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March of the Eagles
March of the Eagles
is an upcoming strategy game from Paradox Studios and was one of three
games previewed at the “Strategy is Our Game” Tour. Each of the games
is still in development, but Impulse Gamer was invited to attend and
preview the games to see how they are currently looking. This was the
first time March of the Eagles has been shown, so this truly is a
first look!
March of the Eagles
takes place during the fifteen years of the Napoleonic Wars and puts players
in charge of their own country to play in this time frame. Players
aren’t limited to just Britain or France, but are free to pick and
choose between any European country that existed at that time, each one with
their own generals, goals, and victory conditions for the eight major
countries. Each country has
pros and cons to it and with each one having different goals it means
that a player can start in those countries without handicapping
themselves and finding themselves being overshadowed.
One of the most impressive things about March of
the Eagles was seeing all the work that Paradox put into the history
of the game. Little pop-ups will detail historical events as they
happen, various countries will shift allegiance back and forth, and the
generals and leaders of each of the countries are accurate for the
time. History fans will be able to recognize many names as they play
through and move around their troops.
Speaking of troops, March of the Eagles
features a very large unit choice each with their own benefits and
downsides. Some troops move faster than others, some are better versus
other troops, and each is categorized into a type of unit to help new
players not get overwhelmed. Between various types of infantry,
cavalry, guards, and more players who love detail and choices will enjoy
the many options while those that like it simple will be able to pick a
category and grab whichever troops.
Like previous Paradox games, March of the Eagles
features many options in how to play ranging from forming peace
treaties, to annexing nations, and more. Players can force peace
through military power, send diplomats, and more. The many options for
diplomacy allow for a different way to play each time and mixed with the
many countries the game will allow a lot of replays.
At first the large map and many choices seemed
chaotic and complex due to how much there was to manage, but overall the
large maps and many units were handled very nicely. Tooltips and
looking at your countries goals really helps to handle and manage the
things. In addition to the tooltips, the maps can be displayed in
various formats ranging from terrain, to allegiance, and others so that
players can view the map in different ways based on preferences or
graphics power.
While the multiplayer wasn’t previewed and obviously
mods were not out since the game is still in development, the developers
assured me that the game would be completely moddable like their other
games and the multiplayer would feature up to 32 players.
All in all March of the Eagles seems a very
promising game that differs slightly from their previous games by
focusing directly on a war, but still holds to a lot of the many
valuable features of their previous games. It doesn’t look like it is
going to reinvent the wheel, but that doesn’t take away from the game
itself. The formula works wonders and new details should appeal to old
fans of both Paradox and the Napoleonic Wars. If you’re looking for a
strategy game that allows you to play almost any country and see how
you’d do during the Napoleonic Wars, look no further than March of
the Eagles |
