"Colonial Fighting Never Felt Better"

Unlike Cossacks European Wars, American Conquest is somewhat looked down upon due to a number of reasons. The major being of the historic time period or change of gameplay that made Cossacks great to play through. I obtained my copy merely because I enjoyed playing previous historic RTS games like Gettysburg or Age of Empires 2. Though not as great in comparison, American Conquest is an excellent game for the beloved historic RTS gamer.

Storyline (8/10): Unlike Age of Empires 3, American Conquest pays more attention to the conflicts within the new world with various factions dueling it out for total supremacy. American Conquest takes place in the 15th-18th century with both European powers and local native tribes. There are a variety of campaigns which range from playing Columbus expeditions or Tecumseh's rebellion to the common French and Indian Wars and American Revolution. You can play on both sides for each campaign which I thought was awesome. Ever thought of rewriting history and kicking the French out of America during the French and Indian Wars? Now you can! Or how about battling as the British in the uprising of the American Revolution? These campaigns over dozens of side objectives that can be completed optionally. Ranging from destroying various forts along a river, to allying with the local natives, objectives add a new and realistic feeling to this game. I enjoyed listening to a historic narrative lesson before each mission which is a nice feature. It adds a sense of trying to get you into the mood of what the conflict is about and who's side your playing for that is affected within that conflict. Overall, I felt that the campaign modes were in depth and well executed. It should last you 18-22 hours in terms of completion which is impressive to begin with. Various missions can last a few hours due to how one would complete it with or without objective completion.

Graphics (9/10): Though 2D, American Conquest pulls off nicely of how buildings, units, and other textures look during gamplay. Ships have a nice reflection within the water as you move them around while infantry stand and fire at point blank range with smoky gun powder explosions. Buildings are nicely animated and detailed, I liked how it shows the progression of constructing a building from start to finish. As you can expect, American Conquest relies heavily on the early and late concepts of gunpowder weaponry. Infantry units like Musketeers form ranks and fire realistically on the open battlefields of the wilderness. Calvary wield tiny sabers that they use effectively when a group of them charge into an exposed enemy troops. Lastly, the sense of using artillery firing and loading have never looked better in terms of historic accurate realism. Each unit can be viewed closely and you could notice minor features of each of the like the weaponry that they are holding to the idle flags that float when carried by the flag barrier. Overall, the graphics in this game aren't that bad even though it's all in 2D. The only minor thing I had was that some of the environments can look a bit unappealing.

Gameplay (10/10): In terms of gameplay, I need to break it up in two parts because of how detailed it is compared to other RTS games I have played. Part one is how a general skirmish occurs between both sides. The unique thing about American Conquest is that you can have massive resources during the beginning of the game and be set for the rest of the match due to one presetting. American Conquest allows you to tweak how you would play a skirmish against another player on the AI. From the rate the game flows, to the style of the map and geographic settings, I honestly enjoyed how detailed you can set a match before it even begins. Like other RTS games of it's kind, you gather a number of resources such as coal, wood, food, gold, and tin to produce buildings. Constructing buildings allows research which allows production of troops of your armies. Another interesting part of how you produce your troops is based on your settlers. Settlers undergo training to become calvary, infantry, or even artillery units rather than having the game set one population as military and civilian. This focuses you to either spend all of your resources and settlers into a standing army with a weak economy or having a strong economy while having a late in game army. The enemy AI can be set from very easy to difficult in order to offer a challenge for the hardcore RTS gamer. Overall, building, researching, and training troops, are a nice feature in terms of gameplay.

Part 2 of Gameplay (10/10): Ah, your probably wondering what Part 2 is even though I explained everything about resource gathering and production of troops right? Well after you build your armies, it is time to attack the enemy with full force. Here lies where American Conquest rocks in terms of overall gameplay. Formations play an extremely important role during combat. A group of infantry can be set from the standard battle line to square or spaced formations to combat calvary and artillery. However, they can also be set to attack the enemy as defensive, offensive, or until a certain part. But that doesn't even end there! Yes, there's more. Ships have various formations to combat enemy naval forces, this tactic hasn't been seen since Age of Empires 2 TCE. Flag barriers and officers even are added in to create discipline and orderly formation during an engagement. Units combat is well executed and allows a real time tactical micro management during gameplay. In terms of playable factions, you range from England, France, or Spain, to Iroquois, Delaware, Sioux, Pueblo, Mayan, Aztec, Incan, and Huron. Natives can build cheap armies though are less technology advanced while the Europeans are able to build expensive late game armies during a match. As you can expect, both styles of factions play differently from each other. Did I mention that you can have up to 16,000 troops on screen at once on both sides? Yeah, that's pure icing on the cake right there.

Sound (9/10): From the narrative historic campaign lessons before each mission to the sound of units firing in unison against the enemy, it doesn't get any better than this. Units chatter realistically during gameplay which is a nice feature. The only problem is that there is no unit acknowledgment when you click on them or that some of them can sound a bit generic.

Replay Value (9/10): In terms of overall replay value, the campaign missions alone should last you many hours of fun and entertainment. It is the campaigns that bring the overall replay value though playing online against others isn't a bad thing either. Online mode allows random skirmishes between players with various victory conditions. One being the total destruction of the enemy while the other is merely based on total score. Using up to 16,000 units on both sides is impressive to begin with in terms of online mode without having much lag.

Closing Comments: American Conquest is not like the Cossacks European Wars series, which is a good thing. I've enjoyed the Napoleonic period but also the Colonial period in the Americas also. This game probably surpasses Cossacks with new AI, factions, and overall gameplay. Though being a major fan of anything related to historic RTS games, I strongly urge gamers to play this game with much as an open mind as they did with Cossacks

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/07

Game Release: American Conquest (US, 02/05/03)