Reviews

1503 AD

DEVELOPER : Sunflower
PUBLISHER : EA Games

 

System Requirements Pent. III 600Mhz, 256 MB RAM, ATI Radeon or GeForce card

Recommended Athlon 1GHz, 256+ meg RAM, 32 MB  ATI Radeon or GeForce video card

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 9 - Artistically creative and rendered in a lively fashion, it couldn’t get much prettier than it is. Audio: 8 - Relevant sound bites bring the colony to life; the music is understated and enjoyable. Interface: 7 - Once everything is learned, the interface is straightforward and effective. However, some processes (like unloading ships) seem to take longer than necessary.	Play Issues Solo Gameplay: 8 - An immersive, enjoyable experience throughout, 1503 is difficult not to like. It tightens up some of 1602’s weaknesses and adds a fair amount of new content, but it’s not exactly a whole new game, either. Length of Play/Replay Value: 7 - The lengthy replay value of the various scenarios coupled with a scaled sandbox mode make for plenty of replay value; the fact that there’s only one side to play tarnishes the shine, though. Multiplay Quality: 5 - Multiplay was stable on the tested machine, but the relaxed pace, de-emphasis on combat, and generally open-ended nature of the game can make for a listless multiplayer game. This one’s not likely to overtake Warcraft 3 on the multiplayer charts. Learning Curve: 6 - If you’ve played 1602, this game will come along very naturally indeed; if not, expect to play the tutorials and still have a question or two afterwards.
Other/Notes Manual/Documentation: 8 - The manual’s pretty straightforward and fairly bare-bones, but once the basics of the game are understood, it’s also pretty unnecessary due to excellent in-game direction, so it all works out. Bias/Comments: I greatly enjoyed this game, although sometimes what affected me most was also the least relevant to the overall gameplay (like the fact that the fisher’s hut extends over the water and looks “really cool.”) Stylistically unique and enjoyable. Pros: Even, visual game that challenges and provokes in an unusually subtle fashion. Cons: If you already own 1602, this may come across as little more than a facelift. Overall: 7.5

There was a time when evolutionary theory argued that a given species would develop slowly and steadily over an era, and then suddenly and apocalyptically undergo a vast series of changes and emerge as an entirely new species. Whereas modern science views the process of change to occur gradually over vast epochs, the view was once that violent upheaval could rapidly give birth to a whole new host of life. As such, a given animal might look like a near-duplicate to creatures that had come along 50,000 years earlier, only to be unrecognizable to its own grandchildren. Creation was viewed as revolutionary, not evolutionary, at least not as we define the term now.

Well, gamers seem to have their own perspective on this whole concept. A sequel that makes too many changes can turn off the very fan base the game was aimed at, but a sequel that doesn’t change enough is often written off – sometimes with justification – as an overpriced expansion. Most developers try to hit a happy medium, keeping the player in familiar contexts while trying out units and technologies that shift the balance of play. Occasionally (Master of Orion 3) the developers will go in an entirely new direction, while other times (Heroes of Might and Magic 2) they stay in the current mold almost to a fault.

1503 A.D. “The New World” is exactly the sort of game to follow carefully in successful footsteps that have gone before it. While the title suggests that it’s a prequel to the earlier-made 1602 A.D, everything about the game itself would suggest that it’s a sequel, and one that doesn’t stray too far from its roots. The basic functions of most of the major buildings are exactly unchanged—warehouses are the foundation of every successful colony, markets expand on the buildable area, and mines, smelters, and a variety of craftsmen acquire raw materials and gradually shape them into various implements of construction or warfare. Players of 1602 will have to adjust to a couple of changes in interface and a few shifts in minor building functions (potato farms make both alcohol and food now, for example,) but once these are adjusted to, the game feels like an old friend.

An old friend with a trophy wife and a new car, that is. The graphics are striking and evocative. All sorts of wildlife – predators and vultures included – stomp, graze, and hunt across an ecologically unlikely collection of islands. It seems silly to have a desert island, jungle island, and savannah island all lined up next to each other, but the practical impact this has on gameplay is to make each island seem more unique and make the game as a whole that much more vibrant for it. On one island, your hunters will be pursuing deer and fending wolves off from your sheep, and the next island will find your hunters pursuing elephants. Every step of the way, the graphics are lush and alive. The thatched-roof huts and log cabins slowly giving way to palacial stone and masonwork and the threadbare pioneers eventually develop into opulently attired aristocrats.

And you will see your people out walking. There are actually quite a few changes from 1602, but none of them particularly affect the overall game experience. One of these changes is that now citizens must walk to market stands to acquire food, salt (one of several new resources,) clothes, spices, and more. Market stands – like taverns in the first one, which have returned – must be placed with some regularity to ensure that citizens are not starving and naked. They get unhappy when that happens for some reason.

While there are other changes to be noted, like much larger overall map sizes, the biggest practical change comes in the form of a far more elaborate military system. While it’s nice to have eight basic soldier types and three different siege engines, ultimately the game isn’t about combat, and it shows. Even with the ability to take over enemy colonies, 1503 won’t be mistaken for a combat RTS by anyone who’s ever played Age of Anything.

Ultimately, 1503 is made precisely for people who wanted more 1602 out of a sequel. For those expecting any less or any more, it’ll be a disappointment. For those who want nothing else, or for those who missed 1602 and wish they’d tried it, 1503 A.D. is to be recommended.

Reviewed by Joel Rasdall.