CODE OF WAR
Many gamers have buried such a genre as wargame for quite some time. It's scary to think that even ten years ago, any mortal could without hesitation pronounce names such as Fantasy General, Allied General, etc., games that combined an interesting storyline, exciting gameplay and the slow pace of field battles. Games of this kind are remembered with nostalgia by many players, but outdated by today's standards, two-dimensional graphics, put them on a par with uninteresting modern crafts, for which the basis is historical content, and not the quality of the plot and a well-thought-out game line. But not everything is as bad as even the optimists thought, the genre is not dead, it just lurked for a while, but now, thanks to the Krasnodar company 1C: Ino-Co, the world has seen a revived wargame. Yes, don't be surprised, this is exactly the game that each of us dreamed of - beautiful graphics, intricate fantasy plot and well-thought-out gameplay that offers a truly unlimited replay ability. But we will not reveal all the cards at once, but will tell you more about the game. Honestly, I inserted the disc into the drive tray with a fair amount of skepticism - how many times have I heard proud slogans about "hardcore RPG", "best strategy of all times and peoples", "genre revolution", and in the end the game turned out to be very far from ideal. And what was my surprise when my fears did not come true. Honestly, there was no game for a long time, for which I would sit all night long, and was surprised to notice that it was already time not only to sleep, to get ready for work under the displeased grumbling of my wife. The phrases "well, here's another castle to capture", "and now to finish off this goblin", "well, two more moves and that's all" were constantly spinning in my head. The first thing we'll talk about is graphics. One thing can be said here - first-class, the only rival is the notorious Heroes of Might and Magic V, in the Codex the picture is brighter, more saturated, even, one might say, alive. A detachment of scouts, having entered the depths of the forest, becomes practically invisible, while the cavalry, on the contrary, makes its way through the thickets, like a paver of asphalt. The artists clearly made the scenery with great, almost motherly love, so much so that with the maximum zoom of the camera you can see every blade of grass, and the breeze gently touches the colorful feathers on the knights' helmets or gently touches the magical artifacts of the shamans. The camera in the game is generally worthy of the highest praise. You can look at the battlefield from a bird's eye view, and as if being at the head of a squad. The possible viewing angles are also striking: if you want to look from above at a right angle - please, install the camera parallel to the gaze of the hero - please, but how about looking into the dull eyes of a goblin marauder or observing the dignified faces of the royal guard! The only gripe is a somewhat cumbersome menu, but you get used to it very quickly, and then you even start to love this, at first glance, an absurd panel. The developers did just as well with the sound as with the graphics. The soundtrack can be imagined not only as an integral part of the game and as a separate disc that you can happily insert into your favorite player and relax. In the game itself, sometimes it seems that the tracks are based on well-known Slavic folk motifs and changed almost completely beyond recognition. The tracks themselves replace each other very smoothly, and in strict dependence on the events on the map during the battle, disturbing, exciting melodies, in a quiet time, gentle lulling tunes. Let us dwell on the gameplay itself in more detail, because we buy the game not so much for visual or auditory pleasure as for the pleasure of the passing process. And here there can be no complaints simply for one simple reason: the Code of War is just that game in which not the result as such is important, but the process itself. The developers managed to convey this postulate in the best possible way. Often, thinking about the next move can be like a chess game, it all depends only on the gamer. With a strong desire, the entire game can be completed in just a couple of evenings, but do we need it? After all, it is much more interesting to find the ideal solution, so much so as to incur minimal losses among your troops and to "bite" the enemy as painfully as possible. The reason for this is not only a banal "carrot" in the form of bonuses when completing a mission for a certain number of moves, but also a "whip" - each squad is pumped with the next attack, gets certain exclusive skills, and, although, hire a new squad will not be difficult, it is not expensive, but sometimes it will be unrealistic to pump it. Due to the loss of one seemingly not very important unit, you risk failing, if not the current mission, then the next one, so for sure. As for the storyline, the "Code of War", of course, does not apply for the Pulitzer Prize, but still, the storyline is written soundly, albeit trite. The player, once again invited to join the eternal struggle of people and orcs, is devoted to this two-thirds of the gameplay on the side of people or orcs, yes, do not be surprised, the orcs are fighting among themselves. Periodically, there are small bloopers, for example, an inquisitor and a heretic sorcerer, a griffin and a proud eagle fighting shoulder to shoulder. But these little things, although they should cause indignation or at least dissatisfaction, for some reason cause, on the contrary, tenderness, we were not going to play at the restoration of historical events. Although the game mechanics still do not violate real laws. So, the game lacks artillery that can destroy a squad on the other end of the map, the airship will not be able to attack at the peak of the hated archers, and the cavalry, well, under no circumstances is able to defeat the battle eagle. The process of the battle itself, although it looks painfully elementary, each squad has from 10 to 15 hit points, has its own indicators of attack, defense (of course, the more, the better) and unique abilities, during the battle some of the soldiers are injured, and part dies. Is it trite? Yes. Simply? Not! After all, the Code of War is a standard hack-slash-style "combat" game, where the wall juts out against the wall. This game requires tactics - wounded soldiers can be healed either with the help of magic, or by missing one move, to replace the killed, hire new recruits near large cities. The next moment, initially causing bewilderment, will be the fight itself, it would seem that it is simpler - the strength of the attack, the skill of defense and that's all, but no, the need for tactical thinking again creeps out. Who said that armored cavalry is very difficult to defeat? Why then do we need crossbowmen in the forest? And if the cavalry detachment itself disperses across the plain, then no one can stop it, the horses will simply sweep anyone off the face of the earth, well, except perhaps the spearmen. Swordsmen and knights will be ideal when storming city walls, scouts for creating dastardly ambushes, and archers will easily shoot down the "aircraft" that has flown in by accident. Any experienced strategist with experience will be able to scroll through several battle options even before the start of the battle and correct the line of behavior already during the battle. And finally, I will say a few words about multi-player - this is something without which a game of this kind simply could not exist. All small roughnesses are smoothed out in this mode, since the set of units for both humans and red-skinned orcs is almost identical, and their capabilities are balanced, so no one will be offended.I will say one thing, from my own experience I was convinced that, even after completing the game, and then playing it on the network, I discovered a completely new world of the "Code of War", moreover, having spent more than one weekend with my wife playing the game. You can talk endlessly about the Code of War, because the developer has turned out what seemed unrealistic - to revive the genre, create an almost perfect game and please old players. Now I will look forward to the release of the supplement, which is not far off, so that I can spend a couple more nights at the computer, immersed in the world I love so much.
