a good reader review on MTW

[maroule]

I found this post (reader review) on gamespot and I find it fairly funny. It is existencialism at its best : what do you do in a campaign?

"The game looks, sounds, and plays great. Now if I just knew what exactly I was suppose to do or how to do it.

The campaign tutorial is about five an a half minutes long and teaches you how to move one unit into another province, combine units, build structures, train units, and THAT'S IT! That might sound like enough, but it really, REALLY isn't.

From playing the tutorial I'm convinced that Activision is trying to keep the campaign mode a secret.

Maybe i'll like this game more once a Primagames guide is published on it, someone .PDFs it, and I download it on KaZaa.
"

[econ21]

Well, in fairness, I felt like that when I first started the campaign game. So many choices, it seemed overwhelming. I wouldn't post a review at that point though :=)

Also, the campaign tutorial is too thin. Compare it with the exhaustive one in Imperialism II which taught you how to build road networks, start trade routes, etc. I think starting the tutorial at a later date and showing how to do trade, form an alliance, marry off an heir, invade an island, conduct a crusade etc would have been good. Probably too long, but it would be there for people with the patience (probably not the guy who writes a review after half an hours gametime).

[maroule]

Quote Originally posted by Simon Appleton:
[B]Well, in fairness, I felt like that when I first started the campaign game. So many choices, it seemed overwhelming. B][/QUOTE]

true, but that's why it's so addictive; you play your campaign as you want, as aggressive or defensive, conquest or buit, trade or plunder, combination of all, etc.

what I found fun (well, not hilarious but at least interesting) is that the scope for initiative scared this reader, while it's one of the best aspect of the game in my own experience.

[Daevyll]

yup.

It's a shame you can't really play it defensively and win though, you have to aggressively conquer even on GA.

Then again the time looking at the end-of-campaign screen is only a tiny fraction of the actual time spent on the campaign, so who cares.

[Willard]

Wouldnt life be boring if we already knew its outcome?

Perhaps the reason, IMO, that MTW is a good game, is because you have so many options that you are allowed to learn for yourself which work and which dont.
Isnt that half the fun or is it simply winning the first time you play?

[olaf]

I agree completely with that quoted review. The campaign tutorials and the included documentation are a joke compared to the depth of the game. The battle tutorials are much better in that they take you through the basics of pretty much everything you would do on the battlefield.

IMO, there is no way the average strategy or wargamer could be successful in the MTW campaign w/o doing one or more of the following:

1) Having previous Shogun experience

2) Buying/Reading the strat guide

3) Using online resources heavily

4) Having someone actually show you the ropes in person.

Christ its hard to even figure out what you need to build to get access to a given unit.

The game is genius, but the docs and campaign tutorial are lacking and do not do it justice.

olaf

[Whitey]

hey - its better than the Shogun campaign tutorial http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif and we managed back then...even with the Hojo hoard (god rest their souls)