this victory has to be accomplished in an hour this means you can schedule your play. However that may mean scheduling four games back to back as you fight to beat the aggressive AI in single player mode or take on all comers in the PvP option. As I have alluded to this game is no easy walk in the park. The constant battles for territories will keep you on your toes but thankfully there are some nice touches added to make this a little easier.
|
Firstly the map is a standard affair with basic borders laid out and dissected roughly through the Baring strait, this can be considered a bit of failing and I would have liked some more graphical fidelity but it does not break the game. Most of the major countries in the world are present with some slight exceptions but the map is still wide enough to make traversal a challenge. Thankfully the map navigation is aided by two main features firstly there are maps above the main news feed, Hitting a flag instantly transports you to central areas so finding other countries is pretty easy from there assuming you have some basic geographical knowledge. The second navigation tool is one of my favourite parts of this game. You have a news feed that outlines breaking stories from around the world. From the population Rioting in China to the death of a spy in the UK, the news feed becomes your fastmap to create mayhem within your enemies ranks. Alongside the text there is a screen with rolling pictures and video from the era in question. These images coincide with the changing situation in the country of interest. Its a great way to give extra depth to what is essentially a very simplistic graphical presentation.
|
|
The actual game play mechanics are explained by the pdf Instructions book accessible from the game menu or we also have a guide to play from the developer by following this link. Essentially it’s a numbers game. Influence for each country is divided into one hundred points and your job is to keep countries loyal to you and at the same time steal countries loyalty away from your opponent. This is accomplished by deploying spies, military and influence points. All have a cost and so resource management seems to be the key to win the game. This is mainly due to the fact once you deploy units you have no control over them they are just controlled by the AI. I enjoy the numbers game where you are trying to decide if its worth competing for control over a country or just plant a few spies to cause trouble. There is also the ability to support riots to try to influence a country's government and turn them to your side. So the toys are there to make this an engaging game. But for those familiar with the Era there is one part missing but thankfully the Space Race has its own section within the gameplay. You are able to develop your space program and this can give higher global influence. It still comes back to resource management but its a great extra addition to the game.
|
All in all this is a great RTS the production values are lower than some of the heavy hitters in the genre however this is made up for in the gameplay. If you are new to the genre this may not be the title to dip your toe. Its complexity may be off putting but if you love a challenge then this can be a great game. This is a very welcome first title from a young studio and shows the value of smaller developers willing to take a chance.
*The score is for players familiar with RTS for those with no previous knowledge then drop half a point. |
|
The Wrap Up
Good - Addictive gameplay, Images screen, Navigation solutions, Great setting Bad - Graphics will not appeal to all, Difficult for newcomers to the genre, No difficulty settings |
|
