Campaign 1776

DEVELOPER : HPS Simulations
PUBLISHER : HPS Simulations

 

System Requirements Pentium 133 Mhz, 32 MB RAM

Recommended Pentium 233MHz, 64+ MB RAM

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 4.0 – Come on, they can do better than this. Audio: 7.0 – The music is nice, but sound is merely adequate. Interface: 8.0 – Nicely done interface makes things simple.	Play Issues Gameplay: 9.0 – A wonderful representation of the Revolutionary War that deserves to be regarded as one of the best war games in recent years. Replayability: 8.0 – No random battles hurts this score, but a dynamic campaign with large battles, as well as a slew of hypothetical scenarios, ensures a long experience. Multiplay: 7.0 – Standard modem and Play by Email options. Learning Curve: 8.0 – See next category.
Other/Notes Documentation 9.0 Wonderful in-game help explains every option and answers every question. Reviewer’s Note:  If graphics are of little or no concern, then you can probably bump the overall score up by a point. Pros: Wonderful gameplay and a full treatment of the Revolutionary War give the game a lot of appeal… Cons: But the graphics are unfortunate and do not show the same amount of attention. Overall: 7.8

When we think of the American Revolution, many of us think of a time when a new nation was born, proud of its independence from the Mother Country, and full of a love for freedom and prosperity. This is true, but it was also a pretty grim time. The reasons for the Revolution weren’t so much freedom and independence as it was a group of aristocrats who didn’t want to pay their taxes. Even when British levies reached their highest numbers, they still had all they could want and more books, alcohol, slaves, you name it. When the Revolution began only about one-third of the population supported it. Slaves, poor whites the common man, were far from feeling the effects of freedom. Whether men in wigs ruled them from across the seas or in a nearby colony, things weren’t about to get any better. For years after, staggering statistics illustrate the ridiculous distribution of wealth, with an average 1% if the population controlling about 80% of the cities’ wealth. If it weren’t for the efforts of a pamphleteer named Thomas Paine, who instilled a love for freedom and country in the everyday farmer, blacksmith, and tradesman, support would not have been found as easily. Even still, the aristocrats had to put mandatory drafts into effect, and the Redcoats still outnumbered them.

It is against these odds that the player takes control in HPS Simulations’ newest war game, Campaign 1776. If you haven’t seen it, you aren’t alone. Its currently available only on the internet, but will soon be shipping to store shelves. Wherever you get it from, however, most likely you will not be disappointed. This is a fine game for both seasoned and aspiring grognards alike. I use the term most likely, however, because of a couple of key problems that poke their head up during gameplay. Depending on your level of forgiveness, they may or may not mar the experience. Anyone, however, that is only concerned with some of the finest tactical gameplay available should not hesitate. Besides, how often does a game about the American Revolution get released?

You have the option of choosing from three campaigns, a variety of single scenarios, or making you own battles with the editor. The campaigns include the full Revolutionary War or three different theaters. These include the Philadelphia campaign (General Washington vs. Howe), the Saratoga Campaign (Gates vs. Burgoyne), or the Southern campaign (Greene vs. Cornwallis). But what makes the campaigns so enjoyable and replayable, is that the player is able to choose their battles based on past performance, and even put your troops into hypothetical positions to see what the results may have been. It is a remarkably simple but effective campaign structure. Of course, if you prefer to play single battles, all of the major conflicts are represented, including Lexington, Trenton, and Bunker Hill. There is also a slew of what if? battles that pit the Redcoats and Yankees in some very interesting scenarios. But one complaint is that battles are often very long, upwards of forty turns with multiple phases. There are no quick skirmishes, so be prepared to dedicate yourself to playing out large battles.

Gameplay, however, is simple. After all, the age of rifles was less dependent on fancy weaponry and more on tactics, plain and simple. You can only put your troops into two formations, column for marching and line for firing, and you only have two types of attacks, rifle and artillery. But the interface makes everything quite simple. There are hot keys for every function, and a nice toolbar on the top of the screen gives you access to formations, troop facing, and other aspects of gameplay. It must be noted that the help menu is remarkably informative, and answered all my nagging questions. For instance, I was curious as to why my units were being routed so often. The help menu stated that players generally push their troops harder and longer than was the norm during the Revolution, so one could expect frequent routing. I adjusted my strategy accordingly and was much more successful in future rounds. Speaking of rounds, battles take place in a few per turn. First one side moves, then the other has the opportunity for defensive fire (which is helpful because units low on ammunition can fire in this phase but not in the offensive fire phase), then the other player attacks and can then resolve skirmishes. The rules of engagement are well balanced, so that no side has a particular advantage during any turn. For instance, troops must change formation before moving, and artillery cannot unlimber and fire in the same turn.

Another aspect of the interface I enjoyed is the troop detail screen to the left. It gives you the details of each regiment, including number of men, morale, strength, quality (which is given a letter grade and effects how accurate and efficient their attacks are), fatigue and formation. This is a nice way to organize your leaders as well, which give troops a higher fatigue recovery rate, and if killed give the opposing side extra victory points. This rule is optional, however, and can be toggled on or off along with a number of other variations to better customize gameplay.

The music is a wonderful selection of British and "American" (they were not yet Americans) pieces including Hell’s Victory, Ol’ Zip Coon, and Johnny is Gone For a Soldier, which includes the vocals. The names may sound unfamiliar, but you’ll quickly recognize these classic pieces (But I’m also a fan of eighteenth and nineteenth century "colonialesque" music, so these may not appeal to everyone). Sound and graphics, however, are those two little aspects I mentioned above that could put a hamper on your fun. The sound of gun and artillery fire is adequate, but that is not a compliment. The largest disappointment comes from the graphics though they’re bad. Honestly, I feel that they were completely neglected, as if the designers did not even care to put any effort into the visuals. Even for a smaller company, they border on unacceptable. Units and terrain are bland and not very detailed, making it feel like your fighting on a green checkerboard rather than the fields of colonial America. Routed units look like they are wearing jogging sweats, not eighteenth century clothing. I do not have much art skill, but I’m sure if I had a year or more to design static units I could do better.

It may sound like I’m being awfully hard on the game just because of its looks, but it just shows how inadequate they are next to the fantastic gameplay. This is a fine war game, worthy of the time of any gamer that is interested in playing out this conflict that has been previously neglected in the realm of computer gaming.

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Reviewed by Anthony Micari