Ultimate General: Gettysburg

First the bad thing: As an european, i have not THAT much clue about the american civil war and all the storys behind it. So i have no big emotional bond to the "theme", which makes the game even better! First of all: You start with setting the AI - and thats it. A small screen gives you basic informations about the happenings, the mission and the date. Its a "simple" game, in the sense of chess and its easy basic rules. The controls are super easy and there is quick tutorial for it, without taking you too long "out of the game". Its just refreshing to play a "new" strategy game, without having tons of notes for every shortcut and button on the keyboard. And you can take your time! Just pause the game and think about your strategy. (Dont forget about the moral of your units!) You just "draw" around units to select them, and use the same technique to give them a more specific route. I really have a lot of fun with it right now. It works perfect on my old notebook. The visuals are charming and pleasing. I really dont know what to "not like" here - its cheap, it works stable, you have an good AI and pretty good options. And its just... so fast! No big loading times, no "EPIC" and pseudo-"deep" mechanics... Just a good plain, entertaining strategy game. A big "THANK YOU" to the developer. Good Job!

I would highly recommend this game for any RTS gamers out there, mostly because of AI that is the strongest point of this game. It really feels like fighting against a real player. Also a historical setting with all these tiny details on a map really make a difference creating unique atmosphere you'd expect from commanding a real battle. "Plan your strategy" feature is great. And graphics... it's one of most beautiful strategy games I seen since quite a while. What I didn't like is mostly related to the amount of control you have over your units - the thing I was missing most is switching from single to double-line formation and controlling when and how to use cover (eg. I'd like to have all my troops standing in a forest, along the every edge of it - in some cases it's impossible to execute). Tutorials have no mention about different artillery ammo types even though they are essential. You can often see your line to fire in some generic direction ahead even though enemy is 60 degrees off to the left. Charging on artillery somehow tends to be a horrible idea and when you overwhelm it - artillery men just don't want to die (even if they are swarmed by a 1000 of your troops). And battles tend to end in some arbitrary moment, even if they are delayed - eg. sudden end in a middle of a charge on the enemy under heavy fire... clock ticks and everyone just decide to go home?! Overall though it's a great game with surprisingly deep layers of strategy involved and all these nuances that seemingly don't matter and yet make a huge difference at the end of a day. I have a ton of fun, even though I'm not a Civil War geek. I'm looking forward to see if there will be any other "Ultimate General" games with other battles involved, perhaps next time something from Napoleonic Wars?

This is a great game, even better if you are a fan of Civil War games. One thing I really like about the title is how accessible it is; you can start a new game and begin commanding troops in an intuitive manner right away. As I read in another review somewhere, you can jump in and begin commanding immediately, but there is always something else to learn. There are the inevitable comparisons to Sid Meier's Gettysburg, and at the surface, this game does at first appear to be a highly similar recreation. You drag your units around in a manner very similar to that game. There is the dynamic battle of Gettysburg, meaning that unit conditions persist across each phase, while also making it possible to have situations occur that did not occur in the real history (such as already having Confederates heavily fortified on Cemetary Ridge on July 3rd). Occasionally between phases of the battle, you will be given the opportunity to make a decision which will affect the next phase (for example, following the history or attacking the enemy's flank). This adds a nice touch to the battles, keeping it fresh throughout multiple playthroughs. When beginning a new battle, you have the option of selecting from various AI "command styles" as opposed to selecting difficulty on a linear scale. Each battle will unfold differently based on the reactions of the commanders. This was a really neat feature that might have been done before in other games, but I haven't seen it in a Civil War game prior to this title. The graphics are pretty to look at although nothing new (still great). The music is typical epic fare you will encounter in these type of games. The title works flawlessly for me in the latest revisions of Wine. Additionally, there is a "Custom Battles" feature which will allow you to set up "on the fly" battles. I have not explored that yet, or the multiplayer, so I can't speak for those, but the single player mode itself is enough for this game to stand on.

This would be 5 stars, but I just can't do that with a few of the flaws. Flaws: -The formations should take more casualties before they turn back. -Formations pass through each other fairly often. I don't think too often one formation moved through another and then came back through again to their starting point. -General seems pointless. Perfection: -Art work is amazing. -Movement is great barring the two points above. -Makes me really believe I'm there. Side note: I wish they had the entire battlefield mapped and playable at one time and not require you to play section by section.