{tag [Review]} {tag [PC]}

I like a Turn Based Strategy game (TBS) on occasion but after a short time I find them dull and monotonous, then I stayed awake playing the Massive Assault Network 2 (MAN2) Demo until 4.30 in the morning. I realized that this game is different from the others even though I couldn't quite figure out how to win many rounds. I do know that I’m as bad at it as I am at chess, perhaps even worse.

And that makes sense to me. Chess and MAN2 are similar, you need to know when to show your power or when to take a powder and let the other player make the move. You need to know how far to move your pieces and how far they can attack as well as those same things about the surrounding enemy units.

Turn Based Strategy has taken a backseat to FPS and RPG in the gamer mindset because many people find it boring. Let me assure you that it is not boring. While there is some waiting involved at times it is vital to the game. It takes a fair amount of skill and cunning to win the games. It’s challenging even against the online AI players of which there are 2.

The Game round is broken into phases:
Guerilla Phase:
Place troops to resist an invasion by your enemy into a country. Usually the resources are limited and it is a tough battle.
Invasion! (Movement phase):
When you invade a neutral country the other player will then take control of the Guerillas that will defend the country against your attack. This means that each player will control their specific secret allies as well as defend neutral countries in an effort to stop the opponent. Initial placement of the Guerilla forces is key because they will attack directly after this phase.
Combat Phase:
Of course since it’s a warfare based game you must fight. So once you have your troops placed the next thing to do of course is to attack someone whether it be local guerillas or the enemy directly.
Troop Recruitment phase:
Essentially each country you own generates money. You can use that money to buy new troops. It’s not a lot of money and generally doesn’t afford you a lot of troops so again; this is where the strategy comes in.
The Disclosure Phase: The first thing you need to do is show some of your troops. Since all alliances are random and secret you and the other player do not know where the other’s countries are. But in order to begin building any forces you must show a country to the other player. The tactics and strategy come into play when deciding how many countries to disclose and when. After the first round The Disclosure phase and the troop recruitment phases are separate. You can choose to disclose or not disclose any or all secret ally countries.

Video/Graphics (75%):
The graphics aren’t fantastic, the sound is nothing surprising, but the game is fun though frustrating at times. When the other is doing its thing the camera moves from point to point but is often jerky and annoying. Some of the phases you can speed up or skip over and some you cannot. It’s quite boring to watch thirty units move from point to point and not really do anything. I wish there was a way to speed up the combat phase instead of having to sit and watch each individual enemy troop move then fire. At least a speed up option would have been nice there. The units are nicely done and vary from each other in a way that makes them realistic. I turned off a lot of the shadow effects and other things to get better performance and rid myself of the jerky camera, but it didn’t work. On my laptop with AMD64 3200+, 1GB RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 I should think it wouldn’t have a problem, but it still does. But the graphics are clean and while not amazing, they are functional and fit the game well.



Audio (75%):
Of course every weapon and unit have specific sounds that add to the immersion, but in turn based play immersion is less critical than in a First Person Shooter, Real-time strategy or Role-Playing Game. The most annoying part of the game comes in the form of your second-in-command making snide remarks about your game play at times. It’s annoying like the uber-repetitive music is in Super Mario Bros after an hour or more of playing.

Controls/Interface (80%):
The controls are simple enough. Point and click. There are some keyboard commands available and you have a built in distance measurement tool in the upper menu bar along with the ability to see all the hexes on the map as well as the paths that aircraft can take from capital to capital. The interface is clean but barely customizable. You can make the mini-map smaller or larger but that’s it. I would have liked to be able to move the right hand control panel to another part of the screen but that isn’t possible. The menu system outside of the game is great. It’s clean and simple and self-explanatory. I was up and running in minutes after creating my profile. It’s not customizable really but it’s functional and that’s really what you want in the menu system.

Gameplay (90%):
As I said the camera jerks about the screen at times which is irritating. The snide comments from the game are mildly irritating and of course you can turn them off if you wish. Whenever something happens in the game a pop-up alert box shows up. If you don’t want to see them all the time you have the ability to turn them off individually. That’s a nice feature since you’re watching the game and know what is happening, you don’t really need all these prompts but some people may still want them. I basically turned them all off except for what I thought was important. The demo offers a limited set of maps to play but it’s enough to whet ones appetite in playing more. Looking through the map list made me want to be able to try them out because the land is a key point in a game like this and I am getting bored with the limited map set available. The game is made to be played online and in the interface you can chat with other players as well as challenge them to a game. Since the game is turn based you can stop in the middle of a game and return to it at a later date. If you want to try it out and tire of the AI players look me up and if I’m around I’ll be happy to play a few games. The game length depends on several factors including map size, skill level of the players and a little bit on luck.

Summary: 80%
It’s a good game and fun to play even when you lose as much as I do. The graphics are nice but the camera is jerky at times. The sound is adequate and works for the game. The menu system and interface are nearly perfect for the game and overall I’ll probably continue to play this on occasion even though I only have the demo version.

You can find me on it as SuperGuido from the Czech Republic.