Reviewed: May 31, 2001
Reviewed by: Richard Cross
Publisher
Strategy First
Developer
GSC Game World
Released: April 24, 2001
Genre: Strategy
Players: 6
ESRB: Everyone
8
8
8
10
8.8
System Requirements
Strategy First has done it again! It seems like all I am doing lately is reviewing top-notch games released by Strategy First. It is true, Cossacks: European Wars is very similar to Microsoft's Age of Empires and Age of Kings style games, yet Cossacks has taken the next step in RTS gaming and added some excellent new features.
Cossacks is based in 17th and 18th century Europe. You will be able to play the Thirty Years' War among others, and if you don't know the details from the time period, the built in encyclopedia will educate you! Cossacks is definitely a finely detailed work of art and will be one of the leading RTS games for years to come.
After the installation I did encounter one minor problem. The game would not launch when I first double-clicked on the icon. I would get a screen that said "SafeDisk", which is the brand of copy protection used on the game, and then the game would just sit there with a blank screen. Once I ctrl-escaped back to the desktop and clicked on the game listing on the taskbar, the cdrom drive would finally take off and the game would launch correctly. This problem surfaces every time that I want to play the game and after doing the previous sequence everything works fine. I figure that it has something to do with the SafeDisk protection as I have not had this type of problem with any of the other Strategy First games.
As I mentioned before, the style of the game is very similar to Age of Empires, and that's about as far as the comparison goes. Cossacks has expanded on many of the features of the current RTS games and has also added a very realistic historical background to the game as well. The games plays the same as most of the RTS games that are currently on the market, build your economy, construct your city, train an army, and conquer your opponents. The economy is based on six basic resources: food, wood, stone, coal, iron, and gold. One of the best features of Cossacks is that most of the resources are inexhaustible. This means that you put your peasant to work gathering the selected resource and get back to building and protecting your city.
Speaking of protecting your city, another nice feature of Cossacks is the way another opponent can wander into your city and steal your peasants and capture your buildings! You will soon realize that you are not producing resources like you once were and you will start to question your own ability to manage your city. It took me a few minutes to realize that each time my opponent came wandering into my city they were not trying to destroy my city and steal my resources, but instead they were capturing my peasants and putting them to work in their own cities. You will want to add some defensive fortifications to your city with this type of gameplay and strategy added to the mix.
Graphically, Cossacks is extremely well done. There is a large selection of resolutions that the game supports with the high end being 1600 x 1280. The graphics are very nicely done with each of the 16 nations having their own building and unit designs. One of the features that really caught my eye was the fact that Cossacks supports up to 8000 units on the screen at one time. This makes for some extremely large and detailed battles. I never reached that amount of units in one of my battles, but a few hundred units did not seem to slow down gameplay whatsoever on my system.
Cossacks really pulls you into the game the longer you play it. The realistic sounds of the cannons and the musketeers really keep you engaged in the battle. It seems that a lot of programming time was spent on getting the audio effects just right for this game. The introduction to the game has some wonderful graphics, but the sound of battle is what leaves you yearning for more. Each unit also has its own unique sounds.
When you create groups of units with a drummer and an officer, the drummer pounds on his drum when you are marching into battle. This small little addition to the game pulls you right into the action.
The replay value of Cossacks is well worth the purchase of this game. Cossacks has so many play options, with built-in scenarios, random maps, and internet play, it is hard to stop playing once you've started. If you like Age of Empires, you will love Cossacks: European Wars. This game is a must have for any RTS enthusiast. With so many improvements over current RTS games, this game really keeps you coming back for more.
Cossacks allows up to seven players to join in on a network game. With the addition of GameSpy Arcade, internet play has never been so fun and easy. Players can message between one another during the game, allies can chat, and enemies can taunt their opponents. With all of the multiplayer options available, the gaming experience is never-ending.
I believe that Cossacks will be the one to beat over the next few years. It has added some elements to this genre that have been needed for a very long time. The gameplay has stayed very basic over the past few years in the RTS genre, but the added features within this game really take the experience to the next level.
The addition of numerous scenarios and awesome graphics make this game one of the year's best. I recommend that you purchase this game and get playing online for some of the best multiplayer action to hit the RTS genre in a long time. The mix of a historical background, stunning graphics, and great gameplay make this game a must have for any RTS fan.