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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Strategy Developer: Cauldron Publisher: Activision |
make a fun game. World War II has brought forth a large number of games that give players super soldiers capable of cursing through
many battles. The Vietnam and Gulf Wars also aren’t strangers to videogames either. There are tons of games that follow the world’s
history, but one that has the History Channel’s name on it would have more than just a resemblance to what happened. There is very
little present in their latest game, “History Channel: Civil War,” to give players the feel of being involved in the Civil War. This time
around the look at America’s Civil War doesn’t take advantage of the materials available and ends up looking like a boring first person
shooter.
Though the title of the game may not help the game out at all, but overall the game is by no means good. The campaign allows players
to play through parts of twelve different battles with an equal amount of time being spent as the Union and as the Confederacy. Not
twelve full battles, parts of twelve battles. Other than players shooting enemies in different colors, there isn’t much of a difference
between the two sides in the game play. Each level is ended with a historical fact to set up the battle and let players know what the
outcome is, all done with the typical deep voice telling the details while players watch a series of maps, photos and art enter and leave
the screen. Through these informative pieces, the History Channel title fits well.
The Civil War has been one of the most ignored wars in the gaming industry, which has probably been done for a reason. The
weapons of the period were time consuming to reload and were not nearly as accurate as weapons of today. When players need to
stand around while they try to load their weapon, they will often get bored. Even when the action was sped up for the game, they still
take a long time, though very accurate to how the weapon would need to be loaded.
Another problem in the game is the fact that the AI in the game isn’t very intelligent. Typically it will stand in one place and fire at the
player as much as possible. When players get close enough the AI will charge and try to kill players through a melee attack. This is
what makes the majority of the game a boring shooting gallery. Every gun that players have is perfectly accurate and players can take
down an enemy in one or two shots, very unrealistic for a war game of any type. When players place their sights on the enemy, their
reticule glows red to indicate that they will hit their mark. This means that players can sit back at a safe distance and fire when the
target turns red for an easy kill every time.
Players will want to use the method of hanging back and sniping enemies because of the fact that hiding behind objects to avoid enemy
cover is a little bit hit or miss. Sometimes bullets will go right through the cover, whether it is a wall, a barrel or even carriages. Even if
players are moving around behind cover, the enemy will know exactly where to set their sights on. As players hide behind cover and
watch their health continue to drop gets awfully frustrating, making the game less fun than it may already be. Because of the lack of
reliable cover, and the moments when enemies appear out of nowhere, players will definitely die many times in the opening stages of
the game. This becomes even more frustrating because there is no checkpoint system in the game. Players can save anywhere, but it
is up to them to pause the game and save, which players often times won’t do much during a game, they get to be a bit too hung up on
playing instead of saving.
The graphics of the game aren’t as boring as the game play, but the environments and characters in the game have a last generation
feel to them. The explosions and smoke is the game are probably the best graphical elements of the game and the smoke coming out
of the gun barrels is cool too, unfortunately the overall animations are poor. The death animations are very rigid and don’t look realistic
at all. It doesn’t help that the bodies disappear quickly after death. Even though thousands of deaths occur in these battles, the
battlefields look very empty for it being such a large war.
The overall sound in the game is pretty good, although players will hear several sounds that can’t be connected to any person or thing.
Again, the explosions are the best aspect of the sound. Whether it’s the blast from a cannon or a pistol, the sound to gunpowder
exploding is one element that makes the game feel more realistic.
Though the History Channel name is added to the game, it seems to only be used as a selling point for a mediocre Civil War game that
misses the mark. There is very little to make it stand apart from other war games and has done nothing unique to make players want to
even try the game. Players do get to use some historic weapons and rally cries that aren’t able to be used in other games, but the
shooting isn’t much fun and the overall game play feels a bit too historic, even for a game that takes place during the Civil War.
many battles. The Vietnam and Gulf Wars also aren’t strangers to videogames either. There are tons of games that follow the world’s
history, but one that has the History Channel’s name on it would have more than just a resemblance to what happened. There is very
little present in their latest game, “History Channel: Civil War,” to give players the feel of being involved in the Civil War. This time
around the look at America’s Civil War doesn’t take advantage of the materials available and ends up looking like a boring first person
shooter.
Though the title of the game may not help the game out at all, but overall the game is by no means good. The campaign allows players
to play through parts of twelve different battles with an equal amount of time being spent as the Union and as the Confederacy. Not
twelve full battles, parts of twelve battles. Other than players shooting enemies in different colors, there isn’t much of a difference
between the two sides in the game play. Each level is ended with a historical fact to set up the battle and let players know what the
outcome is, all done with the typical deep voice telling the details while players watch a series of maps, photos and art enter and leave
the screen. Through these informative pieces, the History Channel title fits well.
The Civil War has been one of the most ignored wars in the gaming industry, which has probably been done for a reason. The
weapons of the period were time consuming to reload and were not nearly as accurate as weapons of today. When players need to
stand around while they try to load their weapon, they will often get bored. Even when the action was sped up for the game, they still
take a long time, though very accurate to how the weapon would need to be loaded.
Another problem in the game is the fact that the AI in the game isn’t very intelligent. Typically it will stand in one place and fire at the
player as much as possible. When players get close enough the AI will charge and try to kill players through a melee attack. This is
what makes the majority of the game a boring shooting gallery. Every gun that players have is perfectly accurate and players can take
down an enemy in one or two shots, very unrealistic for a war game of any type. When players place their sights on the enemy, their
reticule glows red to indicate that they will hit their mark. This means that players can sit back at a safe distance and fire when the
target turns red for an easy kill every time.
Players will want to use the method of hanging back and sniping enemies because of the fact that hiding behind objects to avoid enemy
cover is a little bit hit or miss. Sometimes bullets will go right through the cover, whether it is a wall, a barrel or even carriages. Even if
players are moving around behind cover, the enemy will know exactly where to set their sights on. As players hide behind cover and
watch their health continue to drop gets awfully frustrating, making the game less fun than it may already be. Because of the lack of
reliable cover, and the moments when enemies appear out of nowhere, players will definitely die many times in the opening stages of
the game. This becomes even more frustrating because there is no checkpoint system in the game. Players can save anywhere, but it
is up to them to pause the game and save, which players often times won’t do much during a game, they get to be a bit too hung up on
playing instead of saving.
The graphics of the game aren’t as boring as the game play, but the environments and characters in the game have a last generation
feel to them. The explosions and smoke is the game are probably the best graphical elements of the game and the smoke coming out
of the gun barrels is cool too, unfortunately the overall animations are poor. The death animations are very rigid and don’t look realistic
at all. It doesn’t help that the bodies disappear quickly after death. Even though thousands of deaths occur in these battles, the
battlefields look very empty for it being such a large war.
The overall sound in the game is pretty good, although players will hear several sounds that can’t be connected to any person or thing.
Again, the explosions are the best aspect of the sound. Whether it’s the blast from a cannon or a pistol, the sound to gunpowder
exploding is one element that makes the game feel more realistic.
Though the History Channel name is added to the game, it seems to only be used as a selling point for a mediocre Civil War game that
misses the mark. There is very little to make it stand apart from other war games and has done nothing unique to make players want to
even try the game. Players do get to use some historic weapons and rally cries that aren’t able to be used in other games, but the
shooting isn’t much fun and the overall game play feels a bit too historic, even for a game that takes place during the Civil War.
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