What game should I get?

[Ja'chyra]

Hey all

I'm looking for a decent game I can play on my laptop, the specs are:

Intel Core Duo T2300E Processor 1.66GHz
667 MHz FSB, 2 MB Cache
1 GB RAM
80 GB Hard Drive
Double Layer DVD ReWriter Drive
14" Widescreen BrightView Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
128MB Intel Grpahics Accelerator Shared

The thing plays RTW with no problems but I haven't even tried M2TW

I am looking for a game that I can control my own town/village/country but one that has a little more involvement on the city side than TW, I also like the military and diplomacy side. I have tried EU and that wasn't really for me, it was a bit too detached for my liking.

Any suggestions?

[econ21]

You might have to try e-bay or something, as it is an old game, but Imperialism II is a very good country-level strategy game. It is in the Civ mold with exploration, expansion, combat, diplomacy etc, but more period specific (16th to end-19th century). It has less city-level micromanagement, so goes at a faster pace. Perhaps the best feature is the resource management side of the game - it is great fun and challenging trying to overcome the many bottlenecks to development. The AI is very competitive.

I also have Heroes of Might and Magic III Complete on my laptop. It is fantasy themed not historical, but again has competitive AI and gameplay that hits a nice compromise between ease of play and challenge.

Europa Barbarorum is worth trying if you have not done so recently. It is 0.81, but for all intents and purposes is a complete mod now - no CTDs or unfinished artwork. While it is most renowned for its attention to history, I also admire what they have done to the gameplay - making it more challenging, and - via the traits - more rewarding. I don't think you can beat TW for battles and mods such as EB build on the core engine well.

[Ja'chyra]

Thanks for the suggestions, HOMM 3 sounds interesting but is there any reason why you pick 3 and not 4 or 5?

[frogbeastegg]

D'oh! Don't post while I'm posting!

Thanks for the suggestions, HOMM 3 sounds interesting but is there any reason why you pick 3 and not 4 or 5?

I can answer that partially. Econ21 and others will be better able to describe the differences between the games themselves. Heroes 5 is a lot more demanding in terms of PC requirements. I played it on a fairly decent machine (P4 3ghz, 2GB RAM, 9800 pro 128mb) and it chugged on medium settings. Heroes 3 and 4 are older games and have far lower demands. They aren't 3D for a start.

Heroes 3 is considered the classic and best title in the series by many. Best AI, best campaigns, best MP mode, best random map generator. I can't really comment; I've barely played it.

Heroes 4 gets hammered a lot by series enthusiasts. Seems like either you like the changes it made to the formula or you loathe them. The AI isn't too hot. Again I haven't played it much and so will let someone else pick up the torch. I will say that I enjoyed my couple of hour session, and didn't find it to be a bad game.

Heroes 5 I have played quite a bit. Reportedly in its current state it's very close to being Heroes III in 3D with a few alterations and with a new series of campaigns. The plot is poor, the voice acting bad, the AI not the best ever. Otherwise it's a good game, and I enjoy playing it.


I got a special Amazon.uk exclusive edition of Heroes 5 which included heroes 1, 2, 3 complete and 4 complete all for the standard price of the game. Unfortunately it looks like it's no longer available.

You could try Caesar III. No diplomacy and limited military, but it's a great city-builder.

I'd recommend Pharoah, Zeus and Emperor over Caesar II myself. The refinements to the formula make for a more enjoyable playing experience, and allow for more complex cities. Maybe that's because I can't build a decent city without roadblocks

[Ja'chyra]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I think I'll give HOMM 3 a try then.

City builders are ok but I really like sending my troops of to plunder other towns. That reminds me I might try Warrior Kings again, that was ok.

[frogbeastegg]

City builders are ok but I really like sending my troops of to plunder other towns.

That's possible in Zeus and Emperor, in an abstracted way. Once you have a military force in either of these games you can go to the world map and dispatch them to attack a hostile city. If your force is strong enough you conquer it and it becomes your vassal, paying tribute. There are a few extra diplomacy options available with vassals, such as requesting they lend their military strength to yours. It's simplistic but I found it fun. Nothing like conquering half of Greece and having them tribute you expensive goods you previously spent a tonne of cash buying from them.

[TinCow]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I think I'll give HOMM 3 a try then.

City builders are ok but I really like sending my troops of to plunder other towns. That reminds me I might try Warrior Kings again, that was ok.

I think you'll be very happy with HOMM3. Issue 4 of the Gahzette (see link in my sig) has a nostalgia piece I did on HOMM2 which you might find interesting. HOMM3 is essentially the same game with better graphics, more factions, more monsters, more artifacts, and better AI. Essentially more of everything that's great about the series.

[frogbeastegg]

You might have to try e-bay or something, as it is an old game, but Imperialism II is a very good country-level strategy game.

There's a budget re-release version of it. It's on Ubisoft's 'Revival' range, so it should be relatively easy to get hold of. It's on Play.com's 3 for £10, as is Heroes III (standard, not complete) and some other classic games like Patrician III.

[TinCow]

You could try Caesar III. No diplomacy and limited military, but it's a great city-builder.

Thanks for the suggestions, HOMM 3 sounds interesting but is there any reason why you pick 3 and not 4 or 5?

HOMM4 was very poorly done. HOMM3 is a far better game all around. HOMM5 won't run on your laptop (I think).

I highly recommend getting the HOMM3 'Complete' version, which has all the expansion packs in it. One of the pack introduces 'combo artifacts' which are very, very fun in the single-player campaigns.