Move over AOE (Cossacks - European Wars (PC))

Member Name: Mick-Gray

Product:	Cossacks - European Wars (PC)
Date:	16/06/01 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great strategy game

Disadvantages: Addictive

Cossacks – European wars is a strategy game in many ways similar to Age of Empires but in my opinion far better.

You can play out historical European battles and play random games. Cossacks is set in 17th & 18th century Europe and you can play as or against any of 16 different nations. One of the advantages it has over AOE in my opinion is that the game will support up to 8000 units, so you versus 1 other player enables you to have 4000 units of troops etc. each or 2000 if there are 4 players and so on.

Each nationality has its own technological strengths and weaknesses and to build units, buildings, ships etc. resources are used such as wood, stone, gold, iron and coal.
These resources have to be mined or collected by peasants and are used up in maintaining your units and buildings as well as to build them in the first place.

How each unit operates is different depending on the type of ground or cover that there is around. Various types of Military units can be built such as Pikemen, Musketeers, Dragoons, Heavy and light cavalry and so on. As well as cannon, mortars, Howitzers, and various war ships. Each has its own characteristics and can be improved by countless upgrades all of which use up more resources. What I find to be fascinating about these sort of games is that each individual unit acts on its own after you have set it a task and will react differently as each varied situation is presented to it.

Each time an individual unit fires a shot or cannon ball etc it uses up a small amount of coal and iron and therefore if you have not sufficient resources your units will not be able to fire and will be easily destroyed by the opposing force.

There is also a very good Internet site where you can play against up to six other people or take sides and battle 2v2 or 3v3 etc.

All in all I have found this a very compelling game and even more fun when played on the internet against real people all thoug
h you can play against the computer with the computer managing up to 6 different nations.

I f you have played and enjoyed the various versions of AOE then you will love Cossacks-European wars

Mick Gray

Summary: