Allied AAR of Battlefronts superb Combat Mission Beyond Normandy game. AAR by Ian Leslie

 

Wasteland 2 Director's Cut

by

InXile Entertainment

 Wow, can it really be almost thirty years since the first Wasteland came out? 1988 is a large milestone for me; it is the year that I was exactly half the age I am now. What a difference in the world and games from then to now. I haven't replayed the original Wasteland.  It just wouldn't be the same. I just want to be left with the memories of wandering the first Wasteland and losing a large chunk of my life to the incredible story and game play.

  Oh well, back to the present. It seems strange, but it almost seems that despite the years as I fire up Wasteland 2, I am back in the wasteland without any amount of time passing in between. Oh sure, the graphics are much better, but we expect that in games now. It is sort of remembering an old TV show in color in your mind when you know it was only in black and white.

 I chose to go with a preset party instead of using all of the different options to choose your parties looks and abilities. It being my first of probably many run-throughs I have no idea how important each skill is or might be. 

 The second thing I do is something so stupid and newbie-like that the game should just shut down in disgust. Your party starts at a funeral for Ace, who is another ranger, and general Vargas gives you a quest to complete what Ace was working on before he bought it. I then choose to do the idiotic. Instead of searching every inch of the ranger station for anything and anyone, I gleefully traipse out into the wasteland with my party. I then decide to make mistake number two. Instead of following the quest and starting my adventure where the general told me to go, I branch out. You get two distress calls on the radio one from Highpool and the other from the Ag Center (agriculture). I choose to go the the Ag Center. I'll not bore you with my constant death and the fact that my all of my party is now poisoned by monstrous spores. Suffice to say my party staggers out of the Ag Center and then I finally come to my senses and return to the Ranger Center. After picking it clean and adding a new member to my party, I head back to the Ag Center.

 The funny thing is, I know how to play RPGs, whether first person or top down like Wasteland 2. I have thousands of hours in them and know that you should search every area with a fine toothed comb, looking for that last tin can. I really think I had temporary insanity because of all of those hours I played in the original Wasteland. It was so much like going home that the ever-present dangers of the wasteland seemed insignificant compared to being out in the desert with my party again. I waited so long to play Wasteland 2 that I just wanted to be out in the new areas etc.

 So, is the game different? Of course; what or who wouldn't be different after almost thirty years? Is it hard? You betcha. Will you lose yourself in the game play? Again, a resounding yes. The hours of play will shoot by as you try to open one last door or decipher another clue.

 I promise the reminiscing is over. At the start of the game, as mentioned, you have the ability to hand pick every aspect of your parties characters. The other route is to pick a pre-made party. it is your normal RPG character creation setup. You can choose to start making a character into  an armored anchor for the rest of the group, or create a stealthy more 'brainy' character. As far as the game goes, again like all RPGs, save and then save some more. You never know what or who is lurking over the next ridge. On your way to your quest objectives there can also be chance encounters. You can choose to fight every time and build up your points to level up your part members or try to avoid them. In your wanderings, you will  also uncover different oases. Use them. The small deviation from your route and the chance of an encounter is worth the risk. Wandering about the wasteland without a full canteen of water is hazardous.

 The UI in the game is functional, and you have all the info you need at your fingertips. I'm one of those gamers whose motto is "manuals be damned". So I know that the UI is pretty intuitive and easy to catch onto. The maps and routes to your different quests are well done and easy to follow. You can decide to pick an easier route through irradiated territory or take the scenic route. The whole game can be played from the stealth or 'bull in a china shop' angle, or any sort of in between. In the beginning, as with any RPG, pick up every item you can. You have a stash at the Ranger Center to keep all of your items that might be needed at a later time. Hoarding in real life is very bad, but in RPGs it is essential. You'll never know when you need that artificial leg.

 The different characters that can join your party are an interesting lot. If your leadership skill is too low they will go rogue on you during encounters. They do have different reasons for being with you or helping you on quests, so remember that they might not always be there.

 The voice acting is good. I only had one problem and that was with a character that can join your party during one quest. The character in question sounds like either you or she are on quaaludes when she is talking. For the most part you will be reading most of the interactions between your party and others. The story line is pretty good with some very good moments of twists and turns. You are sometimes allowed to take whatever action you want, but like most RPGs, some actions cannot be taken, no matter what homicidal thought is running through your brain. Unlike other RPGs, I have not found a 'useless' skill yet. All seem to have some benefit to having or a hit for not having a particular skill. Alarms, lock picking, and your various weapon skills are self explanatory. You can also be a 'smart ass' or a 'hard ass' in some conversations which will open up whole new dialogs for you to explore. 

 So, to wrap it up, where does Wasteland 2 stand? Is it an also ran or the proud offspring of its grand old dad? In my eyes Wasteland 2 can hold its head up with the rest of the family. Indeed, it is much better than most of the originals off shoots.

 AMD cards had a problem running Wasteland 2 when it was first released, and to be honest I was getting CTDs trying to play it. I am happy to announce after updating my video drivers I have not had any problems running the game since then.

 After all of my death and near death experiences, I restarted the game and instead of using default characters, I chose to make all four of my own. Now that I have a feel for the game and how I want to play it, deciding to start over and build the characters the way I want was a no-brainer. A few other tips: make sure you reload after every encounter; also, throw some skill points into bladed or blunt weapons. Ammo is like gold, so it is best to conserve it at all times. One point about the game, a lot of it is in making choices. You will not be able to do everything and save everyone. Time is also your enemy; it is not like some RPGs where you can return to a quest line at anytime and everything has stayed still while you did a few others.

 Here's to wandering another wasteland when Wasteland 3 gets released. I know I, and many others, will be happy to be out with new Ranger buddies.


 Robert


 Game: Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
 Game Developer: inXile Entertainment
 Date of Review: 11/11/2016

 The Eagle's Last Triumph

by

Andrew Uffindel

 Many times, the Battle of Waterloo has been written about as though it had occurred in a vacuum. The battles that took place two days before, Quatre Bras and Ligny, are maybe slightly mentioned. In actuality, the battle of Waterloo can only be understood if one looks at Napoleon's and the Allies' strategy and plans, and the battles that took place earlier. The twin battles of Quatre Bras and Ligny , fought on June 16, 1815, are the catalysts for the end of the first empire at Waterloo. Of these two battles, Ligny is by far the one that held greater promise for Napoleon. If Napoleon had won a great victory and crushed the Prussians, they would not have been able to help Wellington on June 18th. It is possible that with a rout of the Prussians, Wellington would have had to retreat further without the promise of Prussian help. On the field of Ligny and the Prussian defeat were sown the seeds of the Allies' victory at Waterloo.

 'The Eagle's Last Triumph' by Andrew Uffindell is one of the rare books written about the battle of Ligny. It was originally published in 1994, and the hard cover copy from then is not easy to find. Casemate publishers has put out a paperback edition, and it is well supplied with maps and sixteen pages of black and white photos. The book even goes into the battle of Quatre Bras, and the end of the campaign. Part two of the book has an analysis of the battle, and a breakdown of the losses both sides suffered. It also has a guide to the battlefield today for anyone who might be interested in taking in the actual battlefield's scenery.

 The battle of Ligny, when it is mentioned, is usually written off with a paragraph or two. The traipsing of D'Erlon's corps is most often dissected down to the minute. D'Erlon's summer hike from battlefield to battlefield without influencing either is truly one of history's enigmas. If he had pitched into the Prussian right flank, as the emperor ordered him to do, the battle of Ligny would have turned into a rout for the Prussians. As a consequence, the Prussians  would have had to retreat east instead of north, and still parallel with Wellington's army.

 The large and consequential battle of Ligny was not a foregone conclusion. As the book shows, it was a titanic struggle between the French and Prussians, and every bit as horrific and glory filled as any other Napoleonic battlefield.

 This was the last time that the Imperial Guard would march forward to seal a victory. The grenadiers of the Guard were told by their second-in-command, Lieutenant-General Francois Roguet, "the first man who brings me a Prussian prisoner will be shot".  This is much like Blucher's supposed  statement at Waterloo "no pity, no prisoners; I will shoot any man I see with pity in him". It might just be a quote from a movie, but it echoes his and his soldiers thought about the battle of Ligny. This terrible hatred between German and Frenchman would only be quenched a hundred and thirty years later in 1945.

 Robert

Book: The Eagles Last Triumph

Author: Andrew Uffindell

Publisher: Casemate

Review Date: 10/26/2016

                       

Scourge of War Waterloo DLC Ligny

 

 Ligny is lost in the shadow of Waterloo, which was fought two days later. This is upsetting for two reasons: 1) It was the last battle Napoleon won. 2) If events transpired the way Napoleon wanted them, he probably would have won at Waterloo. Ligny was fought by the Prussians under Blucher and the French under Napoleon. The battle was ripe with might haves. Count D'Erlon was ordered to bring his I corps and crush the Prussian right wing and turn a won battle into a Prussian rout. Marshal Ney, fighting at Quatre Bras, ordered D'Erlon to march to help him. D'Erlon's incredible blunder in not following Napoleon's order cost the emperor his throne. The Prussians survived to fight another day and their corps led by Von Bulow interceded on the field of Waterloo. Napoleon had "humbugged" both Blucher and Wellington by striking hard and fast between them. Napoleon's plan was for Ney to keep the English away, therefore being unable to help the Prussians while he gave battle to them at Ligny. Once the Prussians were defeated and seen off to the east, Napoleon could then turn on Wellington. 

 NorbsoftDev has continued their Waterloo game to now include a DLC of the battle of Ligny. They had already released another DLC covering the battle of Quatre Bras, fought on the same day as Ligny. The DLC has five different scenarios you can play:

2:30PM -  Leading a Prussian Corps
8:00PM - Leading a French division
2:30PM - Leading the Prussian army
3:00PM  - Leading a French corps
2:30PM  - Leading the French army

  The Scourge of War games also have a few modes in which a player can choose to use:

 Waterloo Battles
 Sandbox Campaign
 Sandbox
 User Scenarios
 Tutorial

  
 Thanks to NorbSoftDev, with the addition of the Ligny battle we are almost at the point where we can play out the entire battles of the Waterloo campaign. Each release of the the game engine brings refinement and tweaks and more fine tuning of an already excellent engine. The next release is going to be that of Wavre. Wavre is much like Ligny in that had things gone the French way it might have been Grouchy appearing on Wellington's left instead of the Prussians.

 With the start of the series in the American Civil war battles to the Napoleonic, this is one of my favorite series of games. Command and control from a general's perspective is what drew me to computer wargames in the 1980s. The ability to form a plan in your head and then to be able to use competent, if not deadly, AI subordinates always draws me back to this series of games. The only possible knock on the series is the same that can be said of any Napoleonic battle game. Because of the small sales that would be seen in releasing some battles against others more well known ones, we are not likely to see an official release of Eylau or Friedland, to name just two.

 For the multiplayer crowd, these games have always been a big draw. The sandbox mode can be used to represent pretty much any sort of engagement of the battlefields of the released games. There is also a large community of modders that are on the NorbSoftDev web site. 

  Please, take a look at my review of the base game 'Scourge of War Waterloo', also my other SOWW DLC 'Quatre Bras'.




 Robert




Game: Scourge of War Waterloo DLC Ligny
Developer: NorbSoftDev
Publisher: Slitherine/Matrix
Date of Review: 10/29/2016