"War can be devastating and horrible."  That’s how I started out my last review of an Ageod TBS (Turn-Based Strategy) game.  War is still devastating and horrible, and like man, Ageod has not learned much from its last war.

In Ageod’s Napoleon’s Campaigns (NCP), the fight turns to Europe in the early 19th century.  Napoleon ran roughshod over Europe during this time, and although the British ruled the seas, the French undeniably ruled the continent.

Graphics:  85%
There are some improvements from American Civil War (ACW) in the rendering.  The map seems more alive with color and definition.   Mountain ranges appear more daunting and help explain why Poland is the favored route to Russia for western European conquerors.  A new addition is a terrain window at the top-center of the screen.  Hold the mouse over a region and it displays a view of the type of terrain which aids in planning movements.  The game pieces can be displayed in 3-D and I was happy that ships look like they are actually floating on the river.  Towns, roads, and foliage have considerably more definition and provide improved scenario immersion, as well as assistance in making military decisions.

Sound:  60%

This TBS game is not driven by sounds.  The few sounds that are present are hard to describe but they do assist somewhat in helping the player accomplish tasks.  The music, while nice, is still random and doesn’t necessarily help in providing a complete game experience.  It reminded me of the marching band that accompanies the army: it strikes up a tune every so often to keep the troops going.  I received no benefit from this music though; I used Paul Oakenfold instead.

Gameplay:  65%
Merely reading about Napoleon and his experiences leaves a lot to visualization.   Napoleon's Campaigns allows you to live the intricacies of those campaigns, which I have always wanted to do.  The game provides all the parameters that Napoleon and his adversaries had.  It is up to you to learn about all the factors that lead to success or disaster in 19th century warfare.  Serious devotees may be able to find nuanced changes in the game play from ACW, however, I did not. 

Game Manual/Multiplayer/Product Support:  45%
I leave a fair amount of my ire for the fringe portions of NCP.  The download version of the game does not come with a manual and there is no area on the Ageod site to download game manuals, although there is some documentation included for the internet version of multiplayer.

Thankfully, the game manual did come with patch version 1.03c, but once again, I was disappointed.  These directions include exhaustive descriptions of all the features and how each factors into how the game is played.  What is lacking still is basic step-by-step instructions on how to create armies, break-up armies, promote officers, etc.   Like ACW,  its real easy to drag-drop forces all over the map.  Let's say you accidently drop them in the wrong place.  There are no directions on how to undo inadvertent actions like an undesired combining of forces.

I visited the Ageod site, and watched a posted interview with game designer Philippe Thibaut.  Thibaut gives some interesting insights into the game and even provides a brief tutorial in separate video.  However, that is as far as Ageod is willing to help its game players.  Ageod has a pretty good forums site and some of their game designers can be seen posting on the forum. 

Ageod’s systemic problems shine through here, too.  I noticed that an employee posted patch 1.03b, and soon after, a user posted a reply saying the patch caused some undesired effects to the game display.  The employee sent a follow-up post apologizing and offering patch 1.03c.  I downloaded this patch and found I got a dialog that said that the game needed to shutdown due to an error, even before the game finished loading.  The same error occurred  when I tried installing on a different computer.

The confusion extends to multiplayer, as well.  There are three multiplayer modes.  Hot Seat which is played on the same computer with the players switching chairs to make their moves,  Play By Email (PBEM), and Internet.  PBEM presented problems for SuperGuido and I while testing ACW and they have extended to Napoleon's Campaigns.  The provided directions are incomplete and leave many questions and chances for players unfamiliar with the process to get frustrated.  After spending way too much time slowly reading the instructions, I sent out a distress signal in the forums and got some help from another gamer.  The gamer was helpful, but the way saved games are displayed in-game can still lead to confusion.  Ageod needs specific instructions for this aspect of the game.

After such a taxing battle with PBEM, I did not even attempt the Internet version of multiplayer since it involved another program called ARES and an Ageod produced instruction manual.  The gameplay lends itself well to multiplayer, but some of its processes need to be made easier for the uninitiated, lest it remain a game of the computer elites, much like wealth and power was the realm of the aristocracy in 19th century Europe.

Controls/Interface:  70%
Napoleon's Campaigns has improved on some of the in-game controls and menus.  I lamented about ACW not having a visually obvious indication when a menu button was pressed.  NCP remedies this both on the menu and in the game.  The map controls and jumps to other game displays have been cleaned up and are better depicted.  The tool-tips are still annoying but are too necessary and convenient to condemn.  The mouse-wheel zoom and map scrolling via mouse pointer at the edge of the screen are some of the nice positives of this game.  The tutorial is improved from ACW with the example scenario actually turning out like the tutorial says it will.  The tutorial directions were somewhat clearer, however, glaring grammatical mistakes remain.  Ageod is a French company and they need to hire a better translating service.  Many Japanese game makers have been successful at releasing games with clear unambiguous language appropriate directions for decades.  It should not be that difficult.  While I appreciate the cultural exchange, it reflects poorly on the company.

Summary:  65%
I thank Ageod for creating a game for people who long to immerse themselves in the nuts and bolts of history.  In this era when more and more people could be the morons featured on Jay Leno’s "Jaywalking" segment, due to their lack of interest in knowledge as a whole, NCP stands poised to make history accessible and fun again.  However, it's inherent nature as a niche game, blockades its ascension into mass appeal.  Ageod could draw more players if it offered a stripped-down mode for those who are daunted by the unwieldy nature of detail involved, and time required to play this game.

In the end, like Hitler, Napoleon could not solve the Russian winter.  Both men used their superior armies to vanquish foes and gobble up huge territories, but simple strategic mistakes, like trying to fight Russia in Russia, led to their tortuous defeats.  Similarly, Ageod, while creating a wonderful aesthetically pleasing TBS game, with detail befitting ship in a bottle hobbyists, lacks a simplicity that will drive away the casual gamer.  That would be a shame since this game is fun to play once the arduous learning process is over.

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