HA2 - Task 4

Genre - Strategy
Strategy Games have long been a popular genre and are defined by several key aspects that have become signature for the genre and as the genre has developed it has sprouted several sub-genres such as city building sims and god sims among others though all can be based in two categories the RTS (real time strategy) which involves live battles that can last anything from 15 minutes to several hours  or Turn Based Strategy which involves turn based gameplay and often mass micro management turn based games often last for much longer periods of time, with a single game lasting days, weeks or even months some games such as Medieval 2 Total War and other games of the series take place in both categories with city and army management being turn based and battles played out in real time. Strategy games are unique in that they can be deep and interesting while totally forsaking any sort of in-depth story yet at the same time they have the capacity to portray longer and more dynamic stories than any other genre. Stories in Strategy games are often told via cut scenes between missions so as to not interfere with gameplay these cutscenes are given some of the most beautiful graphics of any genre they story is also told during gameplay but in less obtrusive ways usually via dialogue or in game events even sometimes with short in game cutscenes. In my opinion the best target audience for strategy games would be more intellectual people in their late teans plus because of the level of intelligence needed to properly devise strategies and enjoy the game fully.

Reviews - I will be reviewing two iconic strategy games these two games are excellent examples of the peak popularity of the genre and the major differences between the games. The games I have chosen to review are Medieval 2 Total War a combat orientated game with an excellent balance between resource and time management, city building, diplomacy, and combat all well balanced to make one of the most popular games in an immensely popular series and Warcraft 3 Reign Of Chaos a purely RTS game with some base building elements and resource/time management but a primary focus on combat, Thought the game is old it is still even today immensely popular and its multiplayer community is still going strong with new maps (made with the games included Map Editor) containing entirely new game types are being created every day and it is the level of creativity and the bright cartoon like graphics are one of the reasons the game is so popular.

Warcraft III Reign Of Chaos - Being both an older and much smaller game I have decided to review Warcraft First. Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos (released July 2002) had by the time of its release already become a very popular franchise the first two games were popular in their own right for their gameplay but many believed they lacked in both story and depth however Warcraft 3 however took a huge leap forward, the producer Blizzard took into account all the complaints and flaws of their previous titles and remedied them, giving all the individual factions real motivations and distinct cultures and personalities and as I myself played through the game I felt myself getting attached to the characters that I played with, couple that with the excellent voice acting, great script and storyline as well as some of the most beautifully rendered cutscenes in any game before or since made Warcraft 3 one of the most engaging and truly thrilling games I've ever played yet that was far from the end of its excellence with the end of the campaign there is still a whole host of thousands of available custom maps ranging from RPG's where you play as a peasant with your own job to pure chaos "No Unit Cap Everything is Free" in which there is no unit cap and no resources required and not even any terrain leading to immeasurably huge armies clashing on open grounds and inevitably destroying everything there are literally thousands of maps available and some have even spawned entirely new franchises one such map "Defense Of The Ancients" or more commonly referred to as "DotA" spawned its own sub genre of MMO Strategy hybrid. The vanilla game (term used to describe the standard un-modified version) has a very standard strategy game interface with the mini map on the bottom left set into a tool bar along side that is the unit selection screen which shows the current unit/units selected and their stats then to the right of that is the selection interface which is used to construct units and buildings when the appropriate unit/structure is selected and order units to change stance and use special abilities. At the top of the screen to the left are the options that show things such as diplomacy (alliances and resource trading), game options, and quest logs among others in the centre is a circle depicting the games day and night cycle and to the right of that is the resource screen stating gold wood and food levels. Units are selected by left clicking with the cursor and are ordered by right clicking or by using the selection interface which can also be used to use special abilities. All these features are typical of classic RTS games and are the building blocks of most if not all strategy games.

Medieval 2 Total War - The Total War franchise has long had a special twist on their games and while it is now being mimic'd (however poorly) by other franchises Total War is still at the top of the market the generally accepted best game in one of the best strategy game genre's to date is Medieval 2 however in my personal opinion slightly eclipsed by Shogun 2's new more challenging and in depth game play Medieval 2 is the most refined version of the original game concept with few truly defining decisions to make in terms of base building and no research system the games turning point is mostly set in combat yet even that can often be quite easy as the games AI can rarely match up against a players ingenuity (yet this is true in most games and Total War cannot be faulted for it) yet this doesn't make the game lose its sense of urgency as the player will often find himself in dire situations with his towns besieged by a much larger army than he has garrisoned and losing that town along with its garrisoned forces can be quite a knock to the players economy which forces the player to use strategy in a very unique way whether it be blocking off a gate with a wall of spear-men while archers volley them from the walls or letting the enemy army pass through the gate just to be charged by heavy cavalry or even attack elephants before they have a chance to retake their formations all in all the dire urgency and the clever strategies that these one sided battles force the player to take make the game so much more rewarding when the battle is won and even when lost simply seeing the death thole that your small force has inflicted on the enemy makes the game just that much more exciting. Game play in Medieval 2 is very typical of both turn based strategy and RTS games what is unique is how the  they are combined every aspect of the turn based campaign map affects the RTS battle mode and vice versa, towns and cities are pre-placed on the map in real world locations and can have new buildings and units produced in them in by selecting them and using the menu that appears this menu displays other information such as resources produced in that town any natural disasters that are affecting the area and the towns governor (if it has one) it is also possible to check the towns public order (affected by religion, repression (town garrison), and economy if this drops to low the town will begin to riot, spawn bandits (neutral-hostile armies) and possibly revolt against the player. Characters in the game take the form of commanders who are members of the players royal family these characters can die and the player can only get new family members when they are born and turn 16 in game or during special events where officers in the players army or members of other houses can be married into your family or adopted Commanders also have traits which affect almost every aspect of the game world around them from increasing troop morale to increasing unit and building production to improving reputation with religious leaders and many more they also have auxiliaries, none playable characters that are members of a commanders retinue and provide bonus abilities and stats (be they negative or positive) these mechanics inevitably produce commanders that are best sent to some far corner of the kingdom and kept well out of the way. Aside from commanders the player can also train Priests, Merchants, Assassins, Spies, and Diplomats these characters can be trained at towns with the appropriate structures and have their own retinues and traits but unlike commanders cannot take part in combat or govern town instead each have their own unique tasks and all are best taken advantage of to win the game Priests can be used to increase religion in games, convert enemy towns and incite revolt, denounce other priests and have them executed and they can join the college of cardinals (depending on the player factions religion) to gain more influence over the pope. Merchants can be used to take over and sell resources, bankrupt other merchants (removing them from the game) and if enough of one resource is taken over monopolise it greatly increasing income. Assassins can kill any other characters as well as sabotage towns a useful tactic is to raise a priests piety to a high level and then assassinate a cardinal to have him replaced by your own priests. Spies can be sent into towns and armies and can gather information on the units and structures in that town as well as opening a towns gates during an attack. Diplomats are used for conducting diplomacy with other factions which can mean everything from forming alliances to demanding territory be handed over or even bribing an enemy town or army to join your side. those are the main aspects of the turn based campaign map and though there are more it is easy to tell from that alone the extent and depth present in that area of the game however that is not all the game has to offer the battle mode is also very details, unlike most strategy games the battle mode doesn't require any base building the player commands only the units they enter the battle with meaning that battles can sometimes be very one sided yet the battles are not decided solely by who has the biggest army, every aspect of a real world battle is taken into account be it troop morale terrain weather even luck each army has skill and equipment ratings that give them their base attack and defence stats yet players will often find that skill is far more important that equipment as well trained peasants will often defeat far better equipped soldiers with lower skill. Tactics should also be well considered be it hiding cavalry in a forest so that they can charge unsuspecting enemies or tricking enemy cavalry into charging a spear wall. Units are selected with the left mouse button or by clicking their portrait in middle panel in the tool bar and given formation orders from the bottom right panel as well as viewing their positions and enemy positions on  the mini map. Medieval 2 however does not have a story driven game events that take place in the game are reported through messages yet they are simply what happened at that point in history. again all of the features in Medieval 2 Total war are very common among strategy games it is their execution that makes the game excellent.

Conclusion - In conclusion all strategy games share a general style of play that is unique to the genre and extremely popular yet for all the similarities between the games it is usually a single unique aspect that truly defines each game be it the merging of two different types of gameplay or the depth and creativity of a story strategy games are very versatile in their success but will always appeal more to the intellectual gamers who enjoy the use of strategy and tactics.