take command second manassas review

Picture courtesy of moparado.

Average Ratings

Addiction Level	10/10
Graphics	9/10
Value for Money	10/10
Reviewer Rating	10/10
Overall Rating	9.8/10

100% Recommended2 out of 2 Reviews

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By kaaduge on 24th Jun 2007

kaaduge's Ratings

Addiction Level	10/10
Graphics	9/10
Multi-player	No
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	10/10
kaaduge's recommendation

Good Points

- Maps, leaders, units, weapons are all historically accurate.
- Excellent tutorials, four different levels of command from brigade, to division, corps, and up to overall army levels. The tutorials also cover how to command infantry, artillery, and cavalry units.
- The player "Takes Command" of the units they want, or the option of letting the game's friendly AI (artificial intelligence) to control whichever units the player desires.
- American Civil War buffs will love this, even if they are not into PC games.
- The game comes stock with 48 historical scenarios, some played from the Union side, some played from the Confederate side.
- Linked carry-over scenarios, and a promotion system. You want to win the battles, but have enough of a force to fight the next day.
- I can't stress enough of how much this game is actually a great learning tool. Not only all the aspects of the 2nd battle of Manassas, but of how to use Civil War era tactics to accomplish battle objectives.
- Open play options, the player chooses which side to fight on, the level of command, infantry, artillery, or cavalry. Open play also allows player to choose which map, size of battle, length of battle, and type of engagement - attack, defend, enemy meeting with or without objectives. Or one could just use the beloved random button at set-up and enjoy the unknown.
- An extremely dedicated members website at http://www.madminutegames.com. The community there is extremely helpful with technical help/support, gameplay strategies & tips, and very friendly with even just good old Civil War talk.
- The game was designed with mods in mind. Just about everything in the game can be modded. There are modders constantly making new maps, graphics, weapons, uniforms, sounds, and anything else that can improve gameplay.
- Custom scenarios, this is where the modders introduce historical, or "what if" scenarios. The game engine allows any battle to be introduced - not just the 2nd Manassas campaign. There are already maps, scenarios, and orders of battle for the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, etc...
- Online support team. They will help with any game issues or questions, at the website above.
- Playability, there are so many options available, one can play for as long as they want. The game's enemy AI is so good, and un-predictable, that even players who have succesfully completed all the scenarios, tend to play them again. The open play options also keep PC wargamers playing this game longer than others, that they tend to "get tired of beating" all the time.
- Game options allow the player to control the graphics, sounds, and gameplay options to suit their respective PC's. There are options to allow lower end computers handle the game engine, or options for a highly tuned PC to enable all the high- resolution graphics.
- free demo available at website or online.
- game and developers have won numerous PC game review awards
- price is very reasonable

Bad Points

- Hard to find on store shelves. It can be ordered through normal PC gaming outlets or online, or downloaded at PC gaming websites.
- The game tends to draw a lot of memory because of so many real-time calculations and graphics. Minimum PC requirements are a P3 1000, 512 MB RAM, and a decent video and sound card. 1 GB RAM recommended for all the high resolution settings.
- Multiplayer not available yet.

General Comments

Not a 1st person shooter, or even a real time strategy, but defined as a real-time combat simulator. Sort of a mix of the first two, in the sense that the player IS commanding at the actual battle in real time., but also can disobey orders from incompetent superiors and adjust strategy "in the moment". So many options, I didn't have the time to list them all in the good points section.

If you are a PC gamer, casual Civil War buff, or just looking for some good clean fun, do yourself a favor - visit the website above, download and try the free demo. I think you will be surprised how well this tiny company (2 guys in their spare time) developed one of the best PC games you've ever seen.

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