Generation of Chaos

"Only your strategies will end the chaos..."

Generation of Chaos is a HARD game to get into. Very hard. It has a very confusing interface and menu, with no in-game tutorial, and a very basic manual. These things turned away alot of gamers, but if you can work past these flaws, there is actually a really good game to play.

Story: 8/10

When you start a game, you can choose between 2 countries to play as (one is designed for beginners). The story is told differently depending on who you play as. It is mainly presented in cutscenes which occur after you either finish a chapter or kill an enemy commander.

The story is well done, as the land has an interesting back story which plays directly into the game. The different races also have a back story, as well as some of the characters. This is my first "generation of chaos" game, but I've heard that there are others, although the story in this one is independent enough to stand alone.

Gameplay: 9/10

This is where the game really shines. The gameplay is very addictive. I've stayed up so many nights playing this game it should be illegal. The game is alot like "Risk" with many more factors and more strategy involved. As advertised, GoC features up to 60 (sometimes more) characters in every battle, allowing you to choose your strategy in every fight. Certain units and commanders are much stronger than others, but there are many aspects that can swing the battle in your favor, including the terrain your fighting on and the current weather.

To conquer enemies, and the world, you must move your commanders around on the world map. When two opposing characters occupy the same space, a battle will start. You can't move past an enemy character, and you will randomly get into a fight if you move into an empty space. Than you will be taken into the battle screen, where you can select which strategy you want to use, and than watch your character duel it out. After you win and gain enough experience, you can level up your commander. If you lose, your commander will be taken prisoner until he is rescued.

Fighting is only half of the gameplay, though, as the other half focuses on kingdom management. You have to pay your commanders in the game to keep them, as well as pay for any prisoners you capture (you can execute them if you don't want to try to convert them over to your side), and the price of any units that you lose. To make all this money, for each piece of land you own, you will receive a certain amount of gold. You can also shop at certain markets that you control to buy and sell items.

As I hinted at before, you can try to convince certain commanders to join your cause while they're your prisoner. This is often the best way to recruit commanders. There is also the search function which lets you put jobless commanders to use by searching their current location for new items or people.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics here are amazing! Very crisp, and very detailed. Now, the world map has a general board-game layout to it, so all the terrain tiles look the same as the identical terrain tiles. The main headquarter buildings are either a fortress or a market, and each looks different depending on how built up they are. As you move your characters around, you can see their figures on the map, which lets you know who your moving. The enemy characters are all displayed with the same icon, though, no doubt to make you look at them and plan a strategy.

In battle is where the graphics are at their best. Displaying 60 characters at a time is amazing in itself, but each commander also has skills and super attacks they can preform. Many of the super attacks have a cutscene that plays with them, and many of these are very eye-pleasing.

I do have to note that each commander has 29 units, and all of these units look the same. Also, no matter where you shop at, all the shops look the same.

Music and Sound effects: 7/10

The music is actually quite good, though it does have one major problem: the repetitiveness. The main game music plays over and over through a campaign (which can last for days), and becomes very repetitive very fast. The battle music is the same for every battle as well. Other than that, the music is well done. The few songs that are in the game are strong orchestra pieces.

The sound effects can be repetitive also, as each sword swing sounds like every other sword swing (what do you expect?). And since there can be 60 swordsmen on the screen, you'll get used to it fast. The skills and super-attacks can sound alike also, as many of them look the same.

Before each battle, you can hear a sound effect that sounds like an army's battle cry. It actually sounds pretty good, and appropriate, but after 10 seconds it ends.

The voice acting in the game is very well done. All the characters voices suit them well, and there are alot of characters who are important enough to get their own voice actors.

Re-playability and Extra content: 10/10

The re-playability in this game is amazing. As I mentioned before, there are 2 kingdoms to play as when you first start game. When you finish the game, you unlock the 8 other kingdoms to play as, as well as the extra menu where you can view the super-attack cutscenes and various illustrations used in the game. You could play GoC for a long time without seeing everything.

As a side note (I didn't know where else to put this), the loading times in the game aren't bad at all, as the Psp has been known to have slow load times.

Overall: 9/10

Overall, a great addicting game that deserves this rounded-up 9. If you can get past the confusing interface, you'll find a great game that will suck you in and keep you there. I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys strategy games. Have fun and keep playing. Later...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/07