General Chaos
Prequel to Battalion Wars?Genre: strategy - rts
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year: 1993
System: Genesis
Gameplay Score: 3
Gameplay Notes:
Strange but unique gameplay. You've got a squad of 5 commandos and must give real-time commands to them as they engage with 5 opposing enemies. First the problems: - difficult to micromanage this many units - each unit has a different range but nearly impossible to position then since the enemy is constantly moving - no idea how much health each unit has - quickly devolves into making A and hoping for the best - unclear when you can call a medic to resurrect a unit - units often shoot wildly at nothing in particular, even when placed right next to an enemy - Your characters will often trip or take a weird path like jumping over barriers which slows them down and make some vulnerable to enemy fire - overall, the game feels completely random Now for some positives: - This feels unlike any other game I've played, so it's definitely a novel experience - This will be a lot more fun multiplayer than it is against the computer - The various units make for some interesting gameplay where you can strategically place them to maximize damage - with a little practice I could probably get better at it, but I felt like it was just chaos until the armies were down to two or three remaining units at which point it was easier to enact a plan of attack
Level Design Score: 2
Level Design Notes:
Each stage is a small single screen arena with hedgerows and barbed wire and fences and other environmental elements. I couldn't figure out a way to use them to my advantage so every level more or less felt the same. The only noticeable difference was in the units you're given. Sometimes you have the standard set of five different units, but on other levels you're given five machine gunners. In most levels. Levels you can opt instead to use two commandos which you control directly, but I couldn't last more than a few seconds with that setup. At the end of each level it totals up points and you can theoretically score fewer points than your opponent. Even if you kill all of his units. I didn't test the theory but I'm not sure if the points is what wins the war or winning every battle.
Theme Score: 4
Theme Notes:
Reminds me of Battalion Wars for the GameCube and Wii. The cartoony graphics and silly animations are really the key draw of this game.
Art Style Score: 4
Art Style Notes:
Chock full of fun animations and sprite work. Extremely colorful and whimsical. However, the backgrounds all more or less look the same so there's not much to admire outside of the sprites. The frame rate is fairly poor which matches the overall game speed so it's not distracting or anything.
Audio Score: 2
Audio Notes:
I want to enjoy the sound more than I do, primarily due to the poor quality of the sound effects. They sound almost like there's an echo. The same song plays in every level. It's fun but repetitive
Overall Score: 56
Review ID: 942
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