Tag: PC Games

05/21/18

What’s Gus Playing? Ancients Blowout Bonanza Edition : Apotheon, Field of Glory 2 and a Special Ancients Madness Bonus

The dastardly dwarf of distraction prevaricates and pontificates ~

Lloyd Sabin, 21 May 2018

Escaping the clutches of Field of Glory 2 for a bit but still in a Grecian Formula mood, I reached for side-platformer Apotheon this week. I got it years ago during a Steam sale for ~5.00 and so far it has been well worth the price of admission.

So how does a mere mortal soldier kick some god ass?

Your avatar (Nik) has an old-fashioned problem with authority and has declared war on the ancient Greek gods…all of them, starting with Apollo. He also hates thieves and raiders.

They have all been acting like bastards lately, treating other gods and humans like garbage. So how does a mere mortal soldier kick some god ass? With a wide array of spears, daggers, hatchets, bows and shields scattered around Apotheon’s levels and hidden deep inside some temple armories.

Crafting is also available if you’re into that. You can craft healing potions and Greek fire grenades as well as other useful liquids as you advance through the game’s orange and red hued levels. The music is lyre-centric and very evocative too. In a strange way Apotheon reminded me a bit of Shadow of the Beast, the legendary creepy-as-hell side-scroller from Psygnosis that was released around 1990. Continue reading →

05/14/18

What’s Gus Playing? Field of Glory 2 – Part 3

The thrice-stricken thimble-rider returns to Field of Glory 2… again ~

Lloyd Sabin, 14 May 2018

Am I working in to overkill territory here? Is three weeks covering the same game too much?

The name of this column references what I’m playing directly. And I haven’t played anything in the last three weeks except for Field of Glory 2. Truth in advertising here. And I’ve barely scratched the surface of possible factions and eras available.

At some point I should probably try something, anything, else out…just to not fall in to monotony. That said no one has really grumbled much about it so far, so maybe I just keep going until I get bored? Perhaps it’s too late already. I don’t know…

Still knee-deep in Alexandrian Greek/Macedonian history, this week’s set of shots cover the epic Battle of Gaugamela. Besides being damned fun to say, Gaugamela was an epic, history making event, pitting the forces of Alexander vs. the army of Darius III.

Supposedly the Persians had about three times as many troops as Alexander (close to 120,000 according to some estimates) but were still defeated, resulting in Darius fleeing to Babylon and Alexander capturing his wife, his mother and his daughters – all of whom he treated with respect and dignity. Continue reading →

05/7/18

What’s Gus Playing? Field of Glory 2 – Part 2

Our red-blooded rugrat regales royally regarding the Romans ~

Lloyd Sabin, 7 May 2018

Yes I am still in love. And yes it is still with Field of Glory 2.

And if you can pilot your army properly, understand tactics and deployment rules, you can change history.

I am finding it hard to express why I find it so addicting, but addicted I am still…probably more so with each epic battle and campaign I play. The game has opened doors to Greek history, hoplite warfare, Alexander the Great and the Successor Wars that I didn’t know needed opening. I am hooked.

One attribute that is easier for me to understand enjoying is the variety here. Factions and eras are varied enough that there has to be something for anyone even remotely a fan of ancients. A good case in point this week is the Battle of Magnesia (190 BC) between the Seleucids and the upstart Romans.

The Seleucids field an exotic army with a very strong Greek influence (armored hoplites) but with dashes of heavily armored cataphracts, camel cavalry (called ‘camelry’ in game but that sounds bizarre to me) and a very capable collection of forces all around, more than able to smack down the cunning Romans.

And if you can pilot your army properly, understand tactics and deployment rules, you can change history. That is definitely one of the main draws among the other, more intangible reasons why I love Field of Glory 2 as much as I do.

See the below shots for more detail.

Continue reading →

05/5/18

The Art of War & Field of Glory II

Boggit takes a look at Field of Glory 2’s units on parade ~

Boggit, 5 May 2018

One of my favourite games is Slitherine’s Field of Glory, which in Field of Glory 2 has seen a facelift in its graphics and a whole new game engine developed by Byzantine Games. Field of Glory 2 continues to use the Pike and Shot game system introduced a couple of years ago in Pike and Shot Campaigns, and subsequently Sengoku Jidai  – Shadow of the Shogun. It is not an exact clone of Pike and Shot, as several new rules and features have been added. Where it is truly different from Pike and Shot, and Sengoku Jidaiis in the map and unit graphics, which are totally different, and in my opinion very attractive.

Developed by Byzantine Games
Published by Matrix/Slitherine

Field of Glory 2as I mentioned is an upgraded version of the Pike and Shotgame system, and is in many ways very different from the older Field of Glory, which has different game mechanics, and a lot more units on the map. Field of Glory 2does come with a slight drawback on older machines compared to the original Field of Glory, and Pike and Shot/Sengoku Jidaiin that panning around the map and the speed of reaction to mouse commands is noticeably slower – most likely because of the vastly improved map and unit graphics, however, more modern graphics cards should cope easily with this issue.

I still enjoy playing the original Field of Glory as it has a very different feel to the gameplay of Field of Glory 2, which is something noticed by quite a few of my on-line opponents. This takes nothing away from Field of Glory 2, being just a matter of “apples and oranges”, as both are good in their own ways. Continue reading →

04/30/18

What’s Gus Playing? Field of Glory 2 – Part 1

Ancient antagonism with the armored army ant ~

Lloyd Sabin, 30 April 2018

Field of Glory 2 is an ancient PC gamer’s fantasy made real.

Spring has sprung and so have I…I’m in love! I bought Field of Glory 2 after missing out on the first PC iteration and regretting it forever, so I was hell-bent on not missing out on this new version. And I am ecstatic that I got it, because I have to tell you, Field of Glory 2 is something else.

Simple, fun, chess-like rules, a massive amount of single epic battles, custom battles, multi-battle campaigns and multi-player, along with content that spans history (as of this writing) from around 600BC all the way to around 500 AD (when the Immortal Fire and Legions Triumphant DLCs are included – not to mention an as-of-yet undisclosed third DLC coming soon)…Field of Glory 2 is an ancient PC gamer’s fantasy made real.

There are literally dozens of different factions to play as – name one and most likely it is included here. Fancy the Seleucids (I can’t blame you) – they’re in. Thebes? In. Illyrians? Also in. More of a world-destroyer? Try out the Persians or if you are more into the fall of Rome, try the Huns. There are so many factions to choose from that most players will probably never play them all.

And Field of Glory 2 is accessible enough for newbies – but with six different difficulty modes, wargame pros will definitely enjoy it when the challenge is ramped up. I kept my difficulty on the second setting, sometimes moving it up to the third setting, which often became too difficult for me. The second tier became my sweet spot, if occasionally a little too easy. Most of the time it offered a consistent challenge. Continue reading →