Reviewed: December 16, 2006
Reviewed by: Blake Kenny

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Cauldron

Released: November 7, 2006
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

7
7
8
6
6.9

Supported Features

Does this make me the best candidate to write such a review? Probably not, but then I’m not writing this review with a whole lot of thought going into the historical accuracy of it all, I’m just going to try and determine if this is a good game or not – and whether or not its worth your hard earned dollars.

I know, as weird as it may seem, a Canadian is writing this review, and while history class taught me a lot about World War II and some other famous confrontations, we didn’t learn much about the American Civil War, after all that’s American history, not Canadian, and since Canada had nothing to do with that event, it wasn’t in our history books. When compared to American, Canadian history has been rather boring and uneventful. Sure we’ve been a factor in a few historic wars, but our presence has never been felt on such a global scale as that of the good ole U.S. of A – and we’ve certainly never gone to war against our own countrymen.

Ultimately I’m writing this review with one agenda. I’m hoping to see if there’s a game in here that’s worth playing and with a little luck and perhaps without even trying, I might even learn something about my neighbours to the South in the process.

I’m going to try and refrain from talking a whole lot about the historical facts and event and focus rather on the game itself, the good, the bad and the potentially ugly. If I start talking about the facts of the war chances are I’ll just make myself look foolish and ignorant – and I’m sure nobody wants to see me do that. So read on and I’ll give you the scoop on The History Channel - Civil War: A Nation Divided.

Civil War is a FPS (First Person Shooter) like no other. For the first time ever, we’re not confined to the obvious popularity of World War II or the laser wars of Outer Space. The History Channel’s Civil War: A Nation Divided throws us into 1860’s American History. Players are tossed into the meat grinder and asked to partake in such horrific battles as Gettysburg, the Bull Run and Petersburg. Players are given the opportunity to play as both the Confederate army and the Union army through 12 levels.

Given the era which this game is meant to represent, I’ve seen a lot of concern on message boards from users expressing their worries over weapon re-load times. I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve never played a shooter with longer re-load times, but this doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Naturally when you use a weapon like the Springfield Musket, re-loads can take some time, especially when you consider that it’s a single shot weapon that requires you to add gun power, the ammunition and jam it all down the barrel with that metal rod for each and every shot. Sure this takes a while, and yes, it sucks when you miss after such a lengthy wait, but it also adds a lot of urgency and authenticity to the game. However you shouldn’t let this scare you off, as it’s an extremely cool weapon to fire and does significant damage when you manage to hit someone with it.

For players who are less patient, there are many other weapons available, like the 5 round Colt M1845, which is essentially a revolving rifle. There’s also the Henry .44 calibre rifle that hold 12 rounds and fires at a rate on 28 round a minute, that’s not too shabby when you think about it. Needless to say, these weapons never irritated me in the least and it brought a small breathe of fresh air to the typical weaponry to which we have all grown so accustomed. Personally, I enjoyed them all, even the single fire weapons. It was nice to play a game where automation wasn’t the ruler of the day.

As I mentioned you do spend a fair amount of time hanging around trying to load your weapons, but then, so does the enemy. There were times when I’d be standing 20 feet away from several enemies and we’d all be mashing gun powder into our muskets, it’s really kind of comical when you think about it. It’s because of this, that the game makes such heavy use of melee attacks. Like the actual civil war, many battles are fought with simple and brutal hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Each weapon can be used to beat your enemy down, some, like the musket are also equipped with a bayonets, so you can charge your enemy and stab them in the gut. Re-loading often leads to this kind of fighting and often it’s necessary to do so because you’re so vulnerable to enemy attacks. Sometimes it’s quicker and easier to charge in on the enemy than it is to ready your weapon to fire. Naturally this forces to the player to plan their reloading times and plan them carefully. Fortunately if you’re charged while reloading you can still melee attack to defend yourself, but this means you have to start the reload cycle from scratch.

Had the game added a few more moves to the physical combat, Civil War could have created an excellent blend of both offensive methods, gunplay and melee. For the melee lover out there, the sabre and bowie knife can come in handy; and for those craving devastation, there are grenades, gatling guns and cannon stations throughout the game. They’re all great fun to experiment with and excellent for mowing down the opposition.

Overall the game plays without a hitch, but I do have a few minor complaints, the first being the use of cover. It seems like I can be squarely hidden behind a wagon or pile of logs and I’m still getting shot to pieces. There was to be little or no safety anywhere, which makes the ability to duck almost pointless.

Another problem is the stupid A.I. The computer opponents are idiots. If you stay outside of a certain distance, the enemy will never do anything but fire their guns and reload, step any closer and they’ll charge. If you become aware of this apparent line in the sand, you can pretty much make the enemy do what you want them to do, simply by moving closer or backing away.

In addition to that, it’s possible to chuck a grenade between 4 guys and they won’t do a damn thing, they’ll just stand there and be blown away. Now that’s what I call intelligence. It’s a good way to clear out the opposition, but not altogether realistic. Still, aside from these few minor complaints, the game doesn’t really have any significant problems. The gameplay isn’t going to revolutionize the wheel, but it’s still functional and entertaining.

On the achievement front, cause I so love those achievements. Civil War dishes them out rather easily. In just 2 days, I managed to get over 800 gamerscore. In fact, there are only 2 achievements that may prove difficult to acquire. Both involve finding hidden documents and photos throughout the game’s 12levels. For me these tedious searches are boresville and completely without value. I’ll probably settle for what I have.

Another minor issue with this game on the multiplayer – there isn’t any. I think a 12 to 16-player mode would have been great as players rushed about, struggling to get their guns reloaded while someone charged them with a bayonet. It could have been great fun, but alas, we’re left high and dry. Perhaps in the future, if we see another civil war game, it will be more generous. As much as I hate to deduct points due to a lack of online play, these days there just doesn’t seem to be an excuse for such an obvious oversight.

Another thing that made this game visually pleasing were the plumes of smoke that accompanied ignited gunpowder. When you fire most of your weapons, especially the musket, the smoke from the shot is often so thick that you can’t even be sure if you managed hit your target. You pretty much need to wait for the smoke to clears to see if they’re still standing or not. In fact, when walking through the thick forests, the smoke from enemy weapons is often the only indication as to where the shots are coming from. Use the smoke, spot your targets.

Water effects are decent, woodlands are thick with trees and bushes, textures are diverse and all this is accompanied with simple additions like falling leave and pollen floating through the air. Even the nighttime levels are nice, with great ambiance created by campfires and the sudden flashes of light when a musket is fired. While Civil War isn’t on par with many other games on the 360, it’s still above average and far better than I anticipated.

The character models are probably the worst part of this game, while they’re not downright horrible, you expect people in a war game to get a lot more attention than they did in Civil War. Animations are a little stiff, enemy deaths aren’t very exciting, and the lack of blood in what was probably one of the bloodiest wars ever! - seems like a major oversight. To be honest, I wanted Civil War to be grisly and horrific experience. When I fire a cannon at a crowd of troops I want to see arms, legs and entrails flying through the air, but no such luck.

The beginning and end of each levels turns into a bit of a history lesson as the events that are about to take place or just have are expertly narrated to keep the player apprise of how the actual events of the war played out. It all adds a nice favour to the game and makes it seems more serious than the actual gameplay does. After all, this History Channel did play a part in the game, so it seems only natural that Civil War attempts to educate the player as it entertains.

The game’s 12, linear and rather short levels can be mowed through in about 6 brief hours on normal difficulty (hard is downright brutal, but you can save anywhere, anytime), even less when you realize that you can pretty much run to the end of each levels, bypassing most enemies with nothing more than your sabre in a few minutes if you really want to. My recommendation is to stay away from easy difficulty, as this makes you nearly indestructible and impervious to damage. The ease really takes away from the potential enjoyment. The game is fun, but being an unstoppable hero is far from exciting.

I really hope this title receives another treatment, as the framework for a great game was certainly there, but wasn’t executed to the fullest. The Call of Duty influence is obvious and as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. With a little work, Civil War could have been an incredible and totally different first-person experience, but as a whole it comes up short. Maybe next time it will get the extra development time it so desperately deserved. There’s gold underneath this rough exterior, someone just needs to find a way to exploit it.

For the curious out there, like I was, go rent it and give it a try for yourself, but save those dollars until the price tag drops and the bargain bins catch it. Civil War isn’t a bad game, but isn’t really worth more than about 6 Lincolns.