Caltrops - Gamerasutra - No. Once again Worm is completely Worng

Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra

by Flavio 02/27/2006, 1:18am PST

Fullofkittens wrote:

Did they bring back firepower, so that a tank can't get killed by 4 guys with swords?

Units can be taken down by units about one tech level below them (riflemen vs musketmen) if significantly outnumbered, perhaps two levels if they're completely swarmed.

This leads to advanced units being beaten if they're sent off on their own to be gangraped by a more primative player's entire force, but in the long run the more primative units will lose unless their owner has a significant production advantage. Worm's example of "robotic infantry" (mechanized infantry, strength 32) being beaten by cavemen (strength 2) would never happen.

My only real complaint about combat is that the advantages are stacked a bit muched towards the defender. Hills give +25% defense, forests +50%, forest on a hill +75%, +25% unit fortify, +75% for walls, +100% for castle. Early on it's nearly impossible to take a city and trying to kill someone off early if a waste that will set you back far more than you'll gain. You can get archers within a dozen turns and they get ridiculous city defense bonuses making it impossible to take cities until you get copper units (before your opponent) and/or catapults.

The main thing that gives the defender a huge advantage is roads. Attackers cannot benefit from road movement bonuses. Unlike Alpha Centauri though, the defender can attack with a fraction of a movement point left with no penalty. This means that his spearmen infantry can move 3 spaces while your cavalry can only travel 2. Your "fast" units are hunted down by their "slow" counters and killed off while their murders easily move back within the protection of a city in the same turn. Remember the old tactic of sending those fast units to harass and pillage improvements? Remember it, because it's gone.

There's some annoying niggle where combat results are predestined; you can save, attack, reload, and get the exact same results if you attack again. It's supposed to cut down on quick save cheating I guess, but it seems to lead to situation where you'll lose several fights that were 90%+ in your favor. Fortunately there's an option to turn this off.

Other than that, I love the new combat. I love how units now have a single strength rating instead of seperate attack and defense. I love how wars are handled. I love how resources play into it. I LOVE airpower (Except that there's no way to order fighters to seek out and attack enemy planes. All you can do is order them to patrol and they randomly attack enemy air units performing a ground attack in the area. Both players sit back with their fighters and hope the other guy comes to you).

PROS
-Resources of Civ 3
-More streamlined interface
-More choice in terrain improvements and units to suit individual strategies and play styles
-Diplomacy model that makes sense. The AI now only declares war when he's legitimately pissed off at you (this can lead to exploits though)
-Trading with AI is no longer broken.
-High tech units now kick the proper amount of ass.

CONS
-They didn't even try with the wonder and ending movies. Horrible.
-Combat is stacked towards the defender a wee too much.
-No penalty for attacking with fraction movement points.
-No fighter sweep for air units

I know the phrase "just one more turn" gets thrown around a lot by reviewers, but I've literally told myself I'd stop at a certain point, only to keep playing just a couple more turns for 5 more hours after that.